Pakistan Economy - News & Updates - Archive

[Owais]

Pakistan and Nepal sign accord to enhance cooperation

ISLAMABAD (January 26 2007): Pakistan and Nepal on Thursday signed an agreement to enhance co-operation in agriculture. Muhammad Ismail Qureshi, secretary, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock and Ganesh Kumar K.C, secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Co-operative of Nepal signed the agreement on behalf of their respective governments in Kathmandu.

Under the agreement, the agriculture ministries of the two countries would cooperate in promoting agriculture development and would work in association with other scientific research and development institutions, said a message of the Pakistan Embassy.

The areas of co-operation also include exchange of experts and literature, sharing of knowledge and technologies, human resource development, mountainous areas farming development, conservation and management of soil and water, watershed management, farm/social forestry and range-land management, cold water fisheries/aquaculture, apiculture and forests products, livestock breed improvement and feed production.

The agreement would also encompass any other area of co-operation in the field of agriculture including livestock, fisheries, food technology and forestry related research and development.

Both the countries have agreed to establish linkages between their respective institutions and facilitate the exchange of researchers, extension workers and stakeholders, the statement said.


http://brecorder.com/index.php?id=521685&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Owais]

Pakistan to become economic hub of South Asia: minister

ISLAMABAD (January 26 2007): Pakistan has the potential to become economic hub of South Asia in near future with the development of Gwadar Port and laying of Havelian-Kashghar (China) and Quetta-Quandhar (Afghanistan) railway track, said Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

He said this while talking to the outgoing Chinese Ambassador Zhang Chun Xiang who called on him here on Thursday. The minister further said that Pakistan would emerge as the energy and economy corridor for Central and South Asia linking with Europe and rest of the world through road and rail network.

"China being an economic giant would heavily rely on Pakistan for export of its commodities to the world through this strategic route", he added. Rasheed appreciated the work done by Chinese firms in manufacturing of locomotives and passenger coaches in Pakistan Railways Carriage factory.

He further said that keeping in view the rising economy of Pakistan the load of freight movement has increased manifold in the last few years. To cope with the emerging and projected situation in term of goods transportation, Pakistan Railway direly needed locomotives, freight coaches and new rail tracks.

He encouraged the Chinese Entrepreneur to join Pakistan Railways in materialising these projects. Highlighting the significance of Havelian-Kashghar rail network, Railways Minister told the Ambassador that feasibility study on this new track was underway, which would practically start at the end on next month.

As a result of the last visit of the Chinese President Hu Jintao to Pakistan, the co-operation between China and Pakistan on railways has become manifold, he added.

He said different avenues of mutual co-operation has been marked that also included extending railway line to China, introduction of new signal system and construction of mass transit train systems.

He also invited the Chinese firms to participate in mass transit train projects and revival of Karachi Circular Rail (KCR) system. Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed appreciated the efforts of the outgoing Chinese Ambassador in consolidation of Pakistan-China relations.

http://brecorder.com/index.php?id=521734&currPageNo=3&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

January 26, 2007
3 accords signed with Canada: Information technology

ISLAMABAD, Jan 25: Three agreements were signed between Pakistan and Canada in the IT sector here on Thursday.

The agreements were signed by the representatives of the signing companies in the presence of the Canadian High Commissioner in Pakistan and Premier Dalton McGuinty of Ontario, Canada, according to a statement issued by the Board of Investment.

The signatories of these agreements are TenXc Wireless, Canada with Coherent Designs, Pakistan, Research in Motion, Canada, with Innovs Limited, Pakistan; Pathways Group, Canada with Si3, Pakistan.

Oober Inc. of Richmond Hill, Ontario, also announced that it was opening its software development centre in Islamabad.

Earlier, speaking at a breakfast meeting arranged by the Board of Investment in honour of the visiting delegation from Ontario, Canada in a local hotel in Islamabad, Ms Sandra Pupoatello, Minister of Economic Development and Trade Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues, said that Pakistan had undergone a remarkable economic transformation which had put the country on the radar of international investment.

"Pakistan is not what we read about it, Pakistan is what we have seen here during our visit. It is the future investment destination and a time will come in near future when everybody will say, "the world is in Pakistan, where are we," she added.

Appreciating the investor-friendly policies of the government, she said this was the first delegation from Ontario, which has visited Pakistan and we have seen immense opportunities in almost every sector of economy.

Emphasising upon the investment opportunities in IT, infrastructure, power, health, agriculture and livestock, oil and gas and housing and construction, she asked the members of her delegation to take full benefit of these for mutual benefits.

She also stressed the need for more interaction and cooperation between the two countries.

Mr Omar Ayub, minister of state for finance, in his address said that as a result of macro-economic reforms, Pakistan’s economy was now booming at fast growth rate.

The rising Foreign Direct Investment figures are a proof of increasing investments in all sectors of economy in Pakistan.

This all, he said, has been possible because of conducive investment climate created through liberal policies of the government.

Highlighting the vast potential that exists in Pakistan in all sectors, he called upon the Canadian investors to invest in any sectors they like as all sectors were available for investment where no government permission was required.

Earlier, BOI secretary, Mr Talat Miyan, said the investment policies of Pakistan were the most liberal in the whole region and all sectors of economy were open for 100 per cent foreign equity.

The secretary briefed them about the investment incentives and opportunities available in Pakistan.

He assured all support from Government of Pakistan and BOI to Canadian investors and told them that this was the right time to invest in Pakistan.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/26/ebr2.htm

 

[Neo]

January 26, 2007
Auto makers plan to invest Rs225bn

ISLAMABAD, Jan 25: The auto industry will invest Rs225 billion in the next few years to achieve a new target of 500,000 cars a year, generating more than 30,000 jobs. At the current rate, Pakistan by 2010 would make 500,000 cars a year and pay Rs100 billion in taxes, provided the government ensures a long-term and consistent policy to protect the interests of local industry and to attract fresh investment.

Briefing newsmen here on Thursday, director, corporate planning and customer relations, Indus Motor Company (IMC), Shah M Saad Hussain, said that the auto industry had shown an average growth of about 25pc per annum over the last three years.

During the fiscal year 2006-07, the growth is expected to be between 10 and 15 per cent.

The import of used cars, he said, was hurting both local car manufacturers and vendors, and it would also bring down revenue collection.

To a question, he said import of used cars was not a threat to local production. In countries, like India and Thailand, customs duty on import of used cars was much higher than Pakistan.

Sharp demand for automobiles in the last five years has been spurred by a positive economic outlook and political stability, he said.

Mr Hussain said the proposed policy should be framed in a way it protects the national interests.

He elaborated that encouragement of local production would help generate more employment.

The government had already worked out tariff structure under the new auto policy, which would be presented for approval at the next meeting of Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet.

To a question, he replied that the price of cars depends on the localisation of the maximum parts of the cars. He said 35 per cent parts are still being imported for assembling local cars. Replying to a question, he said that the auto manufacturers are of the view that we do not have any law to control prices of cars.

He said there is an understanding to increase the local production in the next few years for its subsequent exports.

Until 2000 Pakistan had been producing around 40,000 vehicles annually, but production has grown four times to around 160,000.

He said after 9/11, purchase of cars had increased tremendously because of financing by banks and growth in economy.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/26/ebr4.htm

 

[Neo]

Friday, January 26, 2007

VIEW: Recent economic developments —Shahid Kardar

The real unknown is the state of the poor. The evidence on the growth in their real incomes and purchasing power is at best anecdotal and somewhat murky. There are huge and widening disparities in incomes and wealth between the rich and the poor

Recent economic data indicates a decline in the core inflation rate by two percentage points. Although this is welcome news, it will bring little comfort to the poor for whom inflation in essential food items continues to be in double digits. Prices of goods like oil and food tend to be affected more by supply and demand conditions than by monetary policy and by way of carrying more weight in the Consumer Price Index (of 40 percent), impact overall inflation and expectations regarding inflation more heavily. This suggests that the prices of essential wage goods are key factors in determining inflationary pressures and that monetary policy is not a major determinant of inflation in Pakistan.

Another welcome development of the State Bank’s tightening policy is the deceleration in the rate of increase in imports. This has been due in no small part to the downslide in the international price of oil and to some slowing down in imports of investment and other goods, the latter partly owing to the fact that the base of imports had become rather large for their increase to continue at rates of 30 percent per annum.

However, the adverse impact on the balance of payments will not be reduced substantially because the growth in exports has also decelerated. We are likely to still encounter the prospect of a huge trade deficit by the end of the financial year, perhaps even larger than the one witnessed last year. This gap in the external account will be financed by the surge in remittances, liberal availability of concessional aid and external borrowings at worldwide low interest rates. The rest of the chasm will be filled by GDRs (global depositary receipts) of OGDC, UBL, etc and proceeds of some other privatisations. The latter option is clearly not sustainable since we will at some point run out of assets to sell.

Some of the woes of the export-manufacturing sector are because of poor managerial practices, failure to revamp organisations to remain competitive in the new world order. However, the public sector must also share a large portion of the blame that has resulted in continued high costs of doing business for the private sector, thus compromising its competitiveness.

Apart from failing to provide decent quality infrastructure of roads and ports it either administers the prices of some key inputs like that of oil (which it had, until this week, maintained at a high level although its international price had fallen some time ago) or actually provides/produces them, like energy and fuel (electricity and gas) whose availability, prices, reliability and quality are critical ingredients in the cost structure of the industry. It also guides a taxation system of non-adjustable turnover and withholding taxes or levies that operate as taxes, raising the cost of production. Also required are timely decisions by the government in a rapidly changing global trading environment, another area in which Islamabad fares poorly.

While the value of the rupee has depreciated over the course of the year against other currencies — and despite the pressure in the international currency market on the US dollar — it continues to be artificially higher against the dollar. While the standard line by the government that market forces determine the value of the rupee makes amusing reading, it brings little relief to the export sector. The latter’s cost curve, for reasons mentioned above, has shifted above to a higher level with a rising gradient.

Even if the government’s contention about the market forces were accepted, is it a defensible strategy, considering that our domestic rate of inflation is significantly higher than that of our trading partners and competitors? The lowering of profitability levels in the export and modern sectors of the economy dampen the incentive to invest in these sectors. Hence, the shift into non-productive activities like real estate and the stock exchanges, and to some extent in manufacturing for the domestic market in the more protected industries.

If China were to follow this advice the value of the RMB would be appreciating. Both India and China, by not choosing to sharply revalue their currencies upwards and maintaining highly competitive currencies have made it exceedingly difficult for our exports to compete internationally. When we eventually decide to adjust the value of the rupee (perhaps when there are no privatisation proceeds to finance part of the trade deficit), others would have captured some of our export markets. It would be awkwardly difficult, if not impossible, to regain those markets. Of-course, adjusting the value of the rupee would add to inflation to some extent, but this would be for a short-term and the impact would not be that debilitating (manufacturers cannot pass on the entire increase in costs).

The other area of concern is the government’s budgetary deficit, reflected in the increasing resort to direct ad hoc borrowings from the State Bank (reflecting poorly on the latter’s claims of independence), as well as from the banking and non-banking sectors. The example of the latter is the use of national savings schemes to raise money from institutions (ostensibly to force commercial banks to pay higher interest rates on deposits).

In the opinion of this writer, the availability of consumer finance and the possible ill-advised easing of interest rates some time in early 2007 will ensure continued healthy growth in the manufacture of durable goods financed from this source of funding. Hence, we are likely to soon see the production of motor cars rise to 350,000, that of motorcycles to 1 million and that of TV sets to 1 million and beyond, and a similar spurt in the demand and supply of refrigerators and washing machines.

The progress of the domestic manufacturing sector producing other consumer goods will depend upon the ability of domestic industry to compete with imports through efficiency improvements, entrepreneurial willingness to narrow gross profit margins and the ability of the CBR to check under-invoicing of imports, etc.

That part of the domestic retail sector providing luxury goods and services to the more privileged households, who have made lots of money in the last 3-4 years (from the temporary boom in the real estate and stock market and the increased production of goods funded by consumer finance), will also continue to thrive in the near future.

The real unknown is the state of the poor. The evidence on the growth in their real incomes and purchasing power is at best anecdotal and somewhat murky. There are huge and widening disparities in incomes and wealth between the rich and the poor (with inflation worsening these imbalances), who also seem to be polarised along ethnic and regional lines). This has been the major cause of the deterioration in the law and order situation, growing alienation, disaffection and social discontent. In this context it is important to bear in mind that the greater the income and wealth inequality the more difficult it will be to reduce poverty through economic progress.

The author is a former finance minister of the Punjab

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\01\26\story_26-1-2007_pg3_2

 

[Owais]

WEF helps project 'Brand Pakistan': Prime Minister

DAVOS (January 27 2007): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) has helped us project 'Brand Pakistan' as it remained a centre of attraction for world business leaders and heads of states.

"We had meaningful, positive and constructive interaction with over a dozen heads of states, and big number of world business and political leaders," Prime Minister Aziz said this while addressing a press conference at the conference centre of World Economic Forum.

The Prime Minister maintained that during his interactions with politicians, business leaders and representatives of civil society at the meeting he successfully projected 'Brand Pakistan'.

He said the forum focused on how Asia is becoming more important, and Pakistan has emerged as one of the leading country of Asia. "In over 45 meetings and interactions here at the WEF, I had discussed issues related to investment, trade, terrorism, and nuclear related issues."

Shaukat Aziz said the founder and Executive Chairman WEF Klaus Schwab, who met him earlier in the day has agreed to organise regional Economic Forum in Pakistan next year.

"This further confirms the growing importance of Pakistan as a key regional economic player with China and India."

To a question regarding Pak-India trade relations and implementation of Safta, Prime Minister said South Asia can change its destiny if they move fast on dispute resolution.

"Progress on Kashmir issue will further improve trade," He said and added that Pakistan is already a country with lowest tariffs in the region and a recognised country having liberal investment and trade policies. However, Prime Minister maintained that India should move fast on removing of non-tariff barriers.

To a question whether Pakistan has achieved its objectives at WEF annual meeting, Prime Minister said objectives were multi-pronged main aim was to build the Pakistan Brand, invite people to Pakistan since it is considered as an attractive investment destiny.

He said besides many other subjects, the issue of Doha Round in the window of WTO was also discussed in the WEF and there was unanimity of views that it should be continued to promote trade relations.

To a question about Pak-China economic relation and how does Pakistan view China's accumulating high foreign exchange reserves, Prime Minister Aziz said that Pakistan has excellent strong and cordial relations with its neighbour China. "China is the first country with whom we have signed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and we have started moving on it with Early Harvest programme."

Prime Minister Aziz maintained we are happy on the successes of China. "We have always appreciated the successes of our friends." Furthermore, China is emerging as a new trade centre, which will lead to a balance with the other world's big trade centres.

To a question regarding establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, Prime Minister Aziz said that it would only be considered after the resolution of the Palestinian issue.

To a question if Pakistan's relations with Iran would be affected due to new legislation by US regarding sanctions on the issue of inadequate measures taken for war against terrorism, the Prime Minister said bilateral relations are not based on the interference of priorities of other countries. He said Pakistan has bilateral relations based on mutual interest, respect and dignity.


http://brecorder.com/index.php?id=522217&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Owais]

World Bank to give $45.65 million for Punjab land record management

ISLAMABAD (January 27 2007): The World Bank has approved $45.65 million concessionary credit to Pakistan for 'Land Record Management and Information System Project (LRMIS)' aimed at improving land record service delivery in Punjab contributing to long-lasting tenure security thus creating an enabling investment environment.

According to World Bank, the project would help in reducing litigation and introduce a reliable land registration procedure to farmers and other end users in the most agrarian province of Pakistan.

The amount would come from the Bank's concessionary International Development Association (IDA) with 35 years maturity and a 10-year grace period. Under the project, service centres would be established where land records would be maintained and made available to the public in digital form and pilot linkages between the land records system and the system for registration of deeds.

The existing dispersed status and non-transparent nature of land record makes land rights uncertain and negatively impacts economic development and threatening mainly the vulnerable and the poor whose rights remain virtually unprotected.

The Bank says that land transactions are relatively high cost, and disputes about land rights are caused, among others, by the inefficient and archaic land records system, which has undergone very little change since the 19th century. This constrains the efficient operation of land markets and results in land prices that are in excess of the discounted value of potential agricultural earnings from the land.

Under the project, extracts from land records (fards) will be provided within 30 minutes of application at the Service Centres. Under the current system it frequently takes weeks for this process to be completed. The total transaction costs associated with obtaining land record extracts are expected to be reduced by 80 percent.

"Land is at the heart of agriculture and the rural economy in Punjab. Land ownership and administration issues are vital," said John Wall, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan. "By improving tenure security, this project will increase access to land and credit especially for the poor whose rights remain largely unprotected."

The project will help improve business processes and increase institutional capacity at the provincial, district, and lower administrative levels, and put in place an automated land record system. It will also include a set of public outreach activities. The goal will be improve service delivery to the people.

"The Government of Punjab is committed to improving the quality of land records services provided to the population," said Edward Cook, World Bank Senior Land Administration Specialist and project team leader. "The Project will provide for the institutional capacity building and application of modern technologies to allow this to happen."


http://brecorder.com/index.php?id=522328&currPageNo=2&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

Iran, India and Pakistan agree on gas pricing formula

TEHRAN (January 27 2007): Officials from Iran, India and Pakistan have agreed on the pricing formula for export of gas from Iranian to meet India's burgeoning energy demands, an Iranian oil official said on Friday.

"After years of efforts, we could reach an understanding in terms of a pricing formula," Hojatollah Ghanimi-fard, director of international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company told the state radio.

"The three sides will take this proposal, this agreement, to their (governments) and we hope to take the next steps after they give their opinions," Ghanimi-fard said after three days of negotiations with Indian and Pakistani officials here.

"The three sides have one month to respond," he added, without elaborating on the terms of the accord. He hoped that the three countries can "take all other measures" by the end of June in the next round of discussions.

Talks on the proposed multi-billion dollars pipeline --to supply Iranian gas to India through a 2,600-kilometre (1,600 miles) pipeline via Pakistan --began in 1994.

Indian oil ministry sources said the price quoted by Tehran was about seven dollars per million British thermal unit of gas which includes the cost of transportation. New Delhi, which is anxious to exploit new sources of energy to fuel its booming economy, deemed this too steep, and was unwilling to pay more than 4.25 dollars per unit.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=522254&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Contrarian]

Cheers then! I hope the pipeline proposal bcomes a reality

 

[Neo]

Cheers then! I hope the pipeline proposal bcomes a reality

You're the first Indian (internet) supporter of the IPI line.
Congrats!

 

[Contrarian]

You're the first Indian (internet) supporter of the IPI line.
Congrats!

Huh?? How's that possible. I thought Everyone'd want the oil pipeline. Why would any Indian oppose it?

 

[salman77]

Pakistan, Switzerland agree to start negotiations on FTA​

Sunday, 28 January 2007

DAVOS, Jan. 28 (APP): Pakistan and Switzerland Sunday decided to initiate the negotiations for Free Trade Agreement in order to promote trade and economic relations and further strengthen bilateral relations.
The decision was taken during the meeting between Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Ms. Micheline Calmy-Rey, President of the Swiss Confederation, who called on him here on the sidelines of annual meeting of World Economic Forum. Both the leaders discussed bilateral relations, regional and international situation with reference to further enhancing the cooperation for world peace, progress and prosperity.
They also agreed to further strengthen the trade and economic relations between the two countries.
http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2949&Itemid=2

 

[Neo]

Huh?? How's that possible. I thought Everyone'd want the oil pipeline. Why would any Indian oppose it?

The 'P' word in the IPI seems to be the problem. Many Indians fear that India would put herself in a vulnerable position if her future oil artery runs thru Pakistan.
In times of crisis, Pakistan could cut off the supply.

There's heavy lobby for a direct pipeline from Qatar to India thru the Arabian Sea, an option that is much more expensive than the IPI.

 

[Neo]

'Provinces agree on five major dams'

ISLAMABAD (January 28 2007): Provinces have agreed in principle on the implementation plan of five major dams. 'Consensus' report of the committee on dams calling for completion of the projects till 2016 as announced by the President and approved by the federal cabinet, said Mohammad Asif Sheikh, spokesman for the Planning and Development Division on Saturday.

The committee, headed by secretary water and power, submitted the report to the Central Development Working Party (CDWP), which met with Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Akram Sheikh in the chair.

The spokesman, however, admitted that there were certain irritants in the implementation of the five major dams that include Kalabagh, Diamer-Basha, Akhori, Munda and Kurram Tangi Dams.

"Now, these projects will be referred to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in next meeting for final approval," he said. Flanked by Dr Asad Ali Shah and Lieutenant General Mohammad Zubair (Retd) members of the Planning Commission, he said that the concerned authorities have reached a technical consensus. "It will be ECNEC to create a political consensus," said Mr Zubair.

"Yes, it is a breakthrough in a sense that the dams have been declared feasible on technical grounds," he said. He said the construction of Diamer Basha and Munda dams might be prioritised. However, the committee has recommended that all the dams must be completed by 2016, as the President announced. He said that CDWP had instructed the committee to prepare the reverse implementation plan of the projects.

The committee will prepares the report in two-month time. Dr Asad Ali Shah said that Economic Affairs Division (EAD) had already been tasked to arrange funding for the projects.

The projects would need US $25 billion. The EAD task force will definitely seek funding from a large number of donors, he added. In the second report of the committee, which comprised additional chief secretaries from Sindh, NWFP, Balochistan, chief planning Punjab besides member infrastructure of Planning Commission, will inform about what would be the actual funding requirement on year-to-year basis.

Asif Sheikh said that the size of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) would be increased to 1.4 trillion in 2009-10 from the current Rs 272 billion. Some funding will also be made available from the PSDP, too for important projects.

The CDWP also approved 27 projects costing Rs 31.3 billion including foreign exchange component of Rs 2.9 billion. This was the sixth meeting of the current financial year, and in the earlier meetings, 171 projects costing Rs 175.9 billion were approved.

In addition, the projects of establishment of Pak-China Friendship Center in Islamabad costing at Rs 1.5 billion and Capacity Building of Emergency Services of government of Punjab costing Rs 5.25 billion were conceptually cleared.

The planning body approved 10 projects costing Rs 3.1 billion for Punjab and 4 projects costing Rs 1.1 billion for Sindh. One project each for NWFP, Balochistan, FATA and AJK were also approved.

As many as nine projects costing Rs 22.3 billion were approved all over all. Four projects for Punjab have been approved on 50:50 cost sharing basis. Of four projects in Sindh, two projects costing Rs 1.5 billion will be shared on 50:50 basis. The net federal government share would be Rs 28.4 billion for all approved projects. Four projects costing Rs 24.1 billion will be placed before the ECNEC for approval.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=522607&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

WEF moot to help promote investment in Pakistan: Humayun

DAVOS (January 28 2007): Federal Minister for Commerce Humayun Akhtar on Saturday said the annual meeting of World Economic Forum would play an important role in promoting investment in Pakistan. Talking to newsmen the Commerce Minister said the forum was an important place where world leaders, representatives of leading companies and financial experts gathered and exchanged views and ideas to promote development in the developing countries.

Replying to a question, the Minister said he had held many meetings with representatives of several countries attending the forum and discussed bilateral trade relations with them.

To a question about setting up proposed US sponsored Reconstruction Opportunity Zones in Pakistan's bordering areas, the Minister said the required legislation for establishing of these zones is expected to be tabled in US Congress by March this year.

The Minister said these ROZs are expected to be established in bordering cities of Balochistan and NWFP and Fata and the products prepared in these zones would be exported to US and other markets.

He said October 2005 earthquake hit cities in Azad Kashmir and NWFP would also be included in the areas where these ROZs would be established. He said, "Though the sites for these ROZs are not yet finalised but existing industrial cities in these areas are also expected to be declared ROZs."

About various Free Trade Agreements, Humayun Akhtar said that agreements with Malaysia and Singapore would be signed soon as the process is in final stages.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=522652&currPageNo=2&query=&search=&term=&supDate=