In the misunderstood execution of public relations in Pakistan, it is common to come across companies seeking a press mention with one of the most tedious and easily forgotten works of the content, likely created by 20 cooks on a closed Google doc.
This is the phenomenon of a memorandum of understanding (MOU), a nonbinding agreement that states each party’s intentions to take action, conduct a business transaction, or form a new partnership.
The jargon-centered aspects of the MOU are poorly packaged into a doc shared with the press and pictures taken at a hotel, and at least one party expects that the public nature of the agreement will lead the other party to hold up their end of the bargain.
This is rarely the case.
4th January 2022
Pakistan and the World Bank signed an MoU so the latter can assist the former in implementing the Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement. Given the impact of construction on the environment, Pakistan could just enforce standards, codes, or legislations relating to sustainable construction practices – as a starter – to ensure its proper and effective implementation.
6th January 2022
Special Technology Zones Authority and Pakistan Freelancers Association signed an MoU to jointly organize and arrange youth-focus awareness sessions, workshops, and training programs with PAFLA for the youth and establish a brand presence among academia by appointing university students as brand ambassadors.
28th January 2022
State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan and United Bank Limited signed an MOU so the latter can provide cash management services to streamline the former’s collections through the bank’s branch network and alternate delivery channels, including Internet Payment Gateway, to receive collections. The logical alternative would be SLIC could just install Loop CDMs across the country.
26th February 2022
Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust and Meezan Bank signed an MOU so the latter can help the former implement a Shariah-compliant framework for the collection, utilization, and management of Zakat Funds. The logical alternative would be SKMT could just install Loop CDMs across the country.
3rd April 2022
Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication and Huawei Pakistan signed an MoU through which startups housed with the NIC centers in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad would be able to avail of bespoke cloud service packages. The move comes months before Amazon Web Services and Microsoft ramped up their efforts to acquire SMBs for their cloud computing services. It also comes before the sale of Pakistani-origin Cloudways for $350 million.
13th April 2022
Askari Bank and Din Global signed an MOU to launch a digital retail bank with the latter as the local sponsor. Din Global is the co-creation of two former Google executives.
23rd April 2022
Askari Bank and CashNow signed an MOU to expedite the financing process of small and medium enterprises in the country.
7th May 2022
Bank Alfalah Limited and Jubilee Life Insurance Company Limited signed an MOU to allow customers and salesforce of the latter to deposit their insurance premiums/contributions in real-time via a cash deposit machine similar to Loop.
2nd June 2022
Faysal Bank and PITB signed MoU to launch a digital freelancer account. This comes months after the Ministry of Information and Telecommunication told the senate that the administration wants to register freelancers to end money laundering. The members of the Senator Committee voiced that since no incidents from the past were quoted or highlighted, this worry is based on the MoIT being worried that it can happen in the future. The senators said that the government is supposed to facilitate freelancers but is doing the opposite. They raised their concerns that it will bring problems for freelancers.
3rd June 2022
Askari Bank and Telenor Microfinance Bank signed an MoU to offer OTP-based cash in & cash out services, biometric services for proof of life for pension accounts, and dormant account activation. In return, Askari Bank will offer employee banking solutions and retailer payment collections through branch banking OTC services, which will be another major revenue stream for the bank.
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That wraps up the first half of 2022. The latest deals that caught our eye are:
22nd July 2022
Meezan Bank and Huawei Pakistan signed an MoU to aid the bank in hybrid cloud transformation and enhance technology adoption. This happened before the State Bank of Pakistan could review the present regulatory framework to allow banks to adopt innovative cloud technologies.
5th August 2022
Askari Bank and Pakistan Freelancers Association signed an MoU to launch the Askari freelancer digital account. This mirrors the MoU signed by Faysal Bank and PITB in June 2022.
