Pakistan Economy - News & Updates - Archive

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75 percent households to have Internet facility by 2015 ​

ISLAMABAD (September 24 2007): Over 75 percent of households will have access to high speed Internet facility by 2015, an official of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said on Thursday. "A target of 1.6 million broadband connections has been set for the next three years as against the present level of less than 100,000 connections," he said.

The official said the government is pursuing a plan to develop an infrastructure to cover maximum population with Internet facilities. He said the plan would help bridge digital divide by improving the access of information and communication technology to low-income groups in the country.

In the liberalised and deregulated environment of Pakistan, telecom and information technology companies are expanding their networks, business and customer base, he said.

The Universal Service Fund Company (USFC) has been operationalised to provide basic telecom services especially in remote areas of the country, he added.

This year's theme-"Connecting the Young"-has a special relevance to Pakistan as more than 50 per cent of population is below the age of 19.

The total number of fixed and mobile subscribers has reached 62 million, with major contribution coming from the mobile sector.

About 22 million youngsters are already connected on mobile networks as Pakistan has already crossed the Asian connectivity average, surpassing India and Sri Lanka and getting close to China.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

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Doing Business 2008 report WB lowers Pakistan ranking ​

Thursday, September 27, 2007
By Mansoor Ahmad

LAHORE: Though still the best place for business among major countries of South Asia, World Bank report “Doing Business 2008” has ranked Pakistan three places down than last year and India 12 places above.

In the report released on September 26, Pakistan is ranked 76 in the ease of doing business among 178 global economies. Last year, it was ranked 73 indicating that Pakistan has not kept pace with the reforms being instituted by other economies in this regard.

India on the other hand has improved its ranking from 132 to 120 showing that it has continued with necessary reforms.

The World Bank based its finding after measuring regulations affecting 10 stages of a business’s life. These include starting a business, dealing with licenses, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business.

Data in Doing Business 2008 are current as of June 1, 2007. An analysis of the report reveals that Pakistan has to go a long way in improving its overall business climate. The needed reforms have to be instituted at a rapid pace backed by strong institutions to give real impetus to its economy.

Pakistan’s ranking in ease of doing business is derived from the average ranking the country attained in above ten parameters.

Pakistan is ranked 59 in the ease of starting business, 93 in dealing with licenses, 132 in employing workers, 88 in registering property, 19 in protecting investors, 68 in registering property, 146 in ease of paying taxes, 154 in enforcing contracts, 94 in trading across border and 51 in closing business.

The report gives insight in the deficiencies needed to be covered to reduce the cost of doing business in the country. While giving due protection to the investors the government has failed to reform its cumbersome tax regime, enforcement of contract and employment of workers that impedes investment.

The reforms have to be pursued in tandem one closely following the other.

An entrepreneur has to follow 11 procedures in Pakistan to start a business against only two procedures in Australia ranked first in this regard. Time required to start the business in Pakistan is 24 days, cost to start business is 14 per cent of its per capita income against zero per cent in Denmark that is the best.

Procedures to deal with licenses in Pakistan are 12 that is double the six procedures required in global best (Denmark). Time to deal with licenses in South Korea is 34 days against 223 days in Pakistan. Least cost to deal with licenses is in UAE that is 1.5 per cent of its per capita income against 849 per cent of per capita income in Pakistan.

Pakistan scored 43 out of 100 points in rigidity of employment index compared with zero achieved by Hong Kong and Maldives that are the best.

Bangladesh is on top with zero non-wage labor cost while it is 10 per cent of workers salary in Pakistan. The cost of firing a worker in Denmark is zero while it is equivalent to 90 weeks of salary in Pakistan. Norway has one procedure only to register a property against six in Pakistan. Cost of registering a property in New Zealand is 2 per cent of its value while it is 50 per cent of the property value in Pakistan.

Pakistan scored four points out of ten in strength of legal rights index compared with full 10 points scored by Hong Kong. New Zealand with score of 9.7 was declared the best protector of investor.

In South Asia Bangladesh scored 6.7 points, Pakistan 6.3 points and India 6.0 points.

In Maldives the entrepreneur has to pay only one tax while there are 47 federal, provincial and local taxes in Pakistan. Tax payment for the whole year consumes less than one hour in Maldives and 580 hours in Pakistan. Tax rate is 8.4 per cent in Vanuatu, 40.7 per cent in Pakistan and 70.6 per cent in India.

Average cost of import per container is $1336 in Pakistan and $367 in Singapore. Average cost of export in Pakistan is $390 per container same as China that is the lowest in the world. Procedures to enforce contract are 20 in Ireland and 47 in Pakistan. Time to enforce a contract is 120 days in Singapore and 880 days in Pakistan. Time to go through insolvency is 0.4 years in Ireland and 2.8 years in Pakistan. Recovery rate from insolvency is 92.6 per cent in Japan and 39.1 per cent in Pakistan.

Doing Business 2008 report WB lowers Pakistan ranking

 

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Elections not to mar future of Pakistan’s economy ​

Thursday, September 27, 2007

KARACHI: Leaders of the business community are worried about the current political crisis and are hoping for peaceful elections. They, however, see a bright future for Pakistan’s economy regardless of who gets elected.

Zubair Tufail, vice-president of FPCCI, says the business community was sensitive to the political situation, so there was likely to be some effect on trade and industrial activity. Nevertheless, he added, the effect would be short term as the local market was huge in size with a lot of potential that the investors wouldn’t want to miss.

“The uncertainty that everyone is talking about isn’t likely to lead to any market crash. People are still making reasonable profits and business is progressing. Low-income people do suffer but businessmen are established people and so whatever impact there will be would be short term.”

He said: “Some people are trying to portray a negative look, but I am very optimistic as the GCC countries have reached their saturation point and there are no investment opportunities there. These countries are now turning towards India, Pakistan, China, Malaysia and Indonesia, and we should therefore review long-term effects which are of higher importance.”

Arif Habib, a former chairman of the Karachi Stock Exchange, says these elections have come as a bad news for the businessmen as it means that they become paralysed when it comes to upcoming investments.

“Political uncertainty hinders investment plans and focus, so I think every stakeholders’ wish that these elections would be conducted soon,” he added. “However, if nothing out of the ordinary happens during the elections, then I predict that the future holds prosperous investments.”

Mohammad Nasir Khan, the president of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says that they try and avoid politics. “Whenever something like this happens, then the business community is the most affected one. Our businesses have been at a standstill for four to five months now, since the day the Chief Justice landed.”

He says that the business community wants the elections to be held and decided soon so that they get a relief from the uncertain future and progress with their trade normally.

The ICCI president added a delegation of the Chamber had visited India and China last month. “They are far ahead of us in terms of trade and technology. We need to have continuity of economy and policies to progress at the same pace. Pakistan has a huge amount of talent but no leadership to steer them towards the right path.”

Abdul Kadar Jaffar, the president of the Pakistan Japan Business Forum, said since Japan was a democratic country, it would like to see Pakistan have the same status. “As far as investors are concerned, they want Pakistan to have a stable economy and sustainability in policies.”

He said: “Politicians should shun their personal benefits and think about Pakistan first. Foreigners and not just Japanese feel very strongly in these respects. Yes, tradesmen are uncomfortable as the outcome of the elections is unpredictable.”

“If President Musharraf returns, then the existing policies are likely to continue and so there won’t be any significant change. However, if one of the opposition parties gets elected, then no one can be sure. In fact we also need to look at what the judiciary is doing as they seem to be gaining strength too,” he added.

Shahid Hasan Sheikh, the president of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says foreign investment has been the most deeply affected sector in Lahore which is almost at a standstill.

“Elections aren’t the only reason for this, but the law and order is disrupted too. We used to try and invite new potential businessmen into Lahore to come and analyse their trade prospects, but now even the regular visitors are hesitant.”

He said the investment momentum had gained, but then this transitional phase caused hindrance that could not seem to be progressing further than its existing stage. “We have the human resources, the raw materials, even the finance to move further, but we need to organise ourselves. Pakistan has an ideal geographical location that can’t be ignored by any country so we need to cash in our our treasures and benefit from it.”

Zubair Tufail summed up the situation in these words “All we want is the campaigns and the elections both to go peacefully without the ordinary citizens facing the brunt of political activities.”

Elections not to mar future of Pakistan’s economy

 

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Rs22bn AJK capital project to start soon ​

MIRPUR: The AJK police has been reinforced to ensure fool-proof security to the foreigners including Chinese engineers, experts and workers to be engaged in the upcoming mega project of reconstruction and rehabilitation in the quake-stricken zone including the construction work on China-sponsored gigantic Rs22 billion ‘City Development Project’ to be launched soon in the quake-hit capital city of Muzaffarabad for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the state metropolis.

This was disclosed by Acting Inspector General Police of Azad Kashmir Sardar Muhammad Faheem Abbasi while addressing a news conference at the Mirpur range DIG office here on Monday.

DIG Mirpur range Shahid Iqbal, AIG Traffic AJK Ibrar Haider, SSP Mirpur Raja Muhammad Razaq Khan, SPs of Kotli and Bhimbher including Sardar Gulfraz Khan and Chaudhry Muhammad Rafiq, DSP Headquarter Raja Irfran Salim, DSPs Nassar Ullah and Chaudhry Zulqarnain and other officers of AJK police were also present on this occasion.

The acting IGP of AJK said over seven to eight hundred Chinese engineers and experts were scheduled to land in Muzaffarabad to execute the Rs22 billion City Development Project being launched under the broad-based reconstruction and rehabilitation programme.

He said that the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority has extended financial assistance of Rs160 million for ensuring the fool-proof security arrangements for the protection of the foreign engineers and experts during the mega development process.

He continued that a Turkish company was already engaged in reconstruction and rehabilitation project in AJK capital. He said that under an integrated plan, Foreign Security Cell has been set up at Central Police Office in Muzaffarabad to supervise and monitor the security arrangements for the safety of the foreign engineers engaged in the development project.

He pointed out that various effective steps were initiated with the collaboration and cooperation of federal home ministry, after an MOU was formally signed between the minister of internal affairs and the concerned Chinese authorities.

Faheem Abbasi said that the upcoming City Development project will also help to rehabilitate the damaged infrastructure of AJK police in Muzaffarabad which was totally ruined in the killer earthquake of 2005.

He pointed out that although police lines and all offices of AJK police in Muzaffarabad had turned into rubble, the police maintained its performance to maintain peace and order in entire AJK.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/arc_news.asp?id=3

 

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Japan to assist in software development ​

KARACHI: The economic conditions greatly improved in Pakistan during the last few years due to the competent leadership of the country, said Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission Embassy of Japan Akira Mizutani.

He was speaking during a recent meeting with the President of Pakistan Japan Business Forum (PJBF) Abdul Kader Jaffer.

However, Mizutani expressed concern over trade imbalance between the two countries and said there was a huge market of Pakistani Basmati rice and mangoes as well as other consumer products in Japan.

Mizutani said Japan was ready to support Pakistan in software and human resource development.

PJBF President Abdul Kader Jaffer said there was a lot of trade potential between Pakistan and Japan and emphasised the need of Japanese investment in Pakistan.

Jaffer said the PJBF was a unique business forum in the country, desiring to promote business and balance trade between the two countries.

He said “Pakistan is now moving on a right track and most of the foreign investors are looking to invest here.”

Pakistan’s foreign reserves have risen above $16 billion compared to 1999 when they were only $200 million.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/arc_news.asp?id=3

 

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Overseas Pakistanis: ‘Industrial area to increase foreign investment’ ​

ISLAMABAD: The establishment of industrial area for overseas Pakistanis at Chakri would increase foreign investment in the country, member of Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) Board of Governors Chaudhry Zafar Iqbal said on Wednesday.

He said OPF welcomes government decision as it will create employment opportunities and boost economic activities.

“The Foundation also hails the government’s decision to allocate 500 person’s Haj quota for overseas Pakistanis,” he said in a statement here. Mr Iqbal thanked Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Ghulam Sarwar Khan on taking initiatives for welfare of overseas Pakistanis.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

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Marble, granite projects to generate 0.5m jobs by 2011​

By Ijaz kakakhel

ISLAMABAD: Realising the potential of marble and granite sector, the government has approved in principle a project relating to the establishment of 10 model quarries, two machinery pools and four common facility training centers.

The project also includes the establishment of two warehouses and up-gradation of 20 existing quarries all over the country. The project of marble and granite sector was approved in the executive committee of the National Economic Council meeting held on 19th of this month. Total cost of the project is Rs 1.98 billion and ministry of industries, production and special initiatives is the sponsoring agency.

Officials in the ministry of industry, production and special initiatives told Daily Times here on Wednesday that the project would create employment opportunities for about 120,000 people and in future it was anticipated that the sector would be providing employment opportunities to half a million people by 2011 adding that all the above projects will incur losses in the first and second years of operation. The profits from model quarries will be utilised for the development of another model quarry and machinery handed over to the mine owner.

At present, the officials said the project would create employment opportunities for about 120,000 people and in future it was anticipated that the sector would be providing employment opportunities to half a million people by 2011.

Main objectives of the project was to remove the primitive, deficient and wasteful mining practices, poor processing technology and practices, inconsistency of quality of products, lack of progressive marketing strategy and improvement in the existing infrastructure facilities.

The project will help the government in industrial diversification, technological up-graduation, and investment in infrastructure and human resource development.

Officials in the concerned ministry said major obstacle to the growth of this sector was the lack of modern technology in mining. Existing quarries and processing units need to be up-graded and modernised to enhance quality, production, value-addition and to increase local sales and exports etc. Therefore, with the implementation of the said project, they said the mining sector would be in a position to play its due role in economic growth and may become not only source of employment but also a source of innovation and productivity.

Duration of the project is three years, i.e. 2007-08 to 2009-10 and Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC) is the executing agency. Other major on-going and potential projects in the marble and granite sector are: construction of Pakistan school of fashion design, adoption of social accountability (SA-8000), trade and facilitation project, Expo centre Lahore, creation of trade competitiveness institute of Pakistan, Lahore garment city, Faisalabad garment city and development project of Pakistan gems and jewellery development company.

Officials in the ministry told this scribe that Pakistan had been gifted with abundant resources of several precious and semi-precious gemstones.

The vast natural reserves have founding in the country of precious and semi precious gemstones include ruby, emerald, tourmaline, garnet (pyrope, almandine rhodolite, demantoid, spessartite and hessonite), topaz, periodot, aquamarine, spinel, pargasite, diopside, moonstone, serpentine jade, epidote, pink beryl (morganite), purple beryl, sphene, zoisite, lapis lazuli, turquoise, kunzite, and almost all known varieties of quartz. Pakistan is home to many varieties of minerals, some of which make it prominent in the mineral world, such as peridot, aquamarine, topaz (various colours: violet and pink, golden and champagne), ruby, emerald, rare earth minerals

bastnaesite and xenotime, sphene, tourmaline, and many varieties and types of quartz. Pakistan shares a long and porous border with Afghanistan.

This has effectively resulted in a full influx of all types of Afghan minerals into Pakistan, from which they are traded. Peshawar serves as the first, direct and only market for all minerals found in both these countries since 1979, after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Before the invasion, Pakistan’s only port city of Karachi held the bigger market of gem minerals, the officials added. Gemstones Corporation of Pakistan was established in 1979 to effectively explore Pakistan’s own share of wealth in minerals and to facilitate gemstone mining and business in Pakistan. It had some valuable influence but ultimately was liquidated in 1997 and hence abandoned.

Three world-famous mountain ranges namely, Hindukush, Himalaya and Karakorum shroud the northern and northwestern parts of Pakistan. In these mountains nearly all minerals Pakistan currently offers to the world market have been found, including aquamarine, topaz, peridot, ruby, emerald, amethyst, morganite, zoisite, spinal, sphene, and tourmaline. It is important to stress here that the non-professional residents of mining areas are actually the ones who mine these jewels of earth in their hazardous, traditional way of mining.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

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Pakistan at No 138 on TI’s transparency list​

* Watchdog says corruption draining resources
* Iraq, Somalia top list of corrupt states

LONDON: Corruption is rampant in Pakistan and it has rated at No 138 out of the 180 countries analysed by a respected anti-graft watchdog in a report released on Wednesday.

Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) said in its annual Corruption Perceptions Index covering 180 countries that some of the world’s poorest nations were seen as having the most dishonest political and business elites.

The report showed that Pakistan, which is tied at No 138 with Ethiopia, Paraguay, Cameroon and Syria with a corruption rating of 2.4, has “rampant” corruption.

The index score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts. It ranges between zero, which is highly corrupt, and 10, which is very clean.

However, the group said that even countries believed to be the least corrupt — named this year as Denmark, Finland and New Zealand — needed to do more to combat corporate graft.t.

Corruption drain: “Despite some gains, corruption remains an enormous drain on resources sorely needed for education, health and infrastructure,” said TI Chairwoman Huguette Labelle, in a statement. It noted significant improvement among African countries such as Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland, which the organisation said highlighted that political will and reform can root out sleaze.

Iraq, Somalia top list: According to the report, the corruption in war-ravaged countries such as Iraq and Somalia is hobbling their recovery efforts. “Countries torn apart by conflict pay a huge toll in their capacity to govern,” Labelle said.

“Low-scoring countries need to take these results seriously and act now to strengthen accountability in public institutions. But action from top-scoring countries is just as important, particularly in cracking down on corrupt activity in the private sector,” she added.

TI also continued to find a strong link between poverty and graft with 40 percent of the countries scoring below three this year — indicating that corruption is considered to be rampant — classified by the World Bank as low-income states. afp

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

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Kuwaiti firm to build 225MW power plant​

ISLAMABAD, Sept 26: Am Power Company, a Kuwait-based company, intends to build 225MW combined cycle power project located at the Sundar Industrial Estate at an estimated cost of $200 million.

This was stated by representative of the company Ross Connelly in a meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz here on Wednesday.

Mr Ross apprised the premier about details of the investment to be made in the power project in Punjab. He also appreciated Pakistan’s economic policies and incentives being offered to foreign investors.

Due to high demand in energy and power sector, the premier proposed that Am Power Company could also explore possibilities of setting up additional power generation projects as well as investments in other related fields, like agribusiness, mining and oil and gas exploration.

The prime minister said successful implementation of a wide-ranging structural reforms and supportive macroeconomic policies have transformed Pakistan’s economy into a stable and resurgent one.

He said economic and political stability gained through consistency, continuity and transparency of policies and restored confidence of investors and Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) resulting in jobs creation and poverty alleviation.

He said structural reforms in many sectors, including banking, capital markets, energy, power and telecom, have attracted investment, created jobs and provided better quality services. Alongside the demographic dividends with 60 per cent young population is a very attractive feature for the long-term investors, he added.

Kuwaiti firm to build 225MW power plant -DAWN - Business; September 27, 2007

 

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Pakistan's forex reserves at record $16.104 bln​

KARACHI, Sept 27 - Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves rose by $13 million to a record $16.104 billion in the week ended on Sept 22, the central bank said on Thursday.

Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan rose to $13.835 billion from $13.798 billion a week earlier. However, those held by commercial banks fell to $2.269 billion from $2.293 billion, the central bank said in a statement.

Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves have grown steadily over the past few months because of rising foreign investment inflows and higher remittances from Pakistanis abroad.

Pakistan's forex reserves at record $16.104 bln - Yahoo! Singapore News

 

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'Environmental degradation costs Rs 365 billion a year' ​

KARACHI (September 28 2007): The estimated annual cost of environmental and natural resource damage is about Rs 365 billion per year or six percent of gross domestic product (GDP). A World Bank study report, received here on Thursday, asked Pakistan to gear up its efforts to draw an effective environmental control policy and implement it or be ready to face its consequences.

"Delays in intervention have costly consequences for economic growth and the well-being of the poorest." The report said that the highest cost was from inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene: Rs 112 billion; agricultural and soil degradation: Rs 70 billion; and air pollution: Rs 67 billion. The urban air pollution added Rs 65 billion, lead exposure Rs 45 billion and rangeland degradation and deforestation rupees seven billion.

The report said that these were low estimates and somewhat misleading and reflected the lack of data that had led to partial estimation of values and the already low productivity of these resources. It said: "To guard against overstatement, the estimates are based on conservative assumptions and, therefore, represent the lower bounds of the damage."

The report omitted, among other factors, important categories of loss - most notably fisheries and coastal zone degradation, and recorded its regret for this, a many other omission, saying, "for which there is no adequate data".

The bank asked for interpretation of data and calculations of the relative share of damage with extreme care. "As a consequence, calculations of the relative share of damage must be interpreted with utmost caution since the magnitude of total damages is unknown since the impact of natural resource degradation have been underestimated."

The study could not calculate the impact of environmental degradation of coastal areas flora and fauna, but it recorded results of a satellite imagery, which showed a steady decline in the mangrove forests. Its acreage since 1990 had shrank from 160,000 ha to 106,000 ha.

Quoting from a IUCN findings, the report said: "Surveys conducted by IUCN in two districts, Badin and Thatta, suggest that the human toll has been substantial. Sea water intrusion may have affected over 135,000 people and led to loss in excess of 125 million dollars."

The report took into consideration the issues such as economic impacts of illness and premature deaths, urban air pollution, airborne lead pollution, indoor air pollution, salinity impact, groundwater changes, soil erosion, rangeland degradation, forests, and carried out comparative study with countries having poor environmental records to show the relationship between economic progress and cost of neglect of environmental issues.

The report said that a clear conclusion that emerged from the review was that environmental degradation eventually translated into socio-economic problems, which retarded development and growth.

The report emphasised upon the need to address environmental issues through policies and institutional reforms that created the right incentives for administrators to effectively enforce policies, and for polluters to comply with regulations.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

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Site phase-II to meet all modern needs of industry ​

KARACHI (September 28 2007): At a time when infrastructure of major industrial areas of Sindh are in a dilapidated condition, Sindh government is developing basic Infrastructure in Site phase-II on Super Highway on international lines with an amount of around Rs one billion, Business Recorder learnt here on Thursday.

Sources in Sindh Industrial Trading Estates Limited said that Site phase-II would soon emerge as most modern and developed industrial zone as compared to other industrial areas of this province. They said that the newly developed industrial area would be a model industrial area in the province. Billions of rupee investment would be made in the Site phase-II as it would be free of all such infrastructural problems, which are prevalent in the other industrial areas, they hoped.

They said that a huge amount of Rs 940 million has already been spent on the project, which was going through completion phases, to provide all modern and international standard facilities to industrialists. It is now up to the investors and industrialists to invest in the newly developed area besides promoting it as model industrial site and contribute towards development of the province and the country.

According to sources, state of the art facilities have been provided in the Site phase-II. For the first time in the country, underground electricity system has been installed in this industrial area besides other facilities. They said that plots had already been allotted to around 1,150 allottees at Super Highway Site phase-II and the plots would be handed over to the owners soon after completion of development works.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

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'Punjab government spending Rs 62 million on tourism' ​

LAHORE (September 28 2007): Punjab Tourism Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal has said the Punjab government was spending Rs 62 million on promoting tourism in the province and a special attention would be given to southern Punjab's tourist spots. He told a function in connection with the World Tourism Day here on Thursday that the government had prepared a comprehensive strategy in Punjab.

"Areas like DG Khan, Rajanpur and Bahawalpur have been targeted to develop tourist spots," he added. Tourism MD Irfan Ali and Punjab Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Lubna Tariq also addressed the function.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

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Accord for 134MW power project​

ISLAMABAD, Sept 27: The Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) on Thursday signed an Implementation Agreement (IA) with a subsidiary of UAE’s Al-Ghurair Group for setting up of a 134 MW Star Power Project in Dharki, district Ghotki in Sindh, according to a press release.

Acting managing director of PPIB Mohammad Yousuf Memon signed the agreement on behalf of the government while Musarrat Zuberi, CEO of Star Power Project signed the agreement on behalf of the company.

The power plant will use Low BTU gas from Mari Deep reserves and run on combined cycle technology.

The sponsors of the project are ETA-ASCON (Al-Ghurair Group, UAE) and the power plant will be set up with an estimated cost of more than $100 million. It is expected that the power complex will start supplying power to the national grid by July 2010.

Accord for 134MW power project -DAWN - Business; September 28, 2007

 

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Improved CPI sends positive message to investors world-wide: BoI ​

ISLAMABAD (September 29 2007): Pakistan's improving 'Corruption Perception Index' (CPI) sends positive message to investors worldwide, Board of Investment (BoI) sources said.

An official of the BOI told APP here on Friday that the 'Corruption Perceptions Index' was based on 14 expert opinion surveys carried out by World Bank, United Nations, Asian Development Bank, etc, and gives an overall overview of public sector corruption in 180 countries.

Its ranking of countries is based on scores ranging from 0 to 10, where 'zero' indicates highest levels of perceived corruption, and 'ten' indicates lowest levels of perceived corruption in a particular country. The BoI official said that Pakistan has shown improvement in its CPI score from 1.0 (2nd country most corrupt country out of 54) in 1996 to an improved score of 2.4 in 2007 (42nd country above the most corrupt country out of 180).

The Economic Reforms introduced by the government in 1999 soon after President General Pervez Musharraf took office, through the then Finance Minister, now Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz have proved to be remarkably successful. He added that based on the three pillars of 'deregulation', 'liberalisation' and 'privatisation', these reforms have resulted in very impressive economic growth over the last several years, with dramatic improvement in all major economic indicators, which have completely transformed the economy and placed it on the path of rapid growth.

He said that investors in Pakistan must feel well protected and secure now, because Pakistan has recently ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption (Uncac) and the Government of Pakistan intends to carry on the momentum of its economic reforms so that all investors, whether local or foreign, could be provided level playing field. The Government, he said, is committed to providing national treatment and full legal protection to foreign investment.

With a view to increasing investor confidence and to protect their investments, a number of initiatives have been taken to improve the legal framework in the country.

Arbitration Acts of 1937 and 1940 were revised and updated to make them compatible with the needs of modern times. Pakistan signed the New York Convention in 1966, he added. In 2005, this Convention was ratified, and the enabling legislation has also been made into domestic law.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]