Author: HeraldStar

By Qaiser Nawab On September 16, the US Federal Reserve raised its policy rate by a quarter percentage point, bringing the target range to 3.75–4 per cent. It was the first increase since 2023, and the decision was unanimous. The Federal Reserve said inflation remained elevated and indicated that further tightening could be necessary. Most policymakers reportedly expect at least one additional increase before the end of the year. The textbook response of the gold market to such a decision is familiar. Gold pays no interest. When the return on relatively safe, interest-bearing assets rises, the opportunity cost of holding…

By Qaiser Nawab Brussels has made an unusual request. Ahead of trade discussions with Beijing next month, the European Commission has asked China to voluntarily limit its share of hybrid-car sales in the European Union to around 15 per cent, compared with approximately one-third of the hybrid segment today. The proposal is intended to address growing concerns about deindustrialisation and pressure on European manufacturers. The anxiety behind the request is real, and it deserves a serious response rather than a slogan. Europe’s automotive industry supports millions of jobs across manufacturing, logistics, engineering and services. It is now facing several pressures…

By Qaiser Nawab China’s proposal at the 2026 BRICS Summit in New Delhi to establish a BRICS AI Open-Source Zone offers one possible direction. The initiative, presented by President Xi Jinping, includes cooperation in large language model development and applications, AI training and the creation of an open ecosystem. China also proposed cooperation on a digital industry cloud platform, smart factories and an engineer training alliance, alongside efforts to build greater international consensus on AI governance. The significance of open-source artificial intelligence lies in the possibility of reducing dependence on a limited number of proprietary platforms. Commercial AI services can…

By Qaiser Nawab, Chairman BRISD China’s next industrial growth stories may not come less from another generation of AI models, but more from the machines and systems that put those models to work. The shift is highlighted in a white paper released by Frost & Sullivan and LeadLeo during the ongoing China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing. White Paper on China’s Industrial Development Trends for the Next 50 Years (5th Edition) by Frost & Sullivan in partnership with LeadLeo. Among others, the white paper identifies key opportunities in China’s rapid deployment of AI across the real…

By Qaiser Nawab On September 12, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay calling for a slower pace in advancing frontier AI capabilities. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed support, while Elon Musk also endorsed the discussion. Former US president Barack Obama has reportedly warned of the dangers of poorly managed artificial intelligence, while researchers within the industry have raised concerns about the possibility of increasingly autonomous systems escaping human control. These statements deserve serious attention. Yet they also raise a question that extends beyond safety: What are technology companies calculating when they ask the world to slow down, even as…

By Qaiser Nawab, Chairman BRISD In recent months, central banks across Europe have undertaken a series of significant repatriations of gold reserves previously held in foreign custody. The pace and scale of these movements represent a notable shift in how major economies approach reserve asset management. Between July 2025 and January 2026 alone, France completed the repatriation of all 2,437 tonnes of its gold reserves through a series of 26 book transfers, while the Netherlands simultaneously moved 86 tonnes from New York to European custody. These actions, while described in technical financial language, signal a recalculation of strategic priorities by…

By Qaiser Nawab, Chairman BRISD The eighteenth BRICS summit closed at Bharat Mandapam on September 13 with a declaration running to roughly 140 paragraphs, a theme built around resilience and innovation, and a leaders’ photograph that told its own story about how far the grouping has travelled. Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin were both present, alongside the presidents of Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia and the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates. India then handed the chair to China for 2027, closing a year in which it had convened more than 400 BRICS meetings across thirty cities — a…

Lisbon, Portugal — September 2026: Chairman of the Belt and Road Initiative for Sustainable Development (BRISD), Engr. Qaiser Nawab, paid a call on Mr. Hu Bin, Deputy Chief of Mission and Minister-Counselor of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Portugal, at the Chinese Embassy in Lisbon. The meeting was attended by other diplomats and officials of the Embassy, including the Political Attaché, and focused on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), international cooperation, sustainable development, youth engagement, and opportunities for stronger people-to-people connectivity. During the meeting, Mr. Hu Bin conveyed the best wishes and regards of the…

Dublin, Ireland — September 2026: The Council for Global Affairs and Development (CGAD) is pleased to announce the appointment of Vivian Jonathan as a member of the CGAD Global Youth Advisory Board for the 2026–2027 term, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), youth empowerment, technology, skills development and inclusive opportunities. Vivian Jonathan is a technology professional, entrepreneur, programme leader and social impact advocate working at the intersection of technology, people and opportunity. Through her work across technology, business, entrepreneurship and marketing, she has demonstrated a strong commitment to creating pathways through which…

By Qaiser Nawab, Chairman BRISD The United States State Department recently sent a diplomatic letter to 35 countries, urging them to make a binary choice in global artificial intelligence competition. The message was blunt: alignment with one bloc or the other, with implicit threats of exclusion for those who venture across the divide.Yet as this diplomatic ultimatum circulates through government channels, a different story is unfolding on the ground. Across development platforms, academic institutions, and private companies worldwide, millions of engineers and researchers are making their own choices—not based on geopolitical instructions, but on practical utility and technical merit. The…