Pakistan Economy - News & Updates - Archive

[Neo]

Inflation gradually reducing, says Shaukat

ISLAMABAD (February 23 2007): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Thursday said that inflation has started to gradually reduce in the country through effective use of monetary policy by the State Bank and better efforts to ensure smooth availability of supplies and improving the overall logistics chain.

The Prime Minister said this during a meeting with Governor State Bank, Shamshad Akhtar who called on him here at the PM House on Thursday afternoon. The Prime Minister said that timely and effective use of the monetary policy is critical to control.

He said that it is gratifying that the current trends look positive with inflation gradually reducing. He welcomed various initiatives taken by the State Bank. Governor State Bank also presented the Prime Minister with a copy of the new Rs 1,000 note and briefed him about its security features.

The Prime Minister said that the well-designed reform agenda has put the banking sector on sound footing. He, however, emphasised the need for the banking sector to cater to the under-served members of the society particularly low income people, small and medium enterprises, self-employed people, youth and farmers. The meeting also discussed the financial sector and banking reforms which have enabled the banking sector to attract investment from all over the world.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=531462&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to establish special economic partnership

ISLAMABAD (February 23 2007): Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have decided to establish special economic partnership for co-operation in health, education, railway, food and agriculture, religious affairs, science and technology, labour and manpower, tourism, trade as well as industry.

The agreement was made in the 8th session of the Pak-Saudi Joint Ministerial Commission headed by Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan and Minister of Commerce and Industry of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Dr Hashim A Yamani at the conference palace in Riyadh on Wednesday, says a message received here on Wednesday.

Both the sides agreed to hold the 9th session of Saudi-Pakistan Joint Commission in Islamabad in 2008 on a date to be mutually decided through consultation. Both states noted that to balance the bilateral trade, which is heavily in favour of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan offered export of ready-made garments, cotton products, engineering goods, consumer goods, pharmaceutical, rice, textile fabrics, sports goods, and surgical instruments.

Both the sides expressed their hope to reach on agreement between GCC and Pakistan to create a free-trade area which covers trade in goods and services by the end of 2007.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also agreed to arrange roads shows and exhibitions to showcase the products of both the countries encourage business to business interaction and visa facilitation. The Saudi government was requested to relax and rationalise their standard requirements and duties on export from Pakistan and allow Pakistan private investment in the free re-export zone of Saudi Arabia,

Both sides agreed to enhance co-operation in the field of manufacturing of medical/surgical equipment, which includes hospital supplies (beds, stretchers, bedpans, crutches, walkers, and wheel chairs etc).

Pakistan offered free of cost training facilities for the Saudi doctors and nurses in the field of therapeutic and diagnostic services, neuro-surgery, cardiovascular surgery and Pediatrics. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also agreed for establishing academic linkage between Quaid-e-Azam University and National Institute of Science & Technical Education, Islamabad, with Saudi Arabia and exchange visits of academicians, scholars and teachers and exchange of printed material of education interests and to initiate joint programmes, chalked out with mutual consultation, in the field of emerging technologies such as VOIP, NGN (Next generation network), WLL (wireless local loop).

Pakistan offered training facilities to Saudi Railways personnel in various disciplines of railways and asked the Saudi side to identify the fields of their interest.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to establish special economic partnership
ISLAMABAD (February 23 2007): Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have decided to establish special economic partnership for co-operation in health, education, railway, food and agriculture, religious affairs, science and technology, labour and manpower, tourism, trade as well as industry.

The agreement was made in the 8th session of the Pak-Saudi Joint Ministerial Commission headed by Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan and Minister of Commerce and Industry of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Dr Hashim A Yamani at the conference palace in Riyadh on Wednesday, says a message received here on Wednesday.

Both the sides agreed to hold the 9th session of Saudi-Pakistan Joint Commission in Islamabad in 2008 on a date to be mutually decided through consultation. Both states noted that to balance the bilateral trade, which is heavily in favour of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan offered export of ready-made garments, cotton products, engineering goods, consumer goods, pharmaceutical, rice, textile fabrics, sports goods, and surgical instruments.

Both the sides expressed their hope to reach on agreement between GCC and Pakistan to create a free-trade area which covers trade in goods and services by the end of 2007.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also agreed to arrange roads shows and exhibitions to showcase the products of both the countries encourage business to business interaction and visa facilitation. The Saudi government was requested to relax and rationalise their standard requirements and duties on export from Pakistan and allow Pakistan private investment in the free re-export zone of Saudi Arabia,

Both sides agreed to enhance co-operation in the field of manufacturing of medical/surgical equipment, which includes hospital supplies (beds, stretchers, bedpans, crutches, walkers, and wheel chairs etc).

Pakistan offered free of cost training facilities for the Saudi doctors and nurses in the field of therapeutic and diagnostic services, neuro-surgery, cardiovascular surgery and Pediatrics. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also agreed for establishing academic linkage between Quaid-e-Azam University and National Institute of Science & Technical Education, Islamabad, with Saudi Arabia and exchange visits of academicians, scholars and teachers and exchange of printed material of education interests and to initiate joint programmes, chalked out with mutual consultation, in the field of emerging technologies such as VOIP, NGN (Next generation network), WLL (wireless local loop).

Pakistan offered training facilities to Saudi Railways personnel in various disciplines of railways and asked the Saudi side to identify the fields of their interest.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to establish special economic partnership
ISLAMABAD (February 23 2007): Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have decided to establish special economic partnership for co-operation in health, education, railway, food and agriculture, religious affairs, science and technology, labour and manpower, tourism, trade as well as industry.

The agreement was made in the 8th session of the Pak-Saudi Joint Ministerial Commission headed by Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan and Minister of Commerce and Industry of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Dr Hashim A Yamani at the conference palace in Riyadh on Wednesday, says a message received here on Wednesday.

Both the sides agreed to hold the 9th session of Saudi-Pakistan Joint Commission in Islamabad in 2008 on a date to be mutually decided through consultation. Both states noted that to balance the bilateral trade, which is heavily in favour of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan offered export of ready-made garments, cotton products, engineering goods, consumer goods, pharmaceutical, rice, textile fabrics, sports goods, and surgical instruments.

Both the sides expressed their hope to reach on agreement between GCC and Pakistan to create a free-trade area which covers trade in goods and services by the end of 2007.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also agreed to arrange roads shows and exhibitions to showcase the products of both the countries encourage business to business interaction and visa facilitation. The Saudi government was requested to relax and rationalise their standard requirements and duties on export from Pakistan and allow Pakistan private investment in the free re-export zone of Saudi Arabia,

Both sides agreed to enhance co-operation in the field of manufacturing of medical/surgical equipment, which includes hospital supplies (beds, stretchers, bedpans, crutches, walkers, and wheel chairs etc).

Pakistan offered free of cost training facilities for the Saudi doctors and nurses in the field of therapeutic and diagnostic services, neuro-surgery, cardiovascular surgery and Pediatrics. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also agreed for establishing academic linkage between Quaid-e-Azam University and National Institute of Science & Technical Education, Islamabad, with Saudi Arabia and exchange visits of academicians, scholars and teachers and exchange of printed material of education interests and to initiate joint programmes, chalked out with mutual consultation, in the field of emerging technologies such as VOIP, NGN (Next generation network), WLL (wireless local loop).

Pakistan offered training facilities to Saudi Railways personnel in various disciplines of railways and asked the Saudi side to identify the fields of their interest.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=531435&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

Pharma companies fear Chinese entry into Pak markets

By Muhammad Yasir

KARACHI: Pakistan’s pharmaceutical companies seek immediate steps to check the flood of imported medicines.

Nearly 150 multinational companies have submitted inquires to the ministry concerned (Drug Control Authority) during the last four months and they could be awarded the licence to import medicines after successfully qualifying the criterion of the Health Ministry.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers said that about 80 per cent of the interested foreign companies would be importing products already being manufactured by many local companies.

Presently, pharmaceutical products from the US, UK, India, Spain, Australia and some other countries are imported. However, these products are limited to medicines not manufactured locally. The pharma manufacturers fear a liberal import policy.

Again China has emerged as a threat to the Pakistani industrial sector. Chinese pharmaceutical companies have signed about 250 inquires of different products following a Free Trade Agreement inked in November last year.

China with its cheap prices will knock down national companies, which are still facing losses, a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer said on condition of anonymity.

The rising cost of production, particularly utility, land prices and miscellaneous taxes is the main grievance of the industry, which is not leveraging them to further their growth.

He said the government is unable to stop Chinese products owing to signing of FTA, however, the government could endeavour to arrange export of medicines to China, which could balance the trade between the two sides.

He added that Chinese markets could be lucrative for Pakistani pharmaceuticals if the products are exported, but the criterion, process and fees charged by China are the strong barriers in the way of Pakistani companies.

Dr Farnaz Malik, Secretary Drug Control Authority said that inquiries relating to price and quality of Chinese and other foreign products are under process.

She added that government would not allow import of basic products being prepared locally.

However, Pharmaceutical manufacturers said the basic products are very limited in categories and restricting the import of these basic medicines could not protect country’s pharmaceutical sector. Chairman Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Kaiser Waheed suggested the government should only allow import of medicines not manufactured in Pakistan instead of opening doors for foreign makers.

“Imports of vaccines and medicines not available in the country are acceptable and these should be imported according to the country’s requirement,” he added.

He said the government should encourage the domestic industries by providing special incentives to the pharmaceutical sector in order to get self-sufficient in this sector.

Pakistan also imports pharmaceutical products from USA, UK, India, Spain, Australia and some other countries.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=44034

 

[Neo]

Auto industry needs Rs250bn investment: Tareen

KARACHI: Federal Minister for Industries Jehangir Khan Tareen has said the government envisages annual production of cars in the country to be around 500,000 after five years, which would require investment of Rs250 billion.

“However, we would ensure that with rising numbers the quality does not go down. Quality is our slogan now,” he said while talking to reporters after inaugurating the PAPS 2007, an international exhibition organised by the Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers at the Expo Centre here on Thursday.

He said the government wanted the manufacturers to produce vehicles of the same quality as Japanese manufacturers. He said the government wanted to support the manufacturers and vendors because their industries were labour-intensive, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs.

“We are going to form a company, which would be tasked with skill development of youngsters, to prepare them for auto parts’ industry,” Tareen said. “We have a long-term goal of making our vendors competitive in the world.”

To a question, he said the government’s first priority was to meet the demand for cars through local manufacturing, but it had to allow import of cars because of the problems of waiting period and premium. “When the local industry is able to meet the whole demand, there shall be no import.”

To another query, the minister said the government had first asked the cement manufacturers to cut prices, when they were rising fast. “Now the government has instructed them to bring down the prices to the level from where they had started,” he said.

“If the manufacturers do not do that we may withdraw the rebate we are offering on cement exports, we may ban exports and as a last resort allow import of cement,” he said.

Chairman of the association, Shariq Suhail said with registered membership base of 278 members and general manufacturers’ base of over 1,200 companies, the PAAPAM had under its wings manufacturing companies, making parts for Pakistani cars, motorcycles, tractors, trucks and buses’ assemblers. “The investment now exceeds $1.5 billion.”

He said the PAAPAM member firms manufactured sophisticated parts like pistons, engine valves, gaskets, camshafts, shock absorbers and struts, steering machines, cylinder head, wheel hubs, brake drums, wheel bumpers, instruments and instrument panels, gears of all types, radiators, cylinder liners, blinkers and lights, door locks, auto air conditioners, etc.

The industry has been by and large developed by indigenous resources. Some units have been set up through technical tie-ups with well-known multinationals, both Japanese and western.

Shows like PAPS are aimed at showing the strength of the industry to the government and public and create a positive perception. Its objectives include providing information to policy-makers, creating awareness among general public and seeking the government support in terms of growth-oriented consistent policies.

Pakistan’s auto manufacturers are facing a number of problems mainly because of inconsistent government policies. Parts’ manufacturers specialise in production of tools of local vehicles only. If the demand for local vehicles goes down, the demand for parts will also go down.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=44035

 

[Neo]

IT industry aims to gain from global expertise

KARACHI: Pakistan is keen to work with regional and international telecommunication bodies to benefit from global expertise being extended to member countries through various well-targeted programmes, a senior official said on Thursday.

“The government as well as cellular industry can benefit immensely from the global expertise being offered by organisations such as GSMA to help member countries further the pace of growth in the field of telecommunication,” a telecom ministry statement quoted federal Secretary Farrakh Qayyum as saying.

It said the secretary expressed these views after his return from Barcelona where he had gone as the head of a delegation, including senior government officials and representatives of mobile phone companies, to participate in the 3GSM World Congress, the premier event of the GSM Association (GSMA) which represents over 700 cellular phone operators worldwide.

“Pakistan would actively work with the GSMA by being part of various future joint programmes and pilot projects of the association to make sure that all possible benefits of mobile phone coverage are leveraged for further growth of the market and for the ultimate benefit of the whole cross-section of Pakistani consumers,” he added.

He said the global telecom community as well as the GSMA leadership had hailed what they saw as a conducive environment provided by the government for the telecom sector and especially for the cellular industry.

He said Pakistan’s delegation attended and actively participated in various forums such as leadership summit, government mobile forum, panel discussions and other important congress events besides holding meetings with the GSMA leadership and heads of various companies involved in mobile banking value chain, including CEO of SMART Communications Philippines who had been successfully running such applications.

“It was agreed that joint work will be undertaken to explore implementation possibilities for an improved system in Pakistan,” added the secretary.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=44048

 

[Neo]

Friday, February 23, 2007

‘FDI has reached $3.5b in H1 of current fiscal’

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Thursday said that the deep and comprehensive reforms in the financial services sector have been greatly instrumental in encouraging Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Pakistan.

FDI from an average of $300 million per year in the 90s has reached $3.5 billion in the first half of the current financial year. The PM said this while talking to Global Banking Asia Pacific Citi Group Vice-Chairman Shengman Zhang, who called on him at PM House.

The PM said that the FDI is expected to surpass the $5 billion mark by the end of the year and it has started coming in from all over the world especially from the Far East as a result of Pakistan’s Look East policies.

Pakistan is also working on demutualisation of the capital market and the stock exchange is encouraging Pakistani companies to seek foreign equity and debt globally. The Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), he said has been strengthened to provide good corporate governance and comply with international accounting standards.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\02\23\story_23-2-2007_pg5_8

 

[Neo]

Banking industry is attracting unprecedented high foreign investments: PM Aziz
Friday February 23, 2007

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the banking industry which has gained strength as a result of the financial sector reforms is attracting unprecedented high foreign investments and significant expansion is taking place in the financial sector.
The Prime Minister was talking to Mr. Francis A Rozario, Chairman NIB Bank and CEO, Asia Financial Holdings who called on him here on Thursday. Mr.Francis A Rozario is visiting Pakistan to attend the Euro Money Conference.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the banking industry which has been transformed from a state owned sector to a vibrant private sector industry needs to come up with new products and services to serve the less privileged sections of society.

Mr. Francis A Rozario informed the Prime Minister that Temasek, which is owned by the government of Singapore, will make an investment of $ 300 million in Pakistan. It now holds 74 percent shares of NIB Bank and working to acquire all the financial entities of PICIC Commercial Bank.

He said his group intends to setup a truly universal Bank in Pakistan, which will serve the middle & low-income group customers and self employed people. He said his group would particularly focus on lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

Mr. Francis A Rozario said the success of a broad based reform agenda of the Pakistan government has created tremendous potential in the financial sector of Pakistan and Asia Financial Holdings is keen to expand its operations in Pakistan.

The Prime Minister welcomed the investments by Tamasek in Pakistan and said this reflects the growing confidence of international community in the success of the economic and structural reforms implemented by the government during the last seven years.

The Prime Minister appreciated the growing economic ties between Pakistan and Singapore. He said the recently signed agreement between Gwader Port Authority and Port of Singapore Authority will give a tremendous boost to the financial and industrial activities in and around Gwader.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan of today and tomorrow is entirely different from the Pakistan of yesterday. Today, it is recognized as a leading emerging nation of the world, rapidly transforming into a major market economy with large products, services and labours market and a world class manufacturing and servicing sector of the region.

He said our strategy for improving investment climate in the country is multi-pronged marked by financial sector and taxation reforms, dismantling of archaic procedures, better enforcement of civil contracts and documentation of property rights, infrastructure development and above all, ensuring consistency and continuity of government policies which is yielding positive results.

The meeting was also attended among others by President and Chief Executive Officer NIB Mr. Iqbal Hasan and senior officials.

http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?169901

 

[Neo]

India, Pakistan agree on gas, not costs
Fri, 23 Feb 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb. 23 India and Pakistan on Friday agreed to share gas from Iran, but there was still no understanding on transportation and transit costs.

At the end of the two-day meeting between the two sides in Islamabad, Pakistan's Petroleum Secretary Ahmad Waqar said the two countries agreed to receive 60 million standard cubic meters of gas per day and share 30 mmscmd each in the first phase. The rest would be shared in the project's next phase.

We have agreed to complete documentation and we will be able to sign the final document by June 2007, he said. He said Pakistan agreed in principle to the formulation of transportation costs involved in carrying the gas from the Iran-Pakistan border to the Pakistan-India border.

We agreed with India (on the formulation). However, final tariff will be based on actual technical and financial inputs to be worked out by officials in coming weeks, he said. There was no understanding, however, on transport and transit fees.

Indian Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan said Pakistan's proposed tariff was up to2 ½ times more that what is usually applied to similar distances. And on transit fees, Pakistan wanted 57 cents per million British thermal unit, while India said it will pay 15 cents per mBtu.

The $7 billion pipeline would run from Iran to India via Pakistan. The South Asian rivals both have rapidly growing economies and need the energy to fuel economic growth. The United States opposes the deal because it says it will embolden Iran, which is facing international scrutiny for its nuclear program.

The IPI pipeline, as it is known, also faces other hurdles, including financing. It is unclear if the political situation in the region is stable enough for the pipeline to receive funding from

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/33656.html

 

[Janbaz]

NBP to disburse Rs105b under Rozgar Scheme

MASHIUR RAHAMAN
KARACHI - National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) would provide a huge amount of Rs 105 billion loans under Rozgar Schemes for 2 to 5 years terms.
The bank would charge a fix rate of return of 6 per cent plus 2 per cent KIBOR on loans, to be provided to unemployed persons for creating business opportunities in the country and to reduce the impact of poverty. It was officially disclosed by the Chairman and President NBP Ali Raza in a press briefing on Friday.
According to him, NBP has been an important contributor to Pakistan’s economy, which has witnessed unprecedented growth during the last few years. In order to translate the benefit of the country’s macro economic stability to reduce unemployment and poverty alleviation, NBP has structured commercially viable products, which are expected to contribute to the growth of the bank, its stakeholders and most importantly the nation.
Here, NBP and GOP in line with President’s vision have launched the Rozgar Scheme at NBP. The scheme is being marketed under the brand name of “NBP-KAROBAR” by NBP. It is open for all banks equally to participate.
However, the scheme was test launched in October 2006 from 125 NBP branches throughout Pakistan. Full launch of the scheme is planned for March 31, 2007 in approx. 1000 branches. Currently NBP is offering five financing products under NBP Karobar as NBP Karobar Utility Store (under a Franchise with Utility Stores Corporation) to provide financing facility up to a maximum amount of Rs 200,000 for a maximum period of five years.
Secondly, the NBP Karobar Mobile General Store (without USC Franchise), which has been designed on the similar pattern of Mobile Utility Store with the liberty of procuring stock/supplies/grocery items from open market. Under this product maximum financing amount of Rs 200,000 will be provided.
The Third Scheme is the NBP Karobar Transport, which is designed to finance 4 stroke PetroVCNG/LPG Vehicle (Rickshaw) for providing less expensive environment friendly transport facility.
Under this product maximum financing amount of Rs 200,000 will be provided.
Fourthly, the NBP Karobar PCO, designed to finance setting-up a PCO. It will be providing finance for the purchase of Mobile/Wireless/Desktop Telephone Set(s) with connection, Credit Balance(s). Financing for multiple telephone sets is also allowed along with credit balance i.e. customer can avail maximum of five (5) telephone sets in each finance with credit balances. The maximum financing amount under this product is Rs 50,000. Finally the NBP Karobar Tele-center which has been designed to finance setting-up a Tele-center.
NBP will be providing financing for the purchase of Mobile/Wireless /Desktop Telephone Set with connection, Computer, Printer cum Fax machine cum Photocopier cum Scanner alongwith accessories, both to be establish Tele-center on a rented shop or owned premises. Under this product five (5) different financing packages are available ranging from Rs 42,500 to Rs 193,800.
According to information provided by the NBP officials, just like any other voluminous/retail product, NBP-Karobar is going through a test or a learning phase and will take time to generate pace as evident from an another product of NBP “Advance Salary”, which has created history in Pakistan with disbursements of over Rs 86 billion to over 1.1 million customers in little over four (4) years.
In NBP-Karobar, customer is learning that it is not a handout and only eligible applicants fulfilling requirements will get the loan and Bank is learning that some of the requirements may be relaxed without jeopardizing Bank’s interest.
For example, NBP has relaxed the requirements of age, driving license, education, character certificate, guarantors and reduction in down payment to 10 per cent from 15 per cent. Now the eligibility criteria are age between 18-45 years, having CNIC, resident of area for the last 2 years and must be unemployed.
No security required other than financed assets.

The Nation.
http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/feb-2007/24/bnews1.php

 

[Janbaz]

Large deposits of soapstone found in Kurram Agency

PESHAWAR: Large deposits of soapstone have been found in Kurram Agency and authorities working over mining and international marketing of about 3.6 million tons deposits.

A meeting was held in Peshawar in connection with mining and international marketing of Kurram Soapstone.

The meeting was attended by officials of FATA Development Authority (FDA), Maniar group of companies and HZM U.F Minerall of Italy.

The meeting was told that Maniar Group was arranging a visit of experts of Mondo Mineral of Germany to the area to work out the reserves of soapstone and enhance its production.

The company informed that they had already secured an annual export order of 10,000 tons soapstone and they were planning to increase the quantum of export to 1,00,000 tons annually through application of modern mining techniques and machinery.

It is to be pointed out that world-class soapstone deposits of about 3.6 million tons are available at an altitude of 10,000 feet, which remain snow covered for more than five months a year and thus the use of conventional machinery is a problem. The company is now planning to import all weather mining machinery.

Geo TV.
http://www.geo.tv/geonews/details.asp?id=2490&param=3

 

[Owais]

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to establish special economic partnership

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=531435&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

Duplicate post bro.

 

[Owais]

EU to ban most Pakistan Airlines planes: source


BRUSSELS (updated on: February 23, 2007, 21:46 PST): The European Union is set to ban most of Pakistan International Airlines' fleet from flying to the 27-country bloc because of safety concerns, an EU source said on Friday.

The source said a committee of experts had decided to block all but seven planes of the airline's 40-plane fleet from flying to Europe for failing to meet international safety standards.

"Only those seven will be allowed to make flights to European Union countries," the source said. "The rest of the fleet will be blacklisted."

The decision is likely to come into force in about 10 days, the source said, once made official by the European Commission.

He said the decision could cause disruptions to passengers because the airline had flight connections to Britain, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and the Netherlands.

Last year the Commission banned nearly 100 airlines from operating in the bloc, targeting mostly African carriers after a spate of fatal crashes involving European passengers.

brecorder.com

 

[Neo]

PPIB considers setting up 450 MW project for Faisalabad

ISLAMABAD (February 24 2007): The Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB), which met with Minister for Water and Power, Liaquat Ali Jatoi, in the chair, considered the setting up of 450 MW power project to be located at Faisalabad, which will be the first project to be based on international competitive bidding (ICB) for procurement of electricity in the country.

The project would be run on dual-fuel system, that is, it would use gas and oil, and would be based on combined cycle technology. The project had earlier been marketed in international road shows on ICB basis, as a result of which international and local players of power sector had shown interest and, after undergoing a transparent process, seven companies of international repute have been pre-qualified for the bidding process.

The Board has allowed the pre-qualified companies to submit proposals on a pre-defined pattern and, after due evaluation, the project would be assigned to the qualifying bidder.

The consortium led by Citigroup, which is advisor for the project, also attended the meeting, and made a detailed presentation on various schedules of the bidding process from submission of proposal to financial close.

The Board noted that the issue of tariff for extension of power capacity by the existing IPPs, namely, Kohinoor Energy Limited, Tapal Energy Limited and Japan Energy Limited, have also been settled, and directed PPIB to expedite the process for its approval through ECC. Jatoi stressed the need to process the power projects on fast track basis, and instructed the advisors to shorten the time frame of the process involved for the 450 mw Faisalabad power project, so that the required power capacity could be provided to the national grid as soon as possible, which is very vital for boosting the economy of the country.

He said that establishment of the new power project in the country would help to meet the future rapidly increasing demand for power and also create job opportunities.

http://brecorder.com/index.php?id=531823&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

Mass transit or more cars - setting the right priorities

By Mushfiq Ahmed

KARACHI: The Engineering Development Board, a subordinate organisation of the Ministry of Industries, Production and Special Initiatives, is working on a plan envisaging annual production of 500,000 cars after five years.

It sounds good that our country is going to be able to produce such a large number of cars. However, the question arises are we setting the right targets and priorities. Perhaps not. Seeing the situation at roads in every major city of this country one comes to the conclusion that the country does not need more cars. It needs more buses for the poor that constitutes the largest class of the society. The expansion of the auto sector may provide a few thousand people with employment opportunities and improve their living standard, but the rest of the millions of people would have no benefit. They would have benefited had the government drawn some plan to increase the production of buses, which is the conveyance of the poor.

If the government focuses on production of more buses, it will not only provide employment opportunities to more people, but it would also provide relief to millions of people who have to travel by decades-old and massively overcrowded buses, minibuses and coaches to get to their workplace and back home.

A number of studies have found that Karachi needs thousands of buses to replace the old ones. In addition, it needs thousands more new ones to cater to the requirement of ever-expanding population of this metropolis.

The buses that we currently have in the city are in pathetic conditions. Almost all minibuses have got such small seats that would accommodate only primary school children properly. The space between the seats is hardly 2 ft. During rush hour there are two rows of people standing holding on to the metal pipes in the wagons. And then the conductor moves in this overcrowded bus, pushing every one in his way.

Coaches and wagons plying in Karachi are generally built on Mazda T3500 chassis. These vehicles are not built as per manufacturers advice rather ‘body shops’ make the coach or wagon as per desires of the transporters.

These coaches have low-roofs. A person with an average height of 5 ft. 8 inches is unable to stand upright and has to bow in abject recognition of his inability to afford personal transport.

What our large cities need is not cars, but large size buses. We need to introduce such comfortable buses that should make even a rich person travel by public transport. This is the only way to solve the problem of traffic jams.

Building flyovers can solve the problem only partly and that too, for a short term. With the number of cars that the government wants the local assemblers to churn out, even the newly built flyovers would be crowded within a few years. But it seems that the people at the helm of affairs look at the problems separately.

When they speak of producing 500,000 cars they forget that the infrastructure of our cities cannot carry this burden. They also fail to bear in mind what actually the common man of this country needs. They feel proud in telling everybody around that we are going to produce 500,000 cars after five years. So five years down the road we may see families that have car to drive but no bread to eat.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=44169

 

[Neo]

Japan eyes Pak banking, insurance industry

By Azhar Mahmood

KARACHI: Japanese investors want to enter into Pakistani banking and insurance industry besides stock exchanges in a big way and this week the Japanese Ministry of Finance has submitted a new draft of avoidance of double taxation with Pakistan.

The draft of the treaty contains 30 articles and it specifically seeks exemption from taxes on investments made by the Bank of Japan, The Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance.

The Bank of Japan wants to invest in emerging Pakistani Sukuk market whereas the other two Japanese government entities extend direct investment, financing for Japanese commodities and insurance coverage.

The last agreement was signed in the mid-50s which was meeting the present investment requirements.

The initiative of revising old and pathetic tax protocol was taken by the policy-makers of the Central Board of Revenue, but the main worry of Japanese investors was that Pakistani financial and portfolio market had been dominated by western investors since the beginning of 2000.

The draft has also envisaged the establishment of Pak-Japan Investment Company at the government level and for that purpose a special section has been incorporated into the draft.

The draft carries many provisions with regard to interest payments, which indicates that the Japanese wants to enter into Pakistani corporate sector.

These proposed provisions will also ensure that already established Japanese companies in Pakistan will re-invest their interest earnings here, thus besides having peace of mind, they will not have to face long gestation period of establishment and incorporation each time a specific company for the specific purpose is set up.

The entry of Japan Bank for International Cooperation will usher in a new era of Japanese infrastructure investment in Pakistan.

However, Article number 11 has been specifically drafted to provide safeguards to the Japanese bank, insurance company and a securities dealer.

The draft has also sought tax exemption for Japanese shipping companies and aviation industry.

At present, Japanese shipping and aviation industry has insignificant business relationship with Pakistan compared to western world.

The most important provision of the draft has sought tax protection for two types of Japanese warehousing companies, namely warehousing-cum-manufacturing and warehousing companies.

Another positive feature of the protocol for the younger generation of Pakistan is that the Japanese want to enter into the education and training sector and for this purpose the protocol has sought tax exemption.

Sources said the Pakistani side and senior Japanese officials had started discussions on the draft and it was likely that the draft would be finalised and notified in coming weeks.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=44171