Pakistan Economy - News & Updates - Archive

[Owais]

Three companies to generate wind power at Ketti Bandar

ISLAMABAD (August 02 2006): The government has awarded licences to three investors for generating power through wind at Gharo-Ketti Bandar in Sindh, Business Recorder learnt on Tuesday. Sources said that as many as six companies had applied for licences after Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) identified a potential of 50,000 MW of wind power generation.

These companies included New Park Energy Limited, Tanaga Generasi Limited (Malaysia), Zaphyr Power Limited, Beacon Energy, Win Power Limited and Green Power.

The government has granted licences to New Park Energy, Zaphyr Power Limited, and Beacon Energy whereas the licences of remaining companies were in process. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) was approached by these companies for granting licenses to set up plants for 50 mega watts power generation by each one.

Sources in the AEDB said that the major thrust was to assist and facilitate investors for meeting increasing power demand. To encourage the investors, they said the government has waived off custom duty and sale tax on equipment and machinery being imported for the installation of plants.

The AEDB was hopeful that all the procedural requirements including Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and the tariff determination issue would be finalised in shortest possible time following the government instructions to expedite the whole process. The government wanted these projects to be operational at the earliest.

The AEDB and Sindh government had established a liaison and was working in close co-ordination for identification and allotment of land in the wind corridor. First piece of 890 acres of land was leased out at Mirpur Sakro in August and another 5,000 acres in November 2005. However, the demarcation of the land was still in progress.

The government has already directed the AEDB to accelerate the process of establishing two plants as early as possible.

It was further learnt that the PC-1 for laying of 60-kilometer transmission line to supply power at Thatta Grid Station had been submitted to the Ecnec for approval whereas the land had been allotted to six investors for setting up plants after completion of procedural requirements.

 

[Owais]

CCI approves privatization of Pakistan Steel Mill

ISLAMABAD: The Council of Common Interests (CCI) in its first meeting after constitution of the council approved the privatization of Pakistan Steel Mill.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz presided over the one-point agenda meeting of the CCI.

The Chief Ministers of all the four provinces, federal ministers, Saleem Saifullah, Yar Muhammad Rind and Ghaus Bux Mahar attended the meeting.

The CCI members held detailed discussions and deliberations over the issue on directives of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and took the decision in favour of privatization of the mill.

 

[Neo]

ISLAMABAD, Aug 1: The import bill of petroleum products, machinery and agriculture implements recorded a hefty growth during the last fiscal year. Official figures available with Dawn showed that the import bill of petroleum products alone rose by 66.59pc to $6.662bn during 2005-06 as against $3.999bn a year ago. The share of oil in total country’s import bill rose to 23.30pc.

In total POL imports, the share of petroleum crude rose by 76.56pc to $3.793bn during the FY06 as against $2.148 billion in 2004-05.

This showed that the import bill of oil products almost doubled during 2005-06 due to record high oil prices above $75 per barrel in the intentional market.

With this raise in oil prices, the total import bill reached $28.581bn as against $20.598bn in FY05, indicating an increase of 38.76pc.

It had widened the trade deficit to $12.112bn during the year as against $6.207bn the previous year. The export remained at $16.468bn during FY06.

According to the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS), the second biggest component of the import bill was of machinery group which recorded a growth of 34.33pc to $7.949bn during 2005-06 as against $5.918bn the pervious year.

The import of road motor vehicles registered a robust growth of 50.94pc in value. The import bill of agriculture implements increased by 82.74pc, electrical machinery and apparatus 38.20pc, power generating machinery 22.95pc, construction and mining machinery 32.23pc and office machines by 3.78pc. However, the import of textile machinery declined by 16.92pc during the year under review.

The import of consumer goods rose by 37.15pc to $1.932bn during 2005-06 as against $1.408bn the last year.

The import of wheat rose by 42.76pc, sugar 496.39pc, dry fruits 35.73pc, milk products 62.63pc and pulses by 36.73pc. However, tea imports declined by 1.07pc.

The import of metal group increased by 47.82pc to $1.801bn and agriculture and chemicals up by 13.92pc to $4.106bn in the FY06 compared to the previous year’s figures.

 

[Neo]

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States on Tuesday signed two agreements to help Pakistan expand its economy.

The first agreement is part of the U.S government’s five-year economic growth assistance package to Pakistan worth more than U.S $73 million.

The second is a Memorandum of Understanding to allow the Competitiveness Support Fund to partner with the Higher Education Commission in support of initiatives that promote knowledge-based economic development and ensure long-term economic growth.

The bilateral agreement for USAID’s Economic Growth commits $13.7 million in support for 2006. The funding will enable USAID to provide over 130,000 loans for micro and small businesses in all four provinces and FATA, continued support to promising industries throughout Pakistan, and enable assistance to more than 50,000 farmers in drought-affected areas of Balochistan with new seeds, livestock and irrigation systems.

US Ambassador to Pakistan Ryan C. Crocker and Pakistan minister of state for finance Omar Ayub Khan witnessed the signing for their respective governments. Ambassador Crocker said, “The people of the United States are excited to see a growing, vibrant Pakistani economy. By appealing to Pakistanis’ entrepreneurial spirit, the United States’ Economic Growth programme in Pakistan will continue to help businesses grow and reduce poverty.”

The second agreement, the Competitiveness Support Fund – led by the Ministry of Finance and supported by USAID’s Economic Growth program – formed a breakthrough partnership with the Higher Education Commission.

“The main thrust of this initiative is to build linkages between business and academia,” said Omar Ayub Khan, who is also Chairman of the Competitiveness Support Fund. “Such linkages will spark the kind of information sharing that makes business more dynamic and supports the commercialization of innovations developed at our universities and research institutions.”

“Our partnership with the Competitiveness Support Fund will bring a new dimension to the Higher Education Commission that should help our researchers attract better financing and shape their work to more directly meet the needs of society and the economy,” said Prof. Dr. Atta-Ur-Rahman, Chairman of the Higher Education Commission. “Cooperation of this type between business and academia has generated tremendous innovation in the countries that have developed it, not just in the United States and Europe, but also in places like India, Thailand and Turkey. Pakistan cannot afford to ignore these successes.”

One of the Competitiveness Support Fund’s main objectives is to develop and support linkages between academia and industry for knowledge-based enterprise development. The fund will work with the Higher Education Commission to provide technical assistance by engaging foreign experts to support projects promoting knowledge-based enterprises in Pakistan. The two will also work jointly to establish a forum for the identification of research-based projects that will further the development of a knowledge-based economy.

The Memorandum of Understanding also states that the Competitiveness Support Fund will be able to provide matching grants to the Pakistani academic community for projects that commercialize their research. The fund will be able to help form partnerships between academia and the business community to start new enterprises and encourage the development of financing mechanisms for these ventures.

The Competitiveness Support Fund will also act as a bridge between local and foreign universities and research institutions, particularly those in the U.S. and Europe.

These partnerships will advance international best practices promoting innovation and addressing workforce and technology development needs of local industry.

 

[Neo]

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

KARACHI: China has allowed two more plants to export mango from Pakistan. It has also opened up its two more seaports for mango shipments from the neighbouring country, a senior official of Pakistani Horticulture Development & Export Board (PHDEB) told Daily Times on Tuesday.

The approval of these two plants Durrani Associates and Iftikhar & Co. came recently from China, which has taken the number of plants, eligible to export mango to China to three. Quespak was granted this permission previous year. The approval of these two plants has further brightened the chances of Pakistani mango to capture a big share in the huge Chinese market, Chief Operating Officer (CCO) PHDEB Mohammad Iqbal hoped.

Iqbal said the approval to these plants came following a visit of a team of Chinese concerned department to inspect the facilities, available for treatment of mango for export. “The team was satisfied with the available facilities of treatment of mango for export purposes,” he added.

Also, the opening up of two more seaports ‘Gohangzhou and Schenzhen’ by the Chinese authorities for the mango shipments from Pakistan would be an added advantage to the Pakistani exporters to penetrate in the potential Chinese market.

Earlier the mango exports from Pakistan were allowed through six seaports of China and air and land routes. Iqbal said that export of mango to China through air is also enjoying 50 percent freight subsidy, which would be making the Pakistani fruit more competitive in the Chinese market. He pointed out that China is a new market for Pakistani mango.

The PHDEB official said though China is also a mango producing country, the country faced a serious supply-demand gap. “Pakistani mango is well positioned to fill this gap because of its high quality,” he noted.

About the overall production of mango during this season, Iqbal said production at the end of the season is likely to fall short compared to previous season because of short production in Punjab.

The mango crop in Sindh was as per the expectation but it is expected to lag behind previous season’s in Punjab because of less flowering due to long chilly season in country’s largest province.

Previous year, the total mango crop stood at 1.6 million tons whereas during the current season, it might come to 1.2 to 1.3 million tons. It is estimated that country would be able to export 80,000 tons of mango by the end of this season.

The big market for Pakistani mango is Middle East whereas a sizeable amount of export also finds way into Europe besides some other markets.

PHDEB official said potential of Chinese market to Pakistani mango might not be realized greatly during the current season. “The real impact of this new market would be seen in the next season when these plants would be exporting mango to China right from the beginning of the season,” Iqbal added.

 

[Neo]

ISLAMABAD (August 02 2006): The Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) has committed an additional Rs 4.2 billion ($70 million) for poverty alleviation in Pakistan. PPAF sources said this financing was approved in the 40th meeting of the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund board of directors in which it approved Rs 1.7 billion for rehabilitation and reconstruction in earthquake-affected areas.

Rs 309 million for micro-credit, Rs 255 million for community physical infrastructure, and Rs 115 million for capacity building, health, and education sectors. The PPAF board also approved an agreement with KfW (German Development Bank) for Rs 1.1 billion for reconstruction of rural housing and infrastructure in earthquake-affected areas of NWFP, and authorised Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund to enter into an agreement with "Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy" of USA for Rs 732 million for building and operating health and education facilities in AJK and NWFP.

Sources said the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund disbursed Rs 6.2 billion ($103 million ) among poor across the country during 2005-06 out of cumulative disbursement of Rs 15 billion ($250 million)

They said the PPAF represents an innovative model of public-private partnership, and is sponsored by the Government of Pakistan and funded by the World Bank, USAID, IFAD, KfW, USDA, and other international donors.

Sources said since commencement of operations in 2000, the PPAF has accessed more than 20,000 villages in 108 districts of the country by extending more than 840,000 micro-credit loans (with 100 percent recovery rate) initiated 11,000 infrastructure projects, and trained 1,40,000 individuals across the country.

 

[Neo]

KARACHI (August 02 2006): Automotive industry has shown tremendous achievement in the last six years and Pakistani market flooded with locally assembled light and heavy duty vehicles. Wasim Haqqie, Chairman Engineering Development Board and Special Initiatives, at a signing ceremony of light duty trucks between Sindh Engineering Board and Silver Seal International, stated this here on Tuesday.

Haqqie said that the automobile companies have confidence on Pakistani market and its positive results could be seen in terms of growth in auto sector share prices in the stock market.

Chinese and Koreans have provided consumer economical and affordable vehicles. People who were once crazy about Japanese vehicle are now give priority to buy locally assembled vehicles, he said.

He said that the locally manufactured cars have crossed 200,000 mark and the country is targeting 500,000 locally assembled cars annually.

Haqqie said that the country was now manufacturing parts and 70 percent components of 800cc were being manufactured locally same as 65 percent of 1000cc and 55 percent of 1300cc.

He said that China always proved itself the closest friend of Pakistan and provided expertise in all fields to fulfil our local demands. The assembling of light duty truck was also a Chinese origin.

Haqqie lauded private sector efforts towards Pakistan's growth. For the last six years private sector was involved in consultation to formulate national policy for the sector.

He said that Pakistani labour and skilled workers were able to produce more than Japanese workers, if they guided in the right direction.

Lieutenant Colonel Syed Akbar Hussain (Retd), Managing Director, Sindh Engineering Limited said that the government was trying to revive engineering production. The Sindh Engineering had built several projects but in the recent past its productivity was become very thin.

Anwar Iqbal, Chief Executive Officer, Silver Seal International said that his company has been engaged in numerous trading activities with China for the last ten years and now entered into local assembly of one tonne light duty commercial trucks.

Liu Bangyin, Managing Director Chongqing Maxwell Hi-Tech Developing Limited, Hautwell Group, Chongqing China, the Chinese partner for Silver Seal International informed that they are also introducing light and heavy duty commercial truck in CNG version and three wheeler CNG auto rickshaw in Pakistan very soon.

 

[Owais]

CCI clears 28 privatisations: NWFP chief minister abstains, PTCL sell-off approved

ISLAMABAD (August 03 2006): The newly-constituted Council of Common Interests (CCI) has given ex-post facto approval for the 28 privatisations completed with the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP).

The eight-member Council of Common Interests which met under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz here on Wednesday also, in principle, approved the privatisation of 10 more industrial units, including National Investment Trust Limited (NIT), Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Bank, First Women's Bank, National Power Construction Co (NPCC), Services International Hotel, Lahore, and further disinvestments of shares of various banks.

The Council also discussed the privatisation of the Pakistan Steel Mill and reaffirmed the approval for privatisation, given by the previous CCI on May 29,1997. The Privatisation Commission as per privatisation law will decide the details of privatisation of each unit.

All members of the Council supported the three decisions except NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, who abstained on the basis of his party's stand that it was opposed to the privatisation of profit-making units.

Sources told Business Recorder that the Council approved the summary prepared by the Privatisation Commission, which was the only item on its agenda.

Federal Privatisation and Investment Minister Zahid Hamid informed the meeting that since 1991, some 159 privatisation transactions had been completed from which the government had received Rs 373 billion. Out of this amount, 85 percent or Rs 316 billion was realised from 57 privatisation transactions completed between 1999 and 2006, which shows that the privatisation process gained momentum during this period.

Addressing the meeting, the prime minister said that setting up of the CCI, which was a constitutional body, would help overcome differences and promote harmony and co-ordination among the provinces.

He said: "Liberalisation, deregulation, and privatisation were the corner-stones of the government's reform agenda, and our privatisation programme had been appreciated at the international level for being handled in a highly professional and efficient manner."

Shaukat Aziz said the present government is the first one to introduce a law to govern the privatisation process which stipulated 90 percent of the money received through the privatisation would be utilised to pay off the debt, while 10 percent will be used for the poverty alleviation.

All members, including Inter-Provincial Co-ordination Minister Salim Saifullah Khan, Narcotics Control Minister Ghous Bux Khan Maher, Safron Minister Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yousaf, Privatisation and Investment Minister Zahid Hamid, and senior officials attended the meeting. Talking to newsmen, Salim Saifullah said the next meeting of the CCI would be held as and when decided by the prime minister.

 

[Owais]

56 companies given LoIs for wind power generation


ISLAMABAD (August 03 2006): The Alternate Energy Development Board (AEDB) has issued Letters of Intent (LoIs) to 56 companies for the generation of 700 MW power through wind by 2010, and envisaging 9,700 MW production by 2030.

In an interview to Business Recorder here on Wednesday AEDB Director-General (International Co-operation) Mujahid Sadiq said the government is making efforts to meet at least 5 percent of total power requirements through alternate sources such as hydel, wind, solar, and biogas.

As far as wind energy is concerned, he said the two investors, one from Malaysia and one local, are in negotiations with the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) for power purchase agreements, whereas the remaining four are fulfilling other requirements, such as power generation licenses and tariff determination.

About tariff determination, Mujahid Sadiq said the government through Nepra has offered 9.5 cents per kWh as upfront tariff for 20 years. This tariff facility is valid till December 31, 2006, only and may be reduced after that, he added.

He said this is amongst several steps the government has taken to attract local and foreign investors in alternate power generation.

"An estimated amount of $80 million is needed for installing a wind power plant of 50 MW", he said, adding the cost has gone up by 60 percent in the last two years from $50 million to $80 million, owing to increase in demand for wind power machinery globally.

Mujahid Sadiq said the high prices of oil across the world has left the governments with little option but to shift to alternate sources of power, which are cheaper as compared to thermal power generation.

He said the AEDB is striving for providing electricity to over 300 villages in Balochistan and 100 villages in Sindh through solar energy, adding the cost of this project is being met through Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). The PC-I has been approved while the funding is awaited to initiate the project, he said.

The AEDB has recently got started the work on eight medium range power projects in NWFP and Punjab with the help of Asian Development Bank (ADB). The major funding, 75 percent, for these projects would be provided by the ADB while 25 percent expenses would be borne by the provincial governments. These projects would be operational in two years, he added.

Giving details of the wind energy projects, he said the AEDB has identified a very vast wind corridor at Gharo-Keti Bandar in Sindh, which has an actual potential of 50,000 MW. The Board has issued LoI to 41 national and 15 international companies for the generation of 700 MW by 2010.

The AEDB, which is facilitating the stakeholders of renewable energy sources, is offering land at very cheap rate of 6 euros per acre per year at wind corridor. The land has been sub-leased to 13 investors so far and they have submitted firm commitments to AEDB for the installation of wind power units, he added.

Replying to a question, Mujahid Sadiq said 1,000 to 1,200 acres of land is required to produce 50 MW. The investors could utilise the land for irrigation purposes along with the wind power generation, he maintained.

Speaking on the available data, he said the Pakistan Meteorological Department has provided the basic wind data, which is good but does not fulfil the requirements of financial institutions. However, the government has covered that risk of the investors in the shape of upfront tariff. Meanwhile, specific data is being collected to make the projects more viable for the investors.

 

[Owais]

Customs appraisement group abolition from August 15

ISLAMABAD (August 03 2006): The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) will abolish the old system of 'Appraisement Group' in customs department replacing it with 'random selection of goods declaration (GD)' to end, from August 15, 2006, the monopolistic corruption of appraisers.

At present, appraisement group deals with specific items for the assessment of duties/taxes and clearance of imported consignments. During the quarterly conference of customs collectors held on Wednesday, the Secretary General, Revenue Division/Chairman, CBR Abdullah Yusuf, decided to do away with the centuries-old system of 'Appraisement Group'. The process of abolition will start from August 15 and continued till the end of September, 2006.

Under the new system, instead of assigning specific item, the appraisers would be given assessment task of randomly selected commodities, electronically, under 'One Customs'.

The conference unanimously opined that the new system would wipe out corruption from the customs department. While reviewing the performance of customs department regarding duty collection during 2005-06, it was noticed that net collection of customs duty was Rs 135 billion as compared to Rs 102.3 billion in 2004-05, showing a growth of 20 percent. The major revenue spinners included vehicles Rs 37.7 billion; edible oils Rs 16 billion; POL Rs 15 billion; machinery Rs 12 billion; iron and steel Rs 7 billion; and organic chemicals Rs 3.6 billion.

The conference was informed that on import of vehicles under different schemes ie transfer of residence (TR), personal baggage, gift and others the total customs duty collection was Rs 12 billion in 2005-06 against Rs 4.7 billion in 2004-05, reflecting an increase of Rs 7.3 billion.

While examining recovery of outstanding customs arrears, the chairman noticed that the pace was very slow, and advised the collectors to accelerate efforts and monitor monthly performance. The facilitation of passengers at the airports was also reviewed in the conference with the pledge to remove bottlenecks.

A comprehensive strategy was evolved to achieve the revenue targets for the current financial year, devising mechanism to constantly check on under-invoicing, effectively monitor assessments, vigorously recover outstanding arrears and quickly dispose goods ripe for auction etc.

Customs Collectors, in their presentations, highlighted the performance of their Collectorates. Project Director, CARE and PACCS, in his presentation, gave briefing on the share of business being dealt by Model Customs Collectorate, performance and achievements, the functionalities covered under PACCS, the role out plan and acknowledgement of the system at various national and international fora.

He said that Model Customs Collectorate is processing 27 percent of import and 32 percent of export consignments arriving at or going from Karachi port. He said that through business process re-engineering and introduction of PACCS, the customs processing time for imports through KICT has been reduced from seven days to less than four hours and dwell time reduced to less than 5 days. The cast of doing business has been reduced by expeditious clearance and corruption free environment.

He said that CARE will be replicated to PICT and QICT by September 30, 2006. The PACCS will start accepting carrier declaration electronically for both foregoing terminals and transit from August 14. The transhipment trade will be handled through the PACCS clearing such consignments within seconds.

The Project Director also explained that PACCS is not only gaining popularity within the country but its efficiency and effectiveness has also been acknowledged by international fora. He displayed a number of slides on this topic.

Chairman, CBR appreciating the PACCS said that all officers and staff must get training to operate the system effectively.

 

[Owais]

Palm oil supply to upcountry halts

KARACHI (August 03 2006): Palm oil supply to upcountry refineries has halted completely for the last 5/6 days and the edible oil producers of the country are in a fix as two big contractors associations which supply imported palm oil from Karachi port to upcountry destinations are locked horns with each other, sources told Business Recorder on Wednesday.

Sources said that the two big imported palm oil transporters-the All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owners Associations (edible oil transporters) and Edible Oil Contractors Association have completely suspended their operations following a tussle which cropped up between them on certain domestic issues.

"We can not work too much for less salaries and under unnecessary strict vigilance," said an office-bearer of All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owners Associations (edible oil).

He alleged that the Edible Oil Contractors Association was holding back No Objection Certificates (NoC) of heavy vehicles' drivers, adding that the said association had resorted to hooliganism and compelled the drivers to work for longer hours.

"We wanted to get ourselves separated with the contractors association and intended to make direct contracts with the oil refineries, which the contractors simply dislike," the office-bearer said.

He said that there are 120 big contractors who possess 3,000 heavy vehicles for edible oil transportation and they have been enjoying market monopoly since long. Contrary to that, the supply of imported palm oil is suspended to the small and big refineries of the country (even in Karachi) and the refiners have are facing losses of around Rs 50.4 million since Friday last.

"They (transporters and contractors) have also closed down edible oil terminals at Kaemari and Port Qasim," said an owner of an edible oil refinery at Port Qasim.

He pointed out that the palm oil supply to refineries of SITE, Port Qasim and Korangi has been halted since Friday last and due to non-availability of transportation facility, the operations of edible oil refineries in the country have come to a standstill.

"Actually, we daily lift our imported commodity from the port after paying duties and we can not operate our plants without raw material," he remarked. Industry sources said that around 2,500 tons to 3,000 tons of imported palm oil is lifted by the transporters from the port and since the country mainly depends on imported commodity, the ongoing edible oil crisis could further aggravate with this new issue.

Palm oil is used by the refineries as raw material, which process it and finally dispatch their production to the markets. "The demand and supply mechanism is not stable and this could further worsen the ongoing crisis because the middlemen could take advantage of the situation and raise the edible oil prices," a refinery owner mentioned.

He demanded of the officials concerned to take cognisance of the matter and intervene immediately to resolve the rift between the two associations as it could put a negative impact on cooking oil prices during Ramazan.

 

[Owais]

Musharraf for raising quality of human resources

ISLAMABAD (August 03 2006): President General Pervez Musharraf has emphasised the need for nurturing talent of younger generations and enhancing the quality of human resources in the knowledge-driven world to make Pakistan a powerful and developed country.

He was speaking at a function in Aiwan-e-Sadr on Wednesday held for the winners of All Pakistan Website Development Competition whose theme was 'Know my Pakistan'.

The President said there were two basic ingredients of power potential of a nation, namely the population, and the quality of its human resources. He said: "Pakistan is a nation of 150 million people, and we must enhance the quality of our human resources to have a prominent place in the economy driven world."

He said that knowledge was essential for development of the economy. In this connection he particularly mentioned information technology, saying that future of a country that wants to progress depends upon it. He added that "we must go for promoting information technology and for e-commerce and e-government".

The President said: "We can take Pakistan forward in every field through promoting science and technology which is key to development and economic stride of a nation."

He said that Pakistan is a great nation and everyone should be proud of it. "The need is to exploit all its potential". He said that the younger generation "needs to know more" about its own country which is unique in terms of diversity of temperature, history, culture and civilisation.

He said that the country's history "stretches back to 8,000 years", and referred to the civilisation of Taxila, Indus, Ghandara and Harrapa. He said that keeping in view the history, culture, civilisation and a variety of Pakistan's terrain Pakistan could attract maximum number of tourists.

Education Minister Javed Ashraf Qazi in his address said that it was an innovative competition organised by National University of Modern Languages. The competition, he said, was first launched within the provinces and, then among the provinces to select the best possible website.

The President gave away shields and cash prizes to the winners of the competition. St Mary Academy, Lalazar, Rawalpindi, got the First prize, Islamabad College of Girls, F-6/2 Sector, secured Second position, and Jameel Public School and College Mingora, Swat, stood Third.

The Fourth position went to St Bonaventure High School, Hyderabad. Earlier, the President was shown the websites developed by the position winners, their websites highlighting all information about Pakistan's culture, geography, history and varied nature of terrain.

 

[Owais]

Rains to benefit cotton, 25pc growth expected in Sindh

KARACHI: The growers and agronomists see the current spell of rains will have a positive effect on cotton crop as well as other seeds, particularly in lower Sindh, which earlier faced shortage of irrigation water during the sowing of paddy crop.

“The shortfall in the paddy crop may come down from 60 per cent to 40 per cent in lower Sindh after the current monsoon rains,” a cotton expert Qamar-ul-Zaman Shah told Geo news.

“The conventional cotton crop in lower Sindh, which was at flowering stage, may face little harmful effects of rains, but it will not affect BT cotton," he added.

He disclosed that BT cotton had been cultivated over an area of 1.5 to 2 lakh acres in lower Sindh, including Badin, Thatta and Matli, where conventional cotton was not produced due to high moisture.

Following torrential rains in the province, water level has improved significantly in Dadu. “If favourable climatic conditions continue in coming months and crop remains safe from pest attack, then the country will harvest a good cotton crop in the current season,” the expert said.

 

[Owais]

Govt plans London float for OGDCL by December, fresh sale of PSM


KARACHI (updated on: August 03, 2006, 21:35 PST): The government plans to list the Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDCL) on the London Stock Exchange through an issue of global depositary receipts (GDR) by December, a government minister said on Thursday.

"We are going according to the advice of our financial advisers and we plan to float the GDR's by September and October and complete the process by December," Privatisation Minister Zahid Hamid told Reuters.

Pakistan plans to sell between 10 and 15 percent of OGDCL shares through GDRs and a domestic offering, Hamid said. OGDCL, the country's largest listed firm, has a market capitalisation of around $10.2 billion.

The government holds a 95 percent stake in OGDCL, while the remaining five percent is listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange.

In May, the government appointed Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and BMA Capital Management to manage the OGDCL sale.

Pakistan's second-largest listed bank, MCB Bank Ltd has also said it is planning to issue global depository receipts.

The private sector bank, formerly known as Muslim Commercial Bank Ltd, has an asset base of around $5.0 billion and deposits of over $3.8 billion.

On Thursday, OGDCL shares closed at 142.95 rupees, up 0.6 rupees, while Karachi Stock Exchange's top 100 index was up one percent at 10,671.09 points.

Hamid also said the privatisation process of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) would be held afresh and the sale to a Russian-based consortium in an auction held in March was null and void.

A constitutional body on Wednesday cleared the government to privatise Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) after the country's Supreme Court blocked its sale in June.

The Supreme Court said there had been improprieties in the sale.

 

[Owais]

India, Pakistan at odds with Iran over gas price, form committee
NEW DELHI (updated on: August 03, 2006, 19:57 PST): Differences persist between India and Iran over the price of gas that would flow through a proposed pipeline, with Tehran wanting a higher return, but both countries said they remained committed to the project.

After a round of talks in New Delhi, officials from India, Pakistan -- through which the pipeline will pass -- and Iran formed a nine-member committee to try to narrow their differences and arrive at a deal on Friday.

India and Iran have been discussing the $7-billion pipeline for months but pricing has proved the main sticking point.

"We are very confident. I am sure some way can be found and one of the approaches which we have agreed upon is that a team of experts composing people from all delegations will go through the proposal, basically on pricing," the top bureaucrat in India's petroleum ministry, M.S. Srinivasan said.

The pipeline was first proposed more than a decade ago, but progress has been slow because of hostility between India and Pakistan and, more recently, US opposition to Iran over its controversial nuclear programme.

An Indian oil ministry official said Iran had offered a formula of 10 percent of the average Brent crude price plus a fixed cost of $1.2 per million metric British thermal units, which India and Pakistan consider expensive.

COSTLY GAS

At present prices, the Iranian proposal would mean the two South Asian countries paying $8 per mmBtu, the official said. New Delhi has offered a far lower $4.25 per mmBtu.

"The price of the seller is about twice (that which) the buyer is asking for," Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Mohammad Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian said.

"The price we are asking is fair and just. We have a report saying that it is a good price for India and Pakistan.

Iran has the second-largest natural gas reserves in the world behind Russia -- about 940 trillion cubic feet -- while growing Asian economies, including India and Pakistan, are scrambling to find energy sources to feed industrial expansion.

The work on the pipeline, likely to begin in the middle of 2007, is expected to be completed by 2012 to meet growing demand from India and Pakistan, estimated at 50 billion cubic metres a year.

Pakistan officials said they agreed with India's view on pricing and found the Iranian offer expensive.

"Both of us as buyers of gas have similar views on what the realistic price should be," said Mukhtar Ahmed, energy adviser to Pakistan's prime minister, Shaukat Aziz.

India has had to tread a tightrope in the pipeline talks, trying to satisfy its appetite for hydrocarbons while not upsetting Washington. It faces a natural gas deficit of 200 million cubic metres a day in 20 years.

India has reached a civilian nuclear co-operation deal with the United States that is intended to boost the country's nuclear power capacity as a way to meet soaring energy needs.

The deal is currently being reviewed by US legislators amid criticism it would reward India with nuclear technology and fuel while the country refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has conducted nuclear tests.

Experts say the agreement would allow India to produce nuclear weapons easily because it frees up domestic supplies for military use.