Pakistan Economy - News & Updates - Archive

[Owais]

Indian cabinet approves shipping pact with Pakistan

New Delhi: In a move expected to give a fillip to India-Pakistan trade, India Friday approved a revised protocol on resuming shipping services with Pakistan.

The revised protocol was approved by the cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday.

'The revised protocol will allow lifting of cargo between the two countries by third country vessels as well as lifting of third country cargo by Indian and Pakistani flag vessels from each others' ports,' Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi announced after the cabinet meeting.

'This is expected to enhance tonnage under both flags and also result in competitive shipping rates,' he added.

Giving figures, he said Indian exports to Pakistan had registered a 167 percent growth between 2001-02 and 2004-05, rising from Rs.8.54 billion to Rs.22.88 billion. Imports from Pakistan had risen 42 percent in the same period from Rs.2.92 billion to Rs.4.70 billion, he pointed out.

The cabinet also approved the purchase through a global tender of seven container scanning systems at a cost of Rs.1.72 billion.

The container scanning systems will be deployed at Mumbai, Chennai, Tuticorin, and Kandla ports 'and will reveal discrepancies, if any, between the declaration made in documents and the actual contents of the containers', the minister stated.

The cabinet also gave its approval for extending by five months till March 31, 2007, the term of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities.

'This will enable the commission to concretise its recommendations in a meaningful, purposeful and pragmatic manner,' Dasmunsi explained.

The cabinet also decided to ratify the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expressions adopted by UNESCO in October, 2005, the minister said.

 

[Owais]

Cotton production target would be achieved: Punjab Minister

LAHORE: Cotton production target of 10.8 million bales would be achieved despite a little damage to the crops this season by pest attacks.

Punjab Agriculture Minister, Arshad Khan Lodhi told this in a meeting with a delegation of the growers held here on the second day of Eid.

He said that the Pest Warning And Quality Control of the Agriculture Department took timely preventive measures and provided guidance to the growers besides supplying pesticide in time for overcoming the pests attacking the crops.

Arshad Lodhi told that the menace of the sale of tainted pesticides has been controlled to a great extent by taking stern actions against elements indulging in such anti-social activities

 

[Owais]

Mid-term plan for agriculture sector growth

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has devised a mid-term plan setting 4.5 percent growth rate in agriculture sector for next five years.

The wheat production will be enhanced to 25 million tonnes from existing 21.7 million tonnes under the mid-term plan, Chairman Pakistan Agriculture Research Council Dr. Muhammad Tasnim said in Islamabad. Under the plan rice production target has been set at six million tonnes in a year.

The rice exports from the country would exceed to $ one billion this year, Tasnim expected.

 

[Owais]

Sustainable economic growth: Asian Bank stresses importance of three areas
ISLAMABAD (October 28 2006): The Asian Development Bank has suggested, and emphasised on, three areas for sustainable economic growth of South Asian countries - quality of regulations, effectiveness of government interventions, and quality of infrastructure - which have a direct impact on their economic growth.

The document titled 'South Asia Economic Report', released in October 2006 by Asian Development Bank (ADB), states that South Asia is not fully realising its growth potential. The over-regulated business environment does not allow for a conducive environment.

It states that a good regulatory environment results in a healthy balance between government intervention and market mechanism and provides a stable and supporting business environment. But, when the regulations are overly imposed, it restricts the business activities.

The report estimated that if Pakistan improved its quality of regulations to the level of Thailand, the additional GDP growth could amount to 0.8 percent and, for India, it could amount to 1.6 percent, it adds.

It further says that one of the areas that is over-regulated relates to setting up running a business enterprise. Firms are frequently confronted with a heavy burden of administrative requirements such as permits and regulations issued by the government, which are substantially more complicated in South Asia. The permit and regulation fee in South Asia, as percentage of income per capita, is 903 percent in Pakistan and 606 percent in India. Contrary to this, Thailand has 11 percent, Malaysia 78 percent and China 84 percent.

The taxation system is also very complex and singles out the regulatory features. In some cases, the cost of compliance with tax regulations exceeds the revenues collected. The frequent use of exemptions and exclusions complicate the taxation system and make the system vulnerable to tax avoidance and evasion, and to discriminatory tax assessment, it says.

Similarly, the number of signatures involved for international trade is excessive which has a negative impact on the trade. Comparing with Asean 4, it says, for imports and exports only seven and five signatures are required, respectively, whereas in South Asia 22 and 12 signatures are needed for the same documentation.

Customs, which is also one of the main departments and plays an important role in facilitating business, unfortunately is not supportive in South Asian region due to its lengthy procedures and excessive signing besides manual system, instead of computerised. It further obstructs the smooth flow of business with its tedious and extensive physical examination of goods, it adds.

Despite reducing tariffs, substantial tariff barriers to trade still persist. The average import tariff in South Asia is about 18 percent, which is high compared to the average tariff in Asean 4 which is about nine percent, it adds.

On government effectiveness, the report says that considerable scope for improvement remains in government effectiveness in South Asia. Compared to the frontrunners Malaysia and Thailand, government interventions through public spending are found to be less effective in South Asian countries, but it says that Pakistan is above average in South Asia with 40 percent and is at par with Indonesia and slightly edging India, which is 35 percent.

The third very important area, the report says, is infrastructure, which encompasses power, transportation and telecommunication. These three sectors are very critical for efficient functioning of the economy.

It says that lack of physical infrastructure in South Asia is well documented and is repeatedly highlighted as one of the major constraints to sustaining high economic growth in the region, particularly for the manufacturing sector. The reliability of power supply and the quality of railroads, ports and transport are of main concern.

The report says that Pakistan is the only country in the South Asian region which has a good record of import-export time with average of 20 days, whereas India has 34 days.

The report applauds the initiative taken by Pakistan in privatisation of Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation and Karachi Electric Supply Company, which would have a positive impact on the economy of Pakistan and would invite foreign direct investment and public-private partnerships as in India public-private partnerships have attracted $8 billion after they initiated policy reforms in infrastructure, it says.

 

[Owais]

Low-sulphur diesel: refineries not prepared to meet December 2008 deadline

ISLAMABAD (October 28 2006): The oil refineries have differed with the government over deadline and presented their demands for switch-over from low quality diesel, having high sulphur content, to Euro II to address the pollution issue in major cities.

The demands are grant of zero-rated duty on import and exemption from all government levies on plants and machinery for refineries. The refineries have also demanded higher price for low-sulphur diesel.

The refineries are of the view that since the switch-over was a big task and needed huge investment, it also needed at least 36 months from the date of approval of the demands.

The government had set December 2008 as deadline for the refineries to ensure supply of Euro II with 500 ppm sulphur for marketing. Euro II is quality diesel, which causes less pollution due to low sulphur content.

An Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) letter, addressed to Petroleum Ministry, indicated that oil refineries were not ready to meet the government deadline of December 2008 for changing over from low quality diesel to Euro II having 500 ppm sulphur content.

The refineries import low quality diesel and, after refining, sell it to dealers to supply to vehicle owners at their outlets. The low quality diesel is a major cause of pollution in the cities where diesel vehicles ply in large numbers for transportation and carriage of goods.

The World Bank has been drawing attention of the officials towards this serious issue for a long time, suggesting that early introduction of Euro II diesel could help Pakistan address the pollution problem in major cities like Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/Islamabad.

The letter indicated that oil refineries were not ready to take any advice from the government, whatever situation arises in cities where the use of low quality diesel was being used massively, until and unless its demands were met.

The letter said "We are delighted to share with you that all refineries are targeting for 500 ppm - Euro II-compliant diesel. In this regard, all of the refineries have carried out studies and presented estimated investments to the government. It also referred to meeting held in Islamabad on September 6, last and attended by the officials of the Petroleum and Environment ministries.

It further said "You (The ministry of Petroleum) will appreciate that refineries' upgradation is a capital-intensive project (estimated $500 million). At the same time lead-time for commissioning of such projects is 36 months. Therefore, refineries have presented a realistic time frame of December 2009." It showed that refineries have submitted essential prerequisites to execute the project that were basically demands for duty waiver on import of machinery and plants, besides exemption for them from all kinds of government levies and taxes.

 

[Owais]

World Bank to provide $70 million for Karachi dockers labour board project

FAISALABAD (October 28 2006): World Bank (WB) will provide $70 million for "Karachi Dockers Labour Board Restructuring Project" for reducing the cost of trade and transport logistics and bringing services' quality to international standards in order to reduce the cost of doing business in Pakistan and ultimately enhance export competitiveness and the country's industrialisation.

According to official sources, overall reduction of transport and transit costs and times for goods using the National Trade Corridor; and Reduced share of domestic transport costs and cost of non-factor services in the total value of commodities.

The project will include three components:

Severance: The objective of this component is to reduce the cost of Pakistan ports for port users by reducing related labour costs. This component will finance severance and related payments to management and workers retrenched due to closure of KDLB Labour Redeployment Services: The objective of this component is to provide labour redeployment services, to KDLB management and workers who have been displaced by closure of KDLB, to assist them in re-entering the labour force. This component will finance: (i) technical assistance and minor goods to develop and maintain administrative procedures between KDLB and other agencies (to be identified during project preparation) facilitating the assessment and planning for delivery of services to KDLB workers, and (ii) the actual cost of delivering labour redeployment services for up to 4,000 displaced staff. Labour redeployment services will be demanded driven and will include, but not be limited, to those addressing: frictional unemployment (ie, social and career/counselling, job placement)), structural unemployment (ie, institutional and on-job training), and lack of demand for labour (ie, temporary community employment, small/micro business assistance).

Project Management and Evaluation: The objective of this component is to: (i) ensure effective administration and co-ordination of the overall project including financial management and accounts, procurement, and reporting; (ii) ensure effective communication related to the decision to close down KDLB and to the implementation of the retrenchment plan; and (iii) to monitor the social impact of the closure of KDLB.

The component will finance technical assistance and minor goods to ensure co-ordination of project management activities and monitoring of the impact of KDLB in displaced workers, their families, the community, and the net impact of labour redeployment services provided to retrenched KDLB staff.

 

[Owais]

Pakistan to buy locomotives from Russia and Ukraine

RAWALPINDI (October 28 2006): Pakistan has decided to purchase high-speed locomotives and comfy wagons from Russia and Ukraine to modernise its internal traffic system and provide better facilities to passengers, railways minister Sheikh Rashid said here, on Thursday.

Talking to journalists during his visit to Rawalpindi railway station and Railways hospital, the minister said the railways has achieved the target of Rs 50 million profit for the first time in its history. "We have fulfilled the promise to run 40 special trains on Eid to help people reach their homes to celebrate Eid with their loved one," he added.

He said the number of rail passengers has increased manifold due to reforms introduced in the railways and enhanced facilities to people. The increased figures of passengers are ample proof that people have trust in the railways, he added.

He told reporters Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has instructed him to get latest high-speed locomotives and comfortable wagons from Russia and Ukraine and soon he would be visiting these countries to finalise deals.

He said the railways has been transformed into a profitable organisation. "Railways has trained manpower but in the past it was not utilised in a befitting manner. Now, we are using this potential to serve the nation in a better way," he added. Sheikh Rashid said the proposal of bullet train is under consideration but the topmost priority is to double the track from Khyber to Karachi. On the occasion, he distributed sweets and flowers among passengers and patients.

 

[Neo]

Business, industry suffer huge losses: Extended Eid holidays

KARACHI, Oct 27: The nation has to suffer billions of rupees loss in industrial production owing to extended Eidul Fitr holidays which resulted in long closure of production facilities throughout the country. Even export trade has to suffer millions of dollars on missing weekly shipping schedule.

Business leaders and industrialists have expressed their utter dismay over long closure of business and industrial establishments and demanded of the government to adopt some proper and fool-proof method in this modern and scientific era for sighting of moon in order to avoid recurrence of such incidents.

The business and industrial activity will remain at standstill until coming Monday because there is no possibility that those who left for their ancestral places on Jumatul Widah would return before early next week.

“Had the government handled the eid holidays issue wisely, there would have been only three close holidays starting from Oct 24 to October 26,” said a leading exporter, adding that this would have also discouraged people from clubbing their holidays with other close days such as Jumatul Widah and week-end.

The long closures have also made exporters to suffer as they missed their two weekly shipment schedules i.e. Monday and Thursday. This may force some exporters to air-lift their cargo in order to save their LCs from expiring or losing their export contracts.

SITE Association of Industry Chairman Amin Bandukda told Dawn that the industrial production in SITE area suffered on an average a loss of Rs2 billion per day.

He said that on Friday, there was very thin attendance of work-force in the industry and there was no possibility that workers who left to interior of Sindh or the upcountry would come back before Monday.

Mr Bandukda said that around 3,000 units in SITE area were involved in production of large variety of goods including textiles, engineering, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, beverages, steel re-rolling etc.

He urged the government to adopt some proper calculation or method for sighting of moon as it had economic implications as for any nation in this era quality, timely delivery and competitive price were the major weapons of success on the world market.

Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) Chairman Masood Naqvi said that there was rare possibility of witnessing full-scale production activity before coming Monday, because many industrial workers who left for their ancestral places would not be able to come back in time due to face transportation problems.

Responding to a question, he said that around 4,000 industrial units set up in KATI contribute around Rs250 million per day towards national exchequer in shape of duties and taxes. “This will give clear picture as to how much industrial production is lost per day,” he added.

“Sighting of moon is a serious issue and it should not be left to Moulvis and scientific methods should be adopted to avoid controversy resulting in economic losses for the country,” Mr Naqvi asserted.

In an era where up to a split of second could be calculated there was no reason that lunar movement could not be calculated well in advance, he maintained.

North Karachi Industrial Area (NKIA) Patron-in-Chief Capt Moiz Khan said that he had to close his unit at Juma prayers as no workforce returned. “I kept my office open till midday on Friday in the hope that labour would report back after Eid holidays but nobody returned back,” he complained.

He further said that all the markets and commercial areas of the city also remained closed and there was no hope that industrial and business activity would come to normal before Monday.

However, he said that the messing up of Eid holidays by the government was the main reason that most of the workforce would not come back to their work places before early next week. “This would mean that the industrial production will remain at standstill for around 10 to 11 days incurring huge economic loss.

He said that the North Karachi industrial area contributed on an average around Rs200 million per day towards the national kitty.

 

[Neo]

Pakistan urged to reduce tariff on utilities

28 October 2006

ISLAMABAD — The World Bank has urged Pakistan to reduce the cost of doing business in Pakistan especially by lowering tariff rates of power, gas and other essential utilities.

One of the failures of the present government, official sources conceded, is its inability to reduce the cost of doing business in Pakistan and that inexpensive and timely infrastructure facilities such as land, electricity, gas etc were needed to be offered to the local and foreign investors.

According to one safe estimate, also approved by some government officials privately, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) could double within one year if various hurdles and impediments in the way of businessmen are removed by the government.

However, the concerned government officials frequently quote the new report of World Bank/International Finance Commission (IFC) which says "doing business became easier in India and Pakistan in 2005-06", adding that five reforms in India and two in Pakistan reduced the time, cost, and hassle for businesses to comply with legal and administrative requirements.

No other South Asian economy improved its business regulations in 2005-2006, ranking the region last in the pace of reforms.

India, as leading reformer in South Asia, has taken over the top spot from Pakistan in last year's report. India cut the time to start a business from 71 to 25 days and reduced the corporate income tax rate from 36.59 per cent to 33.66 per cent.

A Supreme Court decision made enforcing collateral simpler, easing access to credit. New risk management procedures in customs lowered

import time by two days and exports by nine days. Reforms to stock exchange rules toughened investor protections. Pakistan was the runner-up reformer in South Asia this year.

Background discussion with some officials revealed that the government urgently needs to simplify business registration, cross-border trade, and payment of taxes, as well as easing access to credit and strengthening investor protection without which no meaningful investment could take place in the country.

The research on Pakistan in the World Bank/IFC report was conducted by Dr Zafar Moeen Nasir, senior economist at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economist (PIDE). He believes the situation has slightly improved as far as the cost of doing business in Pakistan is concerned.

"The problem is that we have too many laws, our bureaucracy is non cooperative and our tariffs, especially those relating to customs, are still high compared to other countries. Then we do not have proper infrastructure which is particularly in bad shape

in transport sector. All these things have become a big hurdle in the way of the investors," he said when approached.

He also said that while power rates were still high, the frequent electricity breakdown was further causing problems to the industrialists. He quoted an example of an investor from Libya who recently came to Pakistan and despite making all efforts, he could not get the required support to set up his business from the Board of Investment (BoI).

"Later, he came to us and we helped him to some extent," he said adding that BoI needed to be made a vibrant organisation in a bid to providing all possible facilities to the investors in the country. Like Dubai and China, Pakistan should also provide instant

infrastructure facilities to the investors under one roof if at all real local and foreign investment was to be attracted, he said.

A former senior official of the Planning Commission and former head of PIDE, Dr. A. R. Kamal said that World Bank/IFC report has shown some improvement as far doing business in Pakistan was concerned.

 

[Neo]

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Fiscal 2005-06: 17 industries contributed 79% of indirect taxes

By Hamid Waleed

LAHORE: Some 17 industries (Commodity Groups) have contributed about 79 percent of the total gross receipts of indirect taxes during 2005-06.

Total collection under these major contributors of Indirect Taxes stood at Rs 427.6 billion against Rs 111.2 billion from other sources.

The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) documents reveal that more than half of this collection emanates from six items that include petroleum products, automobile sector (vehicles and parts), electrical and mechanical machinery, cigarettes, telecom sector, and iron and steel.

These seventeen industries include petroleum, auto sector, machinery, cigarettes, telecom, iron & steel, edible oils, natural gas, cement, plastic, sugar, chemicals, electrical energy, beverages, textile, fertiliser and coffee, tea etc.

According to details, collection of indirect taxes through petroleum stood at Rs 105.1 billion during 2005-06 against Rs 67.1 billion in 2004-05 with an increase of 56.8 percent. This collection, among all 17 industries, is the highest collection of indirect taxes followed by auto sector Rs 63.1 billion), machinery (Rs 32.1 billion), cigarettes (Rs 28.9 billion), telecom (Rs 28.3 billion), iron and steel (Rs 27.3 billion), edible oils (Rs 23 billion), natural gas (Rs 19.8 billion), cement (Rs 17.6 billion), plastic (Rs 14.9 billion), sugar (Rs 15.3 billion), chemicals (Rs 15.3 billion), electrical energy (Rs 13.4 billion), beverages (Rs 8.9 billion), textile (Rs 5.2 billion), fertiliser (Rs 5.1 billion) and coffee and tea (Rs 4.4 billion).

The tax analysts have termed it a case of narrowness of the base of indirect taxes. It also highlights the pitfall of relying on any of these few items could have far reaching revenue implications, they said, adding: It should be obvious that any contingency faced by these industries can cast a debilitating effect on tax receipts.

The direct taxes, on the other hand, have also surpassed the upwardly revised annual target of Rs 215 billion by 4.5 percent. The overall growth in FY05-06 in gross and net collection has been 21.7 percent and 22.5 percent, respectively over last year. In terms of value, the net collection has been Rs 224.6 billion, which is Rs 41.2 billion higher than previous year. In response to completely liquidation of refund remaining pendent, the refund payments of Rs 34 billion were 17.1 percent higher than those paid out in FY04-05.

 

[Neo]

Saturday, October 28, 2006

China to offer efficient farming techniques to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Peoples Republic of China will offer dry farming, water-saving irrigation technologies and high-tech fertilization to Pakistan under a five-year cooperation action plan in the field of agriculture and technical cooperation to be agreed between the two countries during the forthcoming visit of the Chinese president, a government official told the Daily Times on Friday.

The Chinese side has indicated this in the draft five-year cooperation action plan submitted to Pakistan for review before the Chinese president’s visit to Pakistan. A Chinese assistant minister will be visiting Pakistan from Nov 9 to 12 to finalize and initial a five-year cooperation action plan in consultation with Pakistani authorities.

In the area of agriculture, China has said that it fully acknowledges Pakistan’s needs for increasing agriculture productivity, developing deep agriculture processing and expanding Pakistan’s agriculture exports. The two sides are likely to express readiness to further intensify and deepen comprehensive agricultural cooperation, share experience and technology and encourage Chinese agriculture processing and agriculture technology companies to invest in Pakistan.

In the field of agriculture the two sides would agree on the priorities of cooperation in the field of agriculture over the next five years. Both the countries would develop strategic cooperation in water-saving irrigation, dry and water saving farming and high-tech fertilization. Strengthening cooperation in fruit, dairy and feed processing, pesticide management, aquaculture, ocean fishery and fish product deep processing. Strengthening cooperation in farming technologies and technical training. Strengthening cooperation in cotton diseases and pest management, field management and cotton ginning and processing technologies.

In the area of technical cooperation both the countries would agree that both the sides recognize mutual complementarity in science and technology as well as long-standing and fruitful bilateral cooperation in this area and foresee enormous potential for future cooperation. Both sides to intensify cooperation primarily in the areas over the next five years. Water-saving irrigation and dry farming, seeding, farming machinery, fruit, meat and dairy processing, saline alkali soil transformation, acid and alkali resistant crop breeding.

The five-year cooperation action plan between Pakistan and China aims to steer and promote rapid, stable and orderly development of bilateral trade and economic cooperation to broaden the scope and enhance the level of cooperation to achieve a balanced trade with win-win and mutually beneficial results and to drive comprehensive socioeconomic development in both the countries.

Agriculture is considered to be the backbone of the Pakistan economy and the largest employer. Agriculture’s share in GDP was over 35% a few years ago, which stands at 22% now. Pakistan’s agriculture is facing many challenges, including less availability of water and credit, lacking new agriculture technologies and innovations, training on modern lines and a host of other factors.

 

[Neo]

Government sets 22.5 million tonnes wheat target

ISLAMABAD: October 29, 2006. The government has fixed 22.5 million tones wheat targets for the current Rabi season, higher by more than 7,90,000 tones than the previous year's production.

Federal Secretary Food, Agriculture and Livestock was on Sunday quoted by Radio Pakistan as saying that the target would be achieved by 17.8 million tonnes production in Punjab, 2.7 million tonnes in Sindh, 1.25 million tonnes in NWFP and 0.7 million tonnes in Balochistan.

He said wheat will be cultivated over 10 million acres of land in Punjab, more than 2.2 million acres of land in Sindh, 1.8 million acres in NWFP and about 750,000 acres in Balochistan.

 

[Neo]

Dana Gas consortium in Pakistan LNG terminal deal

DUBAI: October 29, 2006. A consortium including Dana Gas has signed an agreement to develop a liquefied natural gas terminal in Pakistan at an estimated cost of $200 million, the UAE company said on Sunday.

A statement said Dana Gas, Single Buoy Moorings (SBM) and US-based Granada Group signed the memorandum of understanding for the LNG terminal at Port Qasim, Karachi, which would have an initial capacity of 3.5 million tonnes a year.

It said the consortium was holding talks with major LNG producers, but did not name them.

"Dana Gas has the objective to develop a network of LNG terminals mainly in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region and to tap into the LNG value chain including LNG trading activities," the statement said.

It said Dana Gas signed a co-operation agreement with SBM, under which the United Arab Emirates firm would focus on LNG marketing activities and SBM on the supply and operation of LNG floating storage and regasification terminals.

"The newly formed alliance will initially target LNG terminal projects in Pakistan, Lebanon and Kuwait," it said.

Pakistan, which has its own gas fields, expects to have a supply deficit as soon as 2008. Plans to import LNG and pipeline gas from Iran and Turkmenistan are based on projected gas demand growth of about 6.5 percent a year.

Industry sources in Pakistan have said they expected the LNG terminal to be completed around 2010.

Dana Gas was set up to deliver gas to utilities and industrial users in the UAE. With an agreement to import Iranian natural gas delayed, Dana Gas' second-quarter earnings came entirely from investments and financing activity.

The firm said it aims to invest in the upstream gas industry in the Middle East, the transmission and distribution sector and gas-related industries such as petrochemicals.

The statement said natural gas consumption in the Middle East has been growing by an average 5.9 percent a year in the last 10 years, driven mostly by demand for power generation due to growing populations and an industrialisation drive.

 

[Neo]

Musharraf for common man's access to resources: PPAF role against poverty explained

ISLAMABAD (October 29 2006): President General Pervez Musharraf on Saturday underlined the need to facilitate common man's access to resources through broadening of economic opportunities, especially for the disadvantaged and poor segments of the society to alleviate poverty in the country.

He made these remarks during a presentation by Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) on efforts to empower the poor and increase their income. The President noted that as a result of focussed efforts, the government had been able to bring the poverty ratio down to 24 percent from 34 percent, and added that efforts must continue to reduce this further in the coming years.

He said that the government was following a strategy to improve the quality of life through job creation in urban areas and development of agriculture sector in the rural areas, and taking steps to transfer the gains of economic turnaround to the people at the grass-roots level.

He stressed the need to increase the outreach of Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund in the remote regions of the country, particularly in Balochistan, and concentrate on schemes for provision of both potable water and water for agriculture. The President appreciated the projects being undertaken by PPAF in 20,000 villages in various parts of the country.

Earlier, PPAF Chairman Hussain Dawood and Kamal Hayat, Chief Executive of the Fund, made a presentation on achievements made so far by PPAF, a body formed in 2000 to achieve the objective of poverty alleviation through public-private partnership.

They informed the meeting about various initiatives to empower the poor, especially women, through increasing their income level and enabling their accessibility to infrastructure and social services. They said that local communities and partner organisations were fully involved through institution building support for sustained development.

Various international agencies, like the World Bank and International Fund for Agriculture Development and other private sector financial institutions, are supporting PPAF efforts, especially in the area of micro-financing and funding community-level projects. The meeting was informed that since 2000, the PPAF has made total disbursement of $391 million, including $222 million for micro-financing.

In rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in the quake-hit areas, the meeting was told that PPAF had supported government efforts in the rebuilding process that resulted in construction of 115,000 housing units with around 1,000 infrastructure schemes rehabilitated. The meeting was attended by Dr Salman Shah, Ms Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister of State for Economic Affairs, and Secretary Economic Affairs Division and concerned officials.

 

[Owais]

ADB provides Rs 2 billion for Punjab's social uplift


ISLAMABAD (updated on: October 29, 2006, 19:25 PST): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided over Rs 2 billion to Punjab government for social uplift of the people in barani areas in ten districts of the province.

According to a report, the Punjab government will contribute Rs 560 million and community will also invest Rs 516 million in these projects.

These projects are aimed at poverty alleviation and social uplift of the people and to generate sources of income for the poor families. The programme is of five years duration and will be completed in 2010.