Pakistan Economy - News & Updates - Archive

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$400 million ADB loan to develop capital markets​

ISLAMABAD, July 31: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will lend Pakistan $400 million to help improve functioning of capital markets, particularly in equity and long-term debt.

“This will further strengthen economy and make it more resilient to financial shocks,” said an ADB statement issued on Tuesday.

Capital market development is a key element of the government’s reform agenda due to its importance for resource mobilisation and intermediation, investment finance and employment generation.

The bank said Pakistan has made substantial progress with financial sector reforms since it suffered from a year-long economic and financial crisis in the 1990s. In spite of this, domestic capital markets do not yet play a significant role in resource-mobilisation.

In 2005, for instance Pakistani companies issued about $68 million equivalent in new capital. This compares to $3.7 billion in Thailand, $2 billion in Malaysia and $1 billion in Indonesia.

The programme loan of $400 million will support a second generation of capital market reforms initiated by the government aimed at turning domestic equity and bond markets into a relevant source of long-term finance.

“The growth of well-developed capital markets will bring Pakistan significant economic benefits through a more efficient and balanced financial system,” the statement said, adding “it will facilitate mobilisation of financial resources for productive investment and employment generation.”

The programme includes a range of policy and regulatory reforms to increase the supply and demand for securities, such as shares and bonds, and strengthen securities market oversight.

The reforms will significantly increase the number of corporate bond and equity issuances, both primary and secondary, which in turn will increase the amount of funding available for private sector investment.

Deregulation will play the key role in developing corporate bond markets which will have a range of benefits, including helping to finance infrastructure projects that require long-term financing.

Easy procedures and lower costs for issuing corporate bonds will facilitate the funding of urgently needed infrastructure, including for energy generation, and free up government resources to focus more on funding social services besides development of voluntary private pension systems.

The reforms agenda is due to be completed in two years and the loan is due to be released in two tranches – each $200 million.

The loan will have a 15-year term and include a grace period of three years.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/08/01/ebr3.htm

 

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Plan to net 3m taxpayers by 2015​

KARACHI, July 31: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has embarked on a plan to broaden the tax net and improve tax-to-GDP ratio from the present low level of 9 per cent to 15 per cent by 2015.

In order to achieve this target the number of taxpayers will be raised from 1.6 million to 4.690 million. Consequently, this will improve the tax-to-GDP ratio to 15 per cent and bring it at par with countries of the region.

The FBR is working on a two-pronged strategy to enhance the number of taxpayers. Firstly, it will concentrate on enforcement measures and secondly, on development and utilisation of data with the help of internal control cells (ICC).

All these measures would be implemented through regional tax offices (RTOs) being set up by the FBR in different cities of the country. In this connection the first RTO has already started functioning at Karachi and more are expected to start operating by the year end. In total around 12 RTOs are expected to be set up.

According to the data compiled by the FBR the country’s total population has been put at 169.270 million (based on US Census Bureau and Pakistan Demographic Survey 2003).

After deducting non-taxable segments like rural population (115.440 million), urban females (30.790 million), urban males under 19 years (17.010 million), urban males above 65 years (1.110 million) and overseas Pakistanis (1 million), the total taxable population comes to around 3.920 million. However, adding up to this 0.770 million working urban females, the actual tax paying population should come to around 4.690 million.

While there is no denying the fact that the tax-to-GDP ratio is a crucial measure of efficacy of a country’s tax system, more realistic approach is required to identify weak areas and then to address the issues.

The RTOs would be given the task to broaden tax net on collecting data of prospective taxpayers from institutions, trade bodies, and professionals.

Some of the bodies identified for this purpose, include Pakistan Medical Association, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, educational institutions, artists, production houses, beauticians, event managers, tax bar associations, building control authority, major clubs, builders and real estate agents, shipping agents and other professionals.

It would be the duty of regional tax offices to cross match data with the master index and the Nadra data base (CNIC) to identify actionable areas and tax cases. This will also help to identify persons within these sectors liable to file tax returns and yet not discharging their statutory obligation.

Most of these functions would be carried out by internal control cell of each RTO as they would make internal checks to ensure that exemptions and reduced tax rate certificates are being issued in accordance with the provisions of the law.

The ICCs will also make efforts to expand the CVT pilot project and facilitate identification of buyers and sellers not covered by the master index. The data will be scanned through modern techniques. Presently, the data collected along with tax returns is processed by Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (Pral), which takes a lot of time.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/08/01/ebr4.htm

 

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PTA with Mauritius​

ISLAMABAD, July 31: Pakistan and Mauritius have signed the preferential trade agreement (PTA) to increase the level of bilateral trade between the two countries. Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan and Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Cooperation of Mauritius Madan Dulloo inked the agreement on behalf of their respective countries.

An official announcement issued here by the commerce ministry said the agreement would open new avenues for trade and commerce between the two countries.

Six MoUs on mutual administrative assistance in customs matters between State Trading Corporation Mauritius and Trading Corporation of Pakistan, sanitary and phytosanitary matters between Small Enterprises and Handicraft Development Authority Mauritius and Smeda Pakistan, between Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority and Mauritius Standards Bureau and between TDAP and Enterprise Mauritius were also signed between the two governments.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/08/01/ebr12.htm

 

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Pakistan ranks 14th in ADB’s Asia report​

ISLAMABAD, July 31: Pakistan ranks 14th among 23 economies of Asia and the Pacific in terms of economic wellbeing and living standards of people, despite an impressive growth in the last few years.

According to the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) ‘International Programme (ICP) in Asia and the Pacific: Purchasing Power Parity Preliminary Report’, Pakistan at 14th place was ahead of China and India which were at 15th and 17th positions respectively when economies were compared based on per capita ‘actual final consumption of households (AFCH)’, a measure of economic wellbeing of the population.

The AFCH measures what households actually consume, what they purchase and what they are supplied for individual use by the government (principally education and health). The economic well-being of the population is obtained by comparing household consumption expenditure per capita.

The five economies that top the list are Hong Kong (Hong Kong $125,303 per capita), Taipei (HK$109,108), Singapore (HK$99,706), Brunei Darussalam (HK$81,744), and Macao (HK$67,639). Pakistan’s per capita is HK$13,230 per year. In comparison, China and India stand at HK$11,502 and HK$9,346 respectively.

The five economies that are at the bottom of the survey are Nepal, Bangladesh, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam. From another perspective, Pakistan occupies the 15th position among 22 countries when the size of economies is adjusted by population. China and India stand at 10th and 18th place respectively when the full gross domestic product (GDP) is compared, although these two economic powerhouses account for 64 per cent of the total real GDP.

Based on the Price Level Index (PLI), a ratio of the Purchasing Power Parities to the exchange rate, Pakistan figures again at 14th position. The cheapest places in these 23 countries are Lao PDR, Vietnam, Iran, Cambodia and Nepal. Fiji Islands and Hong Kong are the two costliest places to live in. They are followed by Macao, China, Singapore, and Taipei. China ranked eighth, and India ranked 16th in terms of PLIs. Price levels in the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia are very similar and are close to the Asian average.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/08/01/top20.htm

 

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Major changes announced in monetary policy ​

Discount rate up 0.5pc, CRR zero rated, Islamic Banks cash in hand to count towards SLR

KARACHI: Governor State Bank Dr. Shamshad Akthar on Tuesday announced major strategic changes in 6-monthly Monetary Statement for first half of the current financial year.

Effective August 1, 2007, SBP will raise policy discount rate from 9.5 percent to 10 percent.

Zero rating of cash reserve requirement would be implemented for all deposits of one-year and above maturity to encourage greater resource mobilization of longer tenor and 7 percent CRR for other demand and time liabilities.

Islamic Banks cash in hands and balances with National Bank of Pakistan are being allowed to count towards SLR.

SBP is introducing a new long-term financing facility (LTFF) to promote export led industrial growth in the country.

This facility will be available through approved participating financial institutions (PFI) including banks and DFIs.

Under this facility exporters can avail financing for fresh procurement of new imported and locally manufactured plant and machinery.

This facility will be available to export oriented projects with at least 50 percent of sales constituting exports or annual exports equivalent to $5 million whichever is lower.

SBP will provide refinance up to 70 percent of the sanctioned facility and the PFIs will finance 30 percent of LTFF from their own resources. LTFF will be guided by an overall yearly limit with which PFI limits will be set based on their financial capacity and strengths.

PFIs will serve exporters on first come first serve basis subject to meeting the prescribed eligibility criteria.

Lending under the facility shall be subject to compliance of relevant prudential regulations and prescribed debt-equity ratio.

Other terms and conditions will be released separately.

She also announced the liberalisation of external commercial borrowings (ECB).

SBP is issuing instructions to banks to further liberalise and rationalize the ECB. Industry and exporter will be able to secure their foreign currency requirements based on different product structures and maturities, if within stipulated pricing range these transactions can be approved by the commercial banks without seeking SBP approval.

In order to liberalise hedging of exchange exposures arising out of foreign currency borrowings, forward cover facility will now be available in all categories of ECBs.

SBP is also in the process of formulating guidelines and procedures to allow banks to provide derivative facility to exporters without seeking SBP approvals.

To encourage the public to open basic banking accounts, BBA, Banks are being advised not to recover any charges from customers for operating BBA or for conversion of regular full service bank accounts to BBA.

Banks are also being advised not to recover service charges of more than Rs50 per month from their regular account holders on maintaining balance below the minimum monthly average balance.

To enhance the financial penetration of banking system, all bank will henceforth be required as minimum to open 20 percent of their new branch network in rural or underserved areas.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=66460

 

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Inflation falls to 7pc ​

ISLAMABAD: General inflation measured by Consumer Price Index during June 2007 declined to 7 per cent from 7.6 per cent in the corresponding month of the last fiscal whereas, the food inflation went up to 9.7 per cent from 7.8 per cent.

This is giving a crushing blow to the millions of low and fixed income families and snatching their purchasing power, which is a challenge for the economic planners.

According to the State Bank inflation monitor, increase in food inflation was mainly due to the rise in the prices of some key food items including vegetables, fruits, eggs, meat, different types of rice, etc, while for the same period non-food inflation declined to 5.1 per cent from 7.5 per cent in corresponding period of the last fiscal.

Average annual inflation year-on-year showed a marginal decline and stood at 7.8 per cent against 7.9 per cent recorded in FY2006. Food inflation in the same period went up by huge 3.4 percentage points to 10.3 per cent from what it was 6.9 percent in FY2006.

However, non-food inflation in FY2007 declined to 6 per cent from 8.6 per cent in FY2006.

Core inflation based (non-food non-energy) declined YoY basis to 5.1 per cent in June 2007 from 6.3 per cent in June 2006.

It is worth-mentioning that the contribution of the food group in overall inflation was 57.1 per cent in June 2007 which is significantly higher than the 15 percentage point contribution of food group during the corresponding month last year. The contribution of house rent index (the single largest item of the CPI basket) declined from 24.3 per cent during the corresponding month last year to 22.7 per cent in June 2007

Food inflation YoY declined from 11.3 per cent in May 2007 to 9.7 per cent in June 2007. This significant decline is due to a decrease in prices of some vegetables, fruits and chicken, etc.

On monthly basis, 40 items showed decline or no change out of 124 items, 58 items showed increase of 0 to 5pc, 4 items showed 5 to 10pc increase and 8 items showed above 10pc increase.

The food group, which comprise of 124 commodities, 42 commodities including eggs, some fruits, cooking oil, different types of rice, chicken and some vegetables exhibited inflation (YoY) in the range of 10 to 80pc in June 2007.

The combined weight of commodities with double digit inflation was about 40 per cent of the food group. On the other hand, inflation (YoY) of 18 commodities including key staples such as potatoes, green chilies, sugar, ginger, chicken, pulse moong, etc. either declined or remained same during the month.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=66464

 

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Trans-border truck service taken up with Delhi ​

NEW DELHI (August 01 2007): India and Pakistan began two days of talks on Tuesday to boost trade ties, including a cross-border truck service to ferry goods, a government statement said. The Pakistan team for the talks is headed by Commerce Secretary Asif Shah while the Indian side is led by Gopal K Pillai, Indian government statement said.

"The agenda for the talks includes trade in goods and services, tea exports from India, joint registration of basmati rice, including new items for trade such as cement," the statement said.

The joint registration for basmati will ensure that third parties do not benefit from squabbles between the two nations to register the long-grained aromatic grain as unique to their area of production in India and Pakistan, said Pravin Anand, an expert in patent and copyright laws. Pakistan's exports to India stood at $323 million while Indian exports to Pakistan crossed $1 billion in 2005-06.

The neighbours also discussed the launch of a truck service through the Wagah-Attari border crossing in India's Punjab state. At present, goods are brought up to the land crossing at Wagah and then carried by labourers across the border and loaded onto waiting trucks.

"The arrangement we have now is tedious and we are trying to change that," said an Indian official. Since 2004, India and Pakistan have increased transport links adding several bus routes including one connecting Srinagar, capital of Indian held Kashmir with Muzaffarabad, administrative headquarters of Pakistan controlled Kashmir.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=598973&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

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Pak-Morocco trade quantum to exceed $140 million ​

KARACHI (August 01 2007): Trade between Pakistan and Morocco is developing steadily and it is expected that the bilateral trade between the two brotherly countries would exceed 140 million dollars during this year.

These views were expressed by Moroccan ambassador Mohammed Rid El Faso, while speaking at the eighth anniversary of Enthronement Day of King Mohammed VI of Morocco organized by the Moroccan Consulate General here on Tuesday.

The ambassador said that the leadership of both countries was keen to move forward in developing bilateral relations and inter-Islamic cooperation. "The two governments are fully aware of the importance of the task and are working tirelessly to reflect its real value, which is evident from the excellent relations our two countries and people happily enjoy since long," he added.

In fact even before the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1958, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Kingdom of Morocco had always enjoyed close, cordial and fraternal relations that stood all times, the ambassador said.

Speaking on the occasion, Honorary Consul General of Morocco in Karachi Ishtiaq Baig said that he was making all efforts to increase bilateral trade between the two brotherly countries. "Now the bilateral trade volume between Pakistan and Morocco has reached 140 million dollars and it is expected to grow further in coming years", he added. He said that a 30-member delegation of Pakistani businessmen had visited Morocco to observe trade opportunities between the two countries, which was a tremendous effort to increase trade volume.

In response of that visit, a delegation of top traders from Morocco was expected to visit Pakistan in near future, which would open new venue of bilateral trade, he added. A large number of dignities, consul generals of different counties, exporters, industrialists and elite of the society attended the event.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=599054&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

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7,000 new jobs through Ahan project envisaged ​

KARACHI (August 01 2007): The "Aik Hunar Aik Nagar" (Ahan) programme in the pilot phase will generate about 7,000 new jobs across the country, of which 58 percent rural women will be provided with employment. This was stated by Federal Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives Jahangir Khan Tareen.

While talking to newsmen at the Ahan display centre here on Tuesday. During the inspection of handicrafts and other handmade textile, leather, jewellery products etc, displayed by the participants of Ahan programme, he said the government was intending to enable the rural cottage industry to augment its local market share in the first phase.

He was also accompanied by the State Minister for Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar. The stalls of handicraft products at the display centre were from all the four provinces and Azad Kashmir. The products from northern parts of the country were incorporated in the NWFP stall.

Jahangir Tareen said that Ahan was aimed at integrating over 35,000 areas where small and medium sized industries were located in the distant parts of the country and were not able to get easy access to markets of the big cities.

He said the government wanted to steer the flow of capital rotating in the urban cities towards the rural areas, adding that about 30 projects were under way to facilitate the rural people.

"Our efforts on bringing them into the mainstream marketing zones to get maximum benefits on their products across the country," he added. A marketing policy is also being evolved to give easy market access in urban parts of the country to the rural people related to such businesses, he said, and added that under the Ahan pilot project products by rural people were being introduced in the markets of big cities. "Ahan's prime objective to promote the worker and labour of the rural segment of the country," he added.

The Minister said that the government was also making efforts to facilitate the handicraft producers of the rural areas by providing easy loans to them from the micro-finance banks so that their businesses could go smoothly. As many as 100 such pilot projects will be completed by 2008 and expected to generate employment in the rural areas, he said.

He said that on the directives of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, his ministry had initiated the Ahan programme, emulating the same sort of project called "one village, one product," first introduced in Thailand and Japan two year ago.

He hoped that this programme would help boost the country's exports, besides providing economic opportunities to rural public. He said that market demands had been changing periodically, whereas the local manufacturers were still producing the age-old traditional products, which were needed to be varied in line with the present day's fashion demands.

Hina Rabbani Khar spoke about the marketing strategy, evolved for the promotion of handicrafts of rural areas, and said that market access to them would be ensured. These products were planned in the later phase to export, she added. Products like traditional leather shoes, embroidery products, carpets, blue pottery, jewellery, Ajraks, mosaics, stone cutting items and apparel were displayed at the centre.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=599055&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

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First KCCI team visit gets warm welcome in New York ​

KARACHI (August 01 2007): The New York City Commission for United Nations has applauded the visit of the first Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (KCCI's) visit to USA.

Ms Terry D Jackson, Managing Director, Division for International Business of the Commission, during a meeting with the delegation, in the office of Mayor of New York City, appreciated the initiative of KCCI and said that she would present the contents of the meeting to the five chambers in the five Boroughs that make up New York City. The delegation is led by Majyd Aziz, President of KCCI.

According to a message received here on Tuesday, she informed the delegation that the New York City administration, under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, had adopted a very proactive programme to provide networking opportunities for foreign businesses that want to set up offices or want to invest in the city. The NY Mayor's office has arrangements under which foreign businesses, intending to commence operations in the City, can get free assistance, for a limited time, from designated law firms, accountant firms, and banks, so that they could be provided the best assistance and support.

Moreover, the Mayor's office has set up a business centre near the United Nations Headquarters where foreign businesses can set up their offices at only a few hundred dollars a month and are provided secretarial and other assistance. These offices are open 24 hours daily.

Earlier, Majyd Aziz in his presentation dealt in detail with the objectives of the trip and also highlighted the achievements of the Mayor of Karachi. He said that Karachi is being transformed into a vibrant modern city and made livable for 18 million residents. He called for more cooperation between the two cities so that best practices, adopted by each city, are exchanged and understood. He said that the administrations of the two mega cities needed to be more proactive in attracting businesses to establish offices in respective cities.

At a dinner, hosted for the delegation by Mohsin Razi, Pakistan's Consul-General in New York, Senate Chairman Muhammadmian Soomro, who also attended the dinner, described the KCCI delegation visit as a trend-setter, being first organised businessmen's delegation visiting America to talk about trade and investment in a collective and institutionalised manner rather than the usual individual buying and selling delegations.

He said that though the bilateral trade between Pakistan and USA is in favour of Pakistan, there is need for substantial market presence for Pakistan's products. He emphasised that the private sector must promote ideas, and lobby for more market access and achieving free trade agreement between the two countries.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=599070&currPageNo=2&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

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Pakistan and India aim $10 billion trade by 2010 ​

NEW DELHI (August 02 2007): Pakistan and India vowed on Wednesday to jack up trade nearly 10-fold by 2010 but clashed over export rights of premium Basmati rice. The two sides wrapped up two days of trade talks - the fourth round since they launched a peace process in 2004 - with an agreement to boost cross-border freight traffic known as "truck diplomacy" to improve ties.

"We are looking at a trade basket as large as possible to achieve 10 billion dollars by 2010 and we believe it will be in the advantage of both the countries," Pakistani Commerce Secretary Syed Asif Shah told reporters. "It's achievable ... We are positive of that," added Shah's Indian counterpart G.K. Pillai.

Pakistan's exports to India stood at 323 million dollars while Indian exports to Pakistan crossed one billion dollars in 2005-2006. Delegates said the two sides failed to agree on Islamabad's contention that New Delhi cannot export the long-grained aromatic Basmati rice under the brand "Super" "Super Basmati" has evolved and being exported from Pakistan from day one and it is our belief Indian exports under this brand hurts our interest," Shah said.

Since 2004, India and Pakistan have increased transport links, opening several buses routes including one connecting Srinagar, capital of Indian Kashmir, with Muzaffarabad, administrative headquarters of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. But the talks have failed to produce a major breakthrough in ties between the nuclear-armed rivals.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=599348&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

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PTA Pakistan June 2007 Customer Numbers

In the first quarter of 2007 Telenor trumped all of its competitors to lead the net additions race in Pakistan's fast-growing mobile market. However, in the second quarter, Telenor slipped into fourth place behind all of its major competitors despite the fact that it had the third best quarter in its nine quarter history. Pakistan Telecom's Ufone emerged as the front runner in Q2 2007 with 2.4m net additions to its base taking the total to 14m. It was followed by market leader Mobilink with 1.8m, new Singtel associate Warid Telecom with 1.7m and then Telenor with 1.6m. In total a record 7.6m new customers were added in Pakistan in the quarter, taking the total count to over 63m and the penetration rate to 37%. In the process both Telenor and Warid exceeded the 10m customer mark, finishing the period with 10.70m and 10.62m customers, respectively.



Despite the fact that all three of its major competitors recorded more net additions in the second quarter, Telenor still outperformed in this respect relative to its overall size and as a result increased its market share from 16.3% to 16.9%. Warid and Ufone made better progress with gains of 0.7pp and 1.3pp respectively to claim a further 39% of the market between them. As a result, Orascom's Mobilink saw its own position further eroded to leave it with a 41.9% share of the national customer base at the end of June 2007, a year after its market share first dipped below the 50% mark.

China Mobile's Pakistani subsidiary Paktel also gave up 0.3pp as it continued to lie relatively dormant with just over 1m connections, equivalent to 1.6% of the total at the end of the period. Last (and, frankly, least) was AMPS/TDMA operator Pakcom which dropped a further 3bp of market share despite actually adding 22k customers in the quarter.

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/25212.php

 

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UK-based Pakistani firm listed on PLUS markets ​

LONDON (August 02 2007): A UK-based Pakistani company which is set to explore coal in Sindh has been successfully approved for a listing on PLUS markets with its shares due for trading from Thursday. Oracle Coalfields plc has raised funds through private and institutional investors, which will be used to develop the 100 square kilometres Indus East coalfield at KhoreWah in Sindh.

A company official said on Wednesday that a 12-month exploration programme has been mapped out to develop the coalfield, for providing fuel to the power sector. The exploration is to commence later this month.

PLUS Markets is a Financial Services Authority recognised Investment Exchange. Over 1,000 small and mid-cap company shares currently trade on the PLUS market, representing a combined market capitalisation of almost 200 billion British pounds.

Around 200 small and mid-cap companies currently trading on PLUS-quoted, which offers an alternative to AIM for high-quality applicants that offer the potential for investment returns.

Speaking about the listing of the company, Director Shahrukh Khan said his company looks forward to developing the Indus East coalfield with local partners Sindh Koela Ltd "Pakistan is blessed with substantial indigenous coal resources, estimated at around 185 billion tonnes. Our aim is to become a mining operation, and provide employment and electricity to the country through the construction of an aggregate 150Mw coal-fired power plant, in conjunction with Sindh Koela.

"Electricity consumption in Pakistan has been growing faster than new sources have come on stream, resulting in load shedding. Pakistan's economy is forecast to grow at between 6-8% per annum over the next two decades and the projected peak demand for grid electricity is expected to increase to 75,636Mw by the year 2025, meaning that new sources of electricity are imperative for the country.

"Currently coal represents only 1% of fuel supply to the electricity sector and is projected to increase to about 17% by 2025. We hope that Oracle Coalfields will become a key player in developing Pakistan's untapped coal resources."

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=599389&currPageNo=2&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

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'Pakistan destination of choice for investors' ​

ISLAMABAD (August 02 2007): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday said signing of the Free Trade Agreement, Co-operation Agreement and establishment of Pak-China Joint Investment Company between Pakistan and China will pave way for further strengthening the existing trade between the two countries.

The Prime Minister was talking to Hou BaoXu, President of Metallurgical Construction Corporation (MCC), and the Chinese partner of Pakistani Ruba Group investing in consumer products industry in Pakistan, who called on him at PM Secretariat.

The Prime Minister said as a result of investor-friendly and growth-oriented policies of the present government, Pakistan emerged as a destination of choice for foreign investors.

He said unique demographics of Pakistan with its 100 million population below the age of 25 led to the emergence of middle class that became the backbone of Pakistan's economy. It presented a huge market for investment in all sectors including housing and construction.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan's economy was open for investment in all sectors including construction, exploration, mining, industry, services and other sectors. He also mentioned the benefits of Joint Industrial Zone, which was announced during the recent visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to Pakistan.

The Prime Minister appreciated the fact that Chinese government owned MCC company with a capital of about 20 billion dollars made its first and biggest overseas investment by joining the Pakistani market.

He expressed satisfaction over the number of major Chinese Companies investing in Pakistan and assured them of every possible support and help in facilitating their operations. Hou BaoXu appreciated the forward-looking economic policies of the government of Pakistan and said the continuity of these policies established the investors' confidence.

He said for this reason, his company embarked upon its first biggest overseas investment in Pakistan. He expressed confidence that this investment would lead to further economic collaborations.

He thanked the Prime Minister for the support in facilitating their operation and said it would help to generate economic activities and employment opportunities for the local people. Federal Minister for Privatisation Zahid Hamid, Ambassador of China in Pakistan Luo Zhao Hui, Haji Kochi of Ruba Group and senior officials attended the meeting.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=599452&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

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PCJIC to help boost economic activities ​

BEJING (August 02 2007): Pak-China Joint Investment Company (PCJIC), will play the role of a "bridge" between Pakistani and Chinese entrepreneurs and certainly help boost economic activities in Pakistan, this was stated by Chen Jianbo, Managing Director PCJIC.

While talking to APP after returned from Pakistan, he said that the PCJIC would facilitate investors for setting up joint ventures in various fields and to accelerate economic activities. PCJIC plans to open its branches in next phase in Lahore and Karachi, he added.

He will go back to Islamabad in next couple of weeks to further push forward this important project aimed at to promote investment, launch joint ventures, project financing, asset management, house financing, investment in banking and infrastructure, it is learnt.

Referring to the significance of PCJIC, Chen said, "it will play a role of bridge between Chinese and Pakistani entrepreneurs". "My priorities include encouraging Chinese entrepreneurs by inviting them to Pakistan for setting up joint ventures", he noted. The Pak-China Joint Investment Company (PCJIC) was established last month with paid up capital of $200 million that equally shared by both sides.

The establishment of PCJIC would also help enhance the existing bilateral economic co-operation between the two countries, besides improving the investment climate in Pakistan. The setting-up of PCJIC was the part of the five-year economic development co-operation plan with China that would help various sectors of Pakistan to seek Chinese investment.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=599453&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=