Pakistan Economy - News & Updates - Archive

[Neo]

Ayyan International to invest $200 million on power generation from solid waste

ISLAMABAD (March 07 2007): Ayyan International, a private sector firm, will be investing 200 million dollars within next couple of years to produce 100 megawatt electricity from solid waste in six major cities.

The firm formally announced to start its project on Monday night after it was issued letter of intent by the government and has awarded the contract to a Swiss firm to prepare feasibility report of the project within next two to three months.

"We hope the feasibility study would be completed within next two to three months," said firm's Chief Executive Wajid Naseem Rana while talking to journalists after announcement of the project.

Contract for feasibility study has been awarded to SWECO, a leading Swiss waste management consultant. "We hope the project will start functioning within next couple of years," Rana said. Stressing the need for exploring more energy generation options, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Energy Mukhtar Ahmed said the government would be facilitating all possible help for the project.

"What I can assure at this juncture is every possible support of the government," Mukhtar said, calling upon the Alternate Energy Development Board to explore all avenues to meet future energy needs of the country.

"We are facing eight to 10 percent increase in demand of energy every year that needs multi-faceted policies," he said, underlining the need to use agriculture waste for energy production.

"Our target is affordable, adequate and secure energy for Pakistan and serious efforts are made to achieve this goal," he said. Giving an overview of the energy needs and the project profile, Ayyan International Chairman Brigadier Manzoor Abbasi (Retd) said the project would not only produce electricity for the people, but would also help improve the environment.

Spelling out the scope of the project, he said that six cities, including Lahore, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Multan, had been identified for setting up plants of various capacities bringing to a total of 100 MW electricity production.

He warned against harmful effects of the waste, including human, industrial, hospital and other kinds of solid waste being dumped in open air, and said the project would resolve the dilemma of uncollected solid waste. He said using one tonne solid waste for electricity producing could save 0.3 million tonne coal and one-barrel oil.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=535903&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Owais]

Pakistan, Uzbekistan to boost cooperation in farm sector
LAHORE: Pakistan and Uzbekistan have agreed to cooperate for agricultural and livestock sector development.

This was decided at a meeting between a delegation of Uzbekistan headed by S Ismaoilov, Minister for Agriculture and Water Management, Deputy Minister for Foreign Economic Cooperation and other members of Uzbek delegation who met Arshad Khan Lodhi, Minister for Agriculture, Punjab.

They discussed various avenues for mutual cooperation to develop agriculture sector. They also agreed to formalise exchange programme for scientists and farmers to benefit from research and mutual experiences.

Lodhi welcomed the delegation and appreciated their interest and proposal to cooperate particularly in the areas of conventional breeding, hybridation and bio-technology for developing agriculture.
http://geo.tv/geonews/details.asp?id=3074&param=3

 

[Owais]

FDI to set new records in FY 2006-07: Zahid


ISLAMABAD (updated on: March 07, 2007, 00:32 PST): Zahid Hamid Federal Minister for Privatisation and Investment said that Pakistan was all set to make new record as regard to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Financial Year 2006-07.

He said addressing the preliminary session of Overseas Investment conference here on Tuesday.

Giving details of the achievements, Hamid said that Pakistan's investment friendly policies have yielded record results as witnessed during the past FY 2006, which touched the record level of $3.9 billion.

He added this accelerating trend has also been witnessed during the first half of the current fiscal year 2006-07 by setting new record of FDI till December 2006 as close to $3.5 billion, which was going to increase further in coming half, heading to set another new record.

He said that Pakistan has comprehensive and broad based Privatisation Programme, which provided exciting and attractive opportunities and PC Ordinance 2000 has given statuary cover to the whole process, he added.

He informed the participants that liberal investment policy included 100 percent foreign equity in all economic sectors, with attractive incentives like remittances of capital, profits, royalty, technical and franchise fees without obtaining permission from the government.

The foreign investment was fully protected under Foreign Private Investment (Promotion & Protection) Act 1976 and Protection of Economic Reforms Act 1992, he stated.

He further said that continuity and consistency of the policies was hallmark of the government.

The privatisation of public sectors entities has confined the government's role to policy making, good governance and has fostered competition and increased efficiency and revenue.

Exciting investment opportunities in an environment of level playing field for both local and foreign investors, effective regulatory framework with liberal policies have made Pakistan an attractive destination for investment, which has also given boost to the investors confidence, he added.

Giving an overview of Pakistan's economy and the salient features of achievements as a result of the economic reforms.

Hamid said that Pakistan's GDP growth exceeding 7 percent, which was second to Indonesia and Turkey.

Three pillars of Pakistan's economy deregulation, liberalisation and privatisation have yielded encouraging results.

These major economic reforms have been termed as role model in the World Economic Forum's discussions while TFC and World Bank has declared Pakistan as the top reformer in the South Asian Region and 10th in the World in a report titled, "Doing Business in 2006: South Asian Countries Pickup Reform Pace", he said.

The minister informed that in FY 2000 the public debt was 96 percent, which has declined to 54 percent in FY 2006, Export growth has accelerated to $16.5 billion in FY 2006, which was $3.5 billion in FY 2000, the Equity market was out performing with market capitalisation to the tune of around $50 billion.

He urged overseas Pakistanis to invest in Pakistan to respond to the call of the motherland as this land has given them identity, of which we all were proud and everybody among us was determined to serve the nation and country to rebuild Pakistan with a sense of dedication.

brecorder.com

 

[Owais]

Duty-free economic zones to be setup near Gwadar port: Prime Minister

ISLAMABAD (March 07 2007): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that the pace of development in Balochistan had increased substantially due to several infrastructure projects as well as further investment in education, healthcare, provision of clean water and other basic services to directly benefit the people.

He was talking to Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yousuf, who called on him at the PM House here on Tuesday, a press release said. The prime minister said that infrastructure projects like Gwadar Deep Sea Port, Mirani Dam, Coastal highway and other projects had created a large direct and indirect job opportunities.

He said the government was also encouraging investment in mining, energy, agriculture and fishing. The President's Rozgar scheme and the National Internship Programme would provide self-employment opportunities and jobs to thousands of youth all over the country, including Balochistan.

He said Balochistan had been neglected in the past hence the government was making all out efforts for socio-economic uplift of the province and striving to bring it at par with the more developed areas of the country.

Specifically mentioning Gwadar Deep Sea Port, the prime minister said its inauguration by President General Pervez Musharraf later this month would fulfil another commitment of the government to the people of Balochistan and would usher in a new era of development and prosperity. He said the Port would generate immense opportunities for the people of Balochistan, as thousands of jobs and new businesses would be created in Gwadar.

He said the duty-free economic zones to be set up near the Port to boost the exports would help harness the vast potential in natural resources of the area and would also lead to development of heavy and large-scale industries, petrochemicals and manufacturing sector.

The chief minister of Balochistan said that the people of the province were highly appreciative of the initiatives undertaken by President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz by taking personal interest in the development and prosperity of Balochistan.

He said the Gwadar Port would change the fate of the area. Jam Muhammad Yousuf updated the prime minister about PML's enrolment drive in the province and other party matters. He also briefed him about the pace of implementation of the ongoing development projects and the law and order situation in the province.
http://brecorder.com/index.php?id=535855&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Owais]

Pak IT industry all set to catch up with regional players


LAHORE (updated on: March 07, 2007, 00:08 PST): Pakistan with good human resource base is all set to catch up with the major regional players in the field of information technology within five years.

"With more and more companies bracing latest technology and making software exports to US and other western countries, Pakistan has all the capabilities to come at par with the countries like India in five years," predicted Alexander Lee, Country Sales Manager of world's leading software solutions firm, SAP.

Talking to newsmen at a local hotel, he said that Pakistan's 60 big firms including Pakistan State Oil, Bosicor, Engro Chemical, Packages, Pakistan Petroleum Limited, SABRO and ICI were now using SAP solutions for maintaining their financial matters.

He said that tax holiday to the companies engaged in technological up-gradation could help expedite the process of technological diffusion in this part of the world.

Alexander Lee said that SAP had the ability to provide financial software solutions to Pakistan's industry in Urdu language. "We are already providing the solutions in more than 20 languages including Farsi," he said.

He said that SAP was ahead of other competitors in Pakistan, a major country in the emerging markets.

Responding to a question, the SAP official said that the company was presently engaged in partnership talks with the companies like NetSol.



brecorder.com

 

[Introvert]

Pakistan bilateral trade with Ireland, Germany swells to US$ 4.88 billion​

Wednesday, 07 March 2007

ISLAMABAD, Mar 7 (APP): Pakistan bilateral trade with Ireland and Germany have significantly increased to US$ 4870.488 million during last three years's.

Commerce ministry sources told APP here Wednesday that major exports to Germany and Ireland included cotton fabrics, made-ups articles of textile material,clothing and textile fabrics, carpets, Rugs and medical and surgical instruments.


The official sources told APP here Wednesday that Pakistan's major imports from Germany and Ireland included Machinery and parts, Chemicals, Iron& Steel and manufacturers thereof and manufacturers of non-ferrous metals.


He said that during last three years the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Germany was US$ 4667.623 million in last three years.The sources said that during 2003-04, Pak export to Germany was US$ 606.694 million while the import was US$1218.532 million.


During 2004-05 Pak export to Germany was US$ 688.588 million while the import was US$ 896.582 million. in year 2005-06 the Pakistan export was US$ 687.368 million while the import substantially increased to US$ 1176.553 million.


He said that during last three years the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Ireland was recorded US$ 202.865 million. During 2003-04 the Pak- Ireland bilateral trade was US$ 48.29 million which includes US$31.097 million export and US$17.193 million import. In 2004-05 the Pak export to Ireland was US$34.803 million while import was 37.752 million. During 2005-06 Pak export was US$ 42.794 million while import from Ireland was US$ 39.226 million.


The sources said that Pakistan's major exports to Germany includes clothing of textile fabrics, manufactures of leather, cotton fabrics, made up articles of textile materials, toys, games & sporting goods and synthetic artificial fibre etc. Germany and Ireland are members of European Union custom Unions, which are Pakistan's major trading partner.


Pakistan is a beneficiary of "EU Generalized system of Preferences (GSP) Scheme", which allows 20% tariff reduction on Most Favored Nation (MFN) duties on textile and clothing and 3.5 percentage reduction on MFN duties for other eligible products. Pakistan was included in the current GSP Scheme of the EU on January 1, 2006.
In the previous GSP Scheme of the EU Pakistan textile and clothing sector was graduated. The re-inclusion of Pakistan in EU GSP Scheme represents a credible achievement as textile and clothing products account for 65% to 70% of Pakistan's total exports to EU.

Despite Government's best efforts Pakistan would not qualify for Special Incentive Arrangement for Sustainable Development and Good Governance (GSP plus) scheme of the EU which grant tariff free treatment to imports.
Pakistan feels that exclusion of Pakistan from

the GSP plus scheme is discriminatory therefore Pakistan has challenged the GSP plus Scheme of the EU in the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO.


About Pakistan-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) he said the ministry of Commerce with the approval of the Prime Minister has formulated a strategy to persuade EC to initiate FTA negotiation with Pakistan.


The strategy, he said includes lobbying with stakeholders including EU member governments, members of the EU parliament and trade associations in EU countries.


About the reduction in antidumping duty on Pakistan's bed linen, he said earlier EU-imposed 13.1% duty on import of bed linen from Pakistan on the basis of incomplete investigations by EU authorities. Subsequently due to concerted efforts of Ministry of Commerce the antidumping duty was reduced to 5.8 per cent w.e.f. May 6,2006.
He said that the causation analysis conducted by EC investigation authorities is faulty. In order to avoid future antidumping action by the EU, Ministry of Commerce has challenged the imposition of current antidumping duty on bed linen export from Pakistan to EU in Dispute Settlement Body of WTO.
http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5337&Itemid=2

 

[Neo]

Pakistan to boost economic ties with Saudi Arabia

ISLAMABAD (March 07 2007): The government is seeking to further strengthen economic relations with Saudi Arabia in various sectors such as pharmaceutical and railways. Pakistan's exports to Saudi Arabia have amounted to 500 million dollars, while imports amounted to 2.5 billion dollars last year, a private TV reported.

Pakistan would offer its expertise to participate in the development of the Saudi economy. Last year, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed an agreement to promote trade between the two countries.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=535935&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

Neelum-Jhelum power project: Centre refuses contract to US-based company

ISLAMABAD (March 07 2007): The federal government has refused to award the contract of 969 MW Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project to a US-based firm, just saying the sponsors had no track record and failed to inspire confidence, official sources told Business Recorder.

The sources said that former Minister of State for Privatisation and Investment, Umar Ahmad Ghumman was backing the firm M/s YRM for this project but the proposal was rejected a few weeks before his reportedly forced resignation.

Chairman, Wapda, Tariq Hamid had informed the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCE) in its first ever meeting on February 2 that due diligence had been carried out regarding the interest expressed in the project by a private company. "The sponsors had no track record and did not inspire confidence," the sources quoted Tariq Hamid as informing the committee.

The sources said that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who was chairing the meeting, desired that decision may be conveyed to the sponsors and the issue be treated as closed. According to sources a committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Prime Minister's Advisor on Finance, Dr Salman Shah comprising Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Akram Sheikh, former Chairman BoI, Umar Ahmad Ghumman and Secretary Water and Power. They were to examine the BoI's proposal regarding financing of the lowest bidder for the Neelum- Jhelum hydropower project to be undertaken by M/s YRM on Built-Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis.

The sources said that the BoI was reluctant to forward the committee's assessment report on the firm track record even to the chairman of the committee for information. The sources claimed that differences surfaced between Umar Ghumman and some of the top government managers on the issue of YRM and ultimately the State Minister was asked to resign.

The $1.6 billion Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project is very important and any further delay in starting work on this project will deprive Pakistan of the prior right to the Neelum river. This is because India is also planning to construct the Kishanganga hydropower project on the same river but now with modified design after the World Bank's expert gave its verdict on the controversial Baglihar hydroelectric project.

The sources further said that the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) had also pressed the government to award the project to any internationally reputed firm so that it could be completed as early as possible. The project was initially approved by Ecnec on December 31, 1989 at a cost of Rs 15.012 billion, which was revised at a total cost of Rs 84.5 billion with FEC of Rs 46,667.70 million.

Local component of cost was to be met from Wapda's own resources while FEC through foreign aid. The gross head of the project is 420 feet and will generate 969 MW of electricity. The sources said that the project is expected to be awarded to a Chinese consortium as Wapda has finalised the evaluation of tender for the project on priority basis.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=535841&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

IPI gas pipeline to be built in parts

NEW DELHI (March 07 2007): The over $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline is likely to be built in parts with three nations deciding to construct segments of pipeline falling in their territory independently.

"Iran will build pipeline segment in its territory and Pakistan responsible for construction of section falling in its territory. Indian firms will lay pipeline from Indo-Pak border to their consumption centers," Press Trust of India reported quoting a top petroleum ministry official.

India will enter into agreement with Iran for purchase of gas at its border and responsibility will be fixed on Islamabad for safe passage of pipeline, uninterrupted supplies and delivery of gas at Indian border.

Official said setting up of international consortium, comprising state firms of three countries and global energy majors, for construction and operation of the world's most valuable project could be a non-starter due to political and legal opposition from the US, including threat of invoking sanctions under Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA).

The project may be executed separately by three states in their own territories to protect it from US sanctions, he said. India will sign a "supply-or-pay" agreement with Iran with a provision on alternative supplies during disruptions. With three countries separately executing it in their territories, it will be protected from US sanctions and even enable American consultants and contractors to participate in portions of project.

Iran will lay 56-inch pipeline up to its border with Pakistan, from where diameter will reduce to about 40-48 inches to carry 60 million standard cubic meters per day of gas that will be split equally between India and Pakistan.

Official said India was likely to suggest a tripartite monitoring mechanism - a technical committee made up of representatives of three national gas companies to oversee technical aspects of project and officials committee to ensure smooth progress in different aspects as well as steering committee at ministerial level that will address political and other issues.

India & Pakistan last month reached agreement on quality of gas to be transported through pipeline in initial phase, but differed on transportation charges and transit fee payable to Islamabad for using its territory.

Technical level talks between two sides will try to reach consensus on route, transportation tariff and transit fee before bilateral meet sometime in April 25. If all goes well, a ministerial tripartite meeting in June may ink pipeline deal.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=535856&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

Investment sought in hydel projects

LAHORE (March 07 2007): Punjab Minister for Power, Chaudhry Armaghan Subhani has said that the Power Department has urged upon the overseas as well as local investors participating in Overseas Pakistanis Investment Conference to invest in hydel projects of 2 mega watts to 50 mega watts at 38 selected falls on 23712-long canal system of the province.

The invitation if picked up by the investors will open the corridor of an estimated minimum investment of Rs 95 billion. He told this in a meeting, held to review the probability of investment in hydel projects in Punjab, in his office on Tuesday.

Besides others, Chief Engineer (Power) Muhammad Yaqoob, Director Technical Iftikhar Ahmad Randhawa, Assistant Director, Punjab Power Development Board, Muhammad Ali Kausar and President Licensing Board, Muhammad Rahat Khan were present in the meeting. Armaghan Subhani said that the good thing associated with hydel projects is that they merely require running water to get operated rather than costly fuel, resulting in production of low cost electricity. He said that the details of these 38 potential spots at canals had already been uploaded on government's website for the convenience of investors.

He said that the website also contains specimen agreements of power purchase, implementation and water utilisation. He said that the power department has also offered land on lease for 50 years to the investors along with franchise opportunities with government for interested parties.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=535911&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

Pakistan to seek funds for dams from PDF creditors

By Mehtab Haider

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Development Forum (PDF) will be held next month from April 25 to 27 in the federal capital for presenting an overall economic situation before the creditors and seeking multi-billion dollar funds for various sectors.

Representatives from multilateral and bilateral creditors will attend the upcoming PDF moot and it is expected that the government will apprise them of the future requirements for next five to ten years in shape of mega dams and other infrastructure. “The government is in the process of finalising the theme for upcoming PDF moot in which multi-billion dollars funds will be sought from the donors for the development of FATA, construction of five dams and other infrastructure-related requirements of the country,” high-level sources in Economic Affairs Division told The News on Monday.

The government, sources said, has conveyed dates for the upcoming PDF moot, the theme of which is yet to be finalised.

When this scribe visited the office of Secretary EAD for comments, his staff told that the secretary had left for abroad and would be back in a few days.

The PDF moot is an annual event which was started in Pakistan five years back. Earlier, this event was held in foreign country under the aegis of donorsí consortium for Pakistan in order to streamline assistance for the country.

The government has prepared National Trade Corridor (NTC) plan which, according to the latest estimates, requires around $10 billion. The government had informed the donors in the last PDF moot that it required $6 billion to modernise its roads, ports and airports infrastructure.

The NTC will establish road, sea and air links with neighbouring states enabling Islamabad to give impetus for boosting countryís exports. ìWe have included many more things in NTC which have resulted into scaling up the funding requirements,î said the sources and added that the government would update the donors on this issue.

The World Bank and Asian Development Bank are jointly working on NTC along with the government for meeting huge funds requirements, added the sources. The government will also seek multi-billion dollar funds for the development of FATA during the upcoming moot of PDF.

According to sources, the initial estimates, conveyed to the donors, indicate that Pakistan will require around $5 billion for accomplishing FATA development over the period of 5 to 10 years. The development work in tribal areas, near Afghanistan, has gained immense importance in the wake of so called war against terrorism.

The government, sources said, is approaching two-pronged strategy, as on one side the military is flushing out supporters of Taliban and on the other, they also planned to initiate development work for catering genuine needs of the area. However, according to the sources, for FATA development package, Pakistan’s government will also allocate certain amount from its own budgetary allocations in years ahead for meeting the financing requirements.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=45760

 

[Neo]

Pakistan’s micro-finance at take-off stage: Yunus

KARACHI: The foundation for a vibrant micro-credit finance sector has been laid in Pakistan and with necessary legislative work done, it is now at a ‘take-off stage’, said Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus, Managing Director of Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank, here on Tuesday.

Talking to media after an exhaustive workshop session organised by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), he said that his bank was associated with Pakistan’s micro-finance sector development from day one in one way or the other. “We have exposed persons from Pakistan to systems of Grameen Bank and have offered turnkey operations,” he said.

Prof Yunus said he has been advocating for making SAARC an area of peace. “We need to have enlightened leadership meaning serious business, really caring for its people and not only lip service,” he added.

Yunus said that poverty in the region (SAARC) is enormous. It is hub of global poverty and it is time to find a solution, the Nobel laureate said, adding that “we need to change the system, the institutions like banking as it is not reaching the people (poor section of the population)”, he added.

Earlier, sharing his experience, Prof Yunus said that his initial ideas were not welcomed by bankers as he was very aggressive in criticising the standard banking operations and procedures.

“I declared the banking system as unjust, unfair and deliberately designed to reject the bulk of population from access to banking system. It was unjust as it rejected or disqualified womenfolk from borrowing,” he said.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=45765

 

[Neo]

WAPDA to have 350 MW more power by May

LAHORE: Though the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) would add 350 MW of electricity to its system by May this year, its main thrust would be on conservation as no new power plant is expected to be installed in the next two years.

Chairman WAPDA Tariq Hameed stated this while addressing a seminar on energy crisis and its conservation.

He said the WAPDA being a transmission and distribution company was well aware of the looming energy crisis, adding his predecessor had warned the government in 2002 there would be shortage of electricity in 2006.

He said the government took a policy decision 10 years ago that all future thermal power projects would be commissioned by the private sector. But the private sector did not respond as they probably wanted inflated rates for electricity.

However, by 2006 they saw an opportunity, he said, adding “thermal electricity investors now desire guaranteed average price of US$0.12 per unit for 10 years, which is more than double the price at which the WAPDA sells electricity.” However, he said, the WAPDA did not determine the purchase or selling price. He said the WAPDA had chalked out a plan to manage judicial use of electricity in such a way that would not hit growth and domestic consumers.

He said the industry in many cities had been persuaded to stagger their weekly holiday and textile units had been asked to reduce load by 25 per cent during peak hours and preferably shift to their own captive power plants during high-load hours.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=45766

 

[Neo]

March 07, 2007
Pakistan losing markets in EU states

By Mubarak Zeb Khan

ISLAMABAD, March 6: Pakistan is steadily losing market for its products in the 27-member European Union (EU) — one of the single largest trading partners, despite Islamabad's frontline role in war on terror.

While European countries imports from other countries of the region witnessed more than double digit growth during the last few years, Pakistan’s trade with the bloc has not been keeping pace with the country’s international trade growth.

Official statistics compiled by commerce ministry indicated that the EU’s share in Pakistani global exports declined from 28 per cent to 26 per cent per annum, as exports to European countries came down to $3.83 billion in the fiscal year 2005 from $4.20 billion in the year 2004.

The overall exports during 2005 declined by 9 per cent, while exports of textile and clothing declined by 15 per cent; despite the fact that the EU’s import of these items increased by 7 per cent. This is, obviously having an adverse impact on Pakistan's industrial growth, economic stability, employment generation and social security.

The EC is Pakistan's single largest trading partner accounting for 26 per cent of the total exports and 17 per cent of the total imports. However, exporters attributed this fall in exports to EU to what they claimed as "discriminatory and unstable trade policies" being adopted by the EU.

Pakistan's Ambassador to WTO Dr Manzoor Ahmad in the country's statement issued on the EU trade policy pointed out that there was a common perception in Pakistan that the EC trade policy has recently undergone a clear shift in treating similarly placed countries differently.

"In addition to tariff peaks on products of our export interest, our competitive exports are repeatedly subjected to anti-dumping duties. Except for short periods, our bed-linen exports have been subjected to anti-dumping investigation or anti-dumping duties for the last 14 years. Perhaps this is a record period for an anti-dumping duty," the envoy said.

Mr Manzoor further pointed out that when Pakistani exporters found a niche and started exporting value-added ethanol, instead of the raw material molasses, which they had been doing for a long time, they found themselves faced with several hurdles.

"Not only the duty concession was withdrawn but they were also subjected to anti-dumping investigations. After one year of investigations, the EU dropped its claim. However, in the meantime most of our newly established distilleries got shot down. As a result our exporters are back to export of raw material for the EU distilleries," the ambassador pointed out.

Mr Manzoor said stringent and frequently changing regulations on technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures are also among the main factors hampering trade with the EC member states. "Our products like fish, fruits and vegetables are the hardest hit in this regard," he said.

He further said that Pakistani business community was finding it increasingly hard to get visas for business trips. The new entrepreneurs making exploratory and matchmaking deals are routinely refused visa for not having travelled to Europe before.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/03/07/ebr1.htm

 

[Neo]

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

US to broaden commercial ties with Pakistan, says Crocker

BAHAWALPUR: The US is committed to broadening its commercial ties with Pakistan and the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) is an important step towards a growing economic relationship, said US Ambassador to Pakistan Ryan C Crocker on Tuesday, while speaking to the Bahawalpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He said that the United States had provided $ 3 billion to Pakistan during the last five years to strengthen Pakistan’s economic sector and security system. Crocker said the US had also provided an assistance of $ 500 million for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of earthquake affected areas. A proposal to create Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) in the earthquake area was also presented.

The envoy said the US was encouraging Pakistani students to pursue higher studies in USA and that his country had launched the largest Fulbirght scholarship programme for this purpose with an amount of $ 115 million for a five-year period. Appreciating the quality of mangoes grown in Bahawalpur, the US ambassador announced measures to export mangoes from Bahawalpur to the Untied States by next year. Bahawalpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ch Abdul Jabbar in his welcome address earlier said that Bahawalpur was known as the cotton and wheat belt producing 34 percent and 20 percent of the country’s cotton and wheat. Jabbar also presented the chamber’s crest to the US ambassador.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\03\07\story_7-3-2007_pg7_2