Pakistan Economy - News & Updates - Archive

[Neo]

Efforts being to revolutionise industrial sector: Cheema ​

SIALKOT (October 02 2007): Punjab Minister of Commerce, Industries and Investment Muhammad Ajmal Cheema has said that strenuous efforts were being made for bringing industrial revolution and tracking the industrial sector on scientific lines.

Talking to reporters here on Saturday evening he said that the government had adopted a liberal and business-friendly policy enabling the newcomers and foreign investors to set up new industrial units in the Punjab.

The minister said that 100 KM long Sialkot-Lahore motorway would be completed at a cost of Rs 23 billion and this motorway would play an instrumental role in further accelerating the pace of trade and commerce activities in the area. Cheema said that initial development work on this mega project had been initiated.

He said that industrial estates would be developed on Sambrial, Gujranwala and Muridke interchanges along with motorway besides the new economic corridor, which would surely augment industrial production.

The motorway would also be supportive in enhancing farm and agriculture industry besides helping to reduce the poverty graph in long neglected town and districts spreading from Narang Mandi, Narowal tehsil Pasrur of Sialkot district, he added.

Ajmal Cheema said that strategy has also been evolved for setting up SME industrial estates in major industrial towns of the Punjab. The step was being taken for minimising the problems being confronted by the SME sector of the Punjab, he added.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

Sindh’s tourism potential​

ONE could not agree more with the Sindh tourism and culture minister when he said the other day that the province had a lot of potential for tourism. The trade is the mainstay of revenue generation for many developing countries with much less potential. As for Sindh, it is not going to be a hundred new parks, say, in Karachi or Sukkur that will bring more tourism to the province, as flouted by the city and provincial government officials crediting themselves with belated provision of recreational venues to the public. Development of a hill station at Gorakh, which could be termed as an accomplishment if and when achieved, has remained a pipedream all these years. Sindh’s little explored and badly neglected treasure trove remains the prehistoric world heritage site of Moenjodaro. Which other country in the region can boast of having such an impressive tourist destination? The National Museum in Karachi is arguably the biggest repository of the Indus valley civilisation relics, but what has the city or the provincial government done to showcase it to the world in any meaningful way?

Sindh is also the land marked with glorious mediaeval-time architectural jewels: the ancient city of Bhambore and the Chowkandi tombs lie at a few miles’ distance from Karachi; so do the necropolis and the unique Shahjehan mosque at Thatta. The Thar desert, the Indus delta, the coastal belt with its marine-related potential in the south, the sufi shrines across the province and the remains of old rulers of Sindh’s palaces in upper Sindh are waiting to be explored, but for the want of vision on the part of the inept departments concerned. The immense potential for tourism remains untapped, and the blame for this must rest with the rulers who milk Sindh dry but will give nothing back to it.

DAWN - Editorial; October 02, 2007

 

[Neo]

Gems and Jewellery sector : PGJDC formed to enhance export to $1.5bn ​

ISLAMABAD: The government has formed “Pakistan Gems and Jewellery Development Company (PGJDC)” with a cost of Rs 1.4 billion, to increase the export of gem and jewellery from $25 million to $1.5 billion by 2017.

The above umbrella project comprising of six projects, which envisages upgrading the Gem and Jewellery industry to a competitive level internationally in terms of technology, skill development and country branding. The project will help in promoting the development of this sector and will play a vital role for encouraging investment and growth. Officials of the Ministry of Industry, Production and Special Initiatives told Daily Times here on Saturday that exports from this sector are expected to increase from $25 million to $1.5 billion in year 2017.

The project, which was approved by executive committee of National Economic Council, (ECNEC) on 19th of this month, is a part of comprehensive plan and strategy for upgrading Gems and Jewellery industry in Pakistan. The umbrella project will focus on upgrading the entire value chain thorough undertaking different initiatives including raising value chain productivity, setting up common facility training and manufacturing gems processing centres and Jewellery manufacturing.

Despite of having abundance resources of precious stones, Pakistan so far has not succeeded in getting its due share of the total global trade of $84.4 billion in this sector. In addition to these natural reserves the country process near about 170 tonnes gold annually that makes it one of the ten largest consumers of the metal in the world.

The initiatives also include establish gem identification and certification laboratories to ensure better understanding of gemstones and their properties, to set up and promote gem exchange centres to facilitate linkages between buyers and sellers, get geological surveys to identify new stone deposits and quantify the existing ones. The company will also work to improve industry marketing and for this purpose it will introduce hallmarking to ensure quality of gold Jewellery for the local as well as the international market.

For the development of industry and marketing, the company will conduct market survey to ascertain the size of the local market and to identify customer trends and preferences, the officials further added. The project will also work for establishing Pakistan as a world gold Jewellery supplier through a country campaign and to position the industry in international market and establish recognition at trade shows. The company will take initiatives for the human resource development and innovation capacity and in this regard the company will set up a centre to upgrade the industry’s skill level.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Bushroda]

Pakistani role in economy to be discussed
By GAYLE PEREZ
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

An internationally recognized author and expert on race, culture and diversity will kick off the Hasan School of Business Distinguished speakers series on Wednesday.

Dominic Pulera will speak at 5:30 p.m. in the Hasan School of Business auditorium. His talk is titled "Making it Happen: The Overseas Pakistanis, Pakistan's Next Generation, Success in a Global Economy." It's about te role of expatriate Pakistanis in the development of Pakistan's economy.

With nearly 1 million Pakistanis living in the U.S. and Canada, they have the capacity to significantly enhance the development of Pakistan's economy and to improve the country's standing in the global economy, Pulera said.

Pulera will be discussing the success of Pakistani-Americans; Americans' views of international trade; Americans' views of the world in the post 9/11 era; the linkages of overseas Pakistanis with Pakistan; and reflections on Pakistan's image abroad and how it affects efforts to attract tourism and foreign direct investment to Pakistan.

Pulera is a member of the Academy of Political Science, the Southern Political Science Association, the Western Political Science Association and the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

He has published two books, "Visible Differences" and "Sharing the Dream."

A third book titled “Green, White and Red” is forthcoming. Pulera, who did some research for the book in Pueblo, focuses on the broad treatment of the experiences of people of Italian origin, particularly Italian Americans, living throughout the world.

Pulera also owns Pulera International, an independent consulting firm that helps businesses improve their work-force productivity, increase sales and enhance their public image.

 

[Neo]

Industry to import one million tons scrap ships in two months ​

KARACHI (October 03 2007): The ship breaking industry will import about one million tons-light displacement tonnage (LDT)-scrap vessels in October-November 2007, industry sources told Business Recorder on Tuesday.

"We will import scrap ships of around one million tons during next two months," they said, and added that import process was already continuing at an accelerated pace. Due to some internal problems in India and Bangladesh, Pakistan's ship breakers have better chances to attract the sellers of scrap ships, sources said.

"Indian and Bangladeshi ship breakers are busy in efforts to form cartels, which would restrict their imports, or introduce some quota system. This would certainly go in favour of Pakistan", they added. They said that national exchequer would also get billions of rupees in taxes from the ship breaking industry.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

Iran invited to set up refinery in coastal areas: IPI gas line progress reviewed ​

ISLAMABAD (October 03 2007): The Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Amanullah Khan Jadoon, and Iranian Ambassador Masha Allah Shakeri on Tuesday discussed progress on Iran-Pak-India (IPI) gas pipeline project and supply of electricity from Iran to Pakistan.

During a meeting held here, they also deliberated upon co-operation in coal, lead, and zinc exploration and production of iron ore and establishment of oil refinery. Petroleum Ministry Secretary Farrukh Qayyum, Director-General, Oil, G A Sabri, and Director-General, Minerals, Irshad Ali Khokhar, were also present.

Both sides agreed to take benefit of the vast opportunities in the oil, gas and minerals sectors between the two countries. The Iranian Ambassador said that his country has technical expertise in mining and production of coal, lead, zinc and iron ore, and Pakistan could take benefit from it.

He also offered to set up an oil refinery in Pakistan and supply of furnace oil. Jadoon said that Pakistan was taking possible steps to utilise the deposits of coal, lead, zinc, copper and iron ore to strengthen its economy and meet its energy requirements.

He said there were 175 billion tons coal deposits in Sindh and added that foreign and local investors could invest in these sectors. He said that the government would welcome Iranian co-operation in setting up a coastal refinery, which would also enhance development and progress in the regional areas.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

Gas demand in Pakistan outstrips supply by 800mmcfd ​

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

KARACHI: Queues of cars outside gas filling stations are becoming longer and longer. What is being called artificially exorbitant cost of petrol has pushed an ever-increasing number of people towards compressed natural gas (CNG).

But with demand for gas already outstripping supply, the government has started to tighten the noose around gas-for-all policy.

While new CNG stations are being discouraged, cement manufacturers have been asked to run their furnaces on coal, textile industry is being persuaded to use fuel-efficient boilers and media campaigns are instructing public to shut off geysers when not needed.

In the last few decades, natural gas has taken more than 50 per cent share in the basket of total energy consumption. Its low cost is one reason and myopic policies of successive governments another.

The average production cost of gas in Pakistan is Rs176 per million British thermal units (MMBTU), highly subsidised considering that even a conservative price estimate of imported gas comes to around Rs360.

Munawar Baseer Ahmed, former managing director of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), says gas demand is increasing by 10-11 per cent annually whereas production is flat at around 4,000 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd).

“This increase is the suppressed demand and does not include what is required by upcoming private power producers,” said Baeer, who is now the MD of Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco), which is tasked with improving the power infrastructure of the country.

According to one estimate, gas demand has outstripped supply by 800mmcfd, which has prompted the government to step up efforts to secure external sources of supply, the most vital being the transnational Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline.

For now Iranian gas is the cheapest solution to meeting the looming energy crisis but still that cost much more than what Pakistanis pay for it now.

“Consumer prices would have to be increased in a phased manner,” said an industry official close to liquefied natural gas (LNG) import project. “People will not let any government survive a day if price is increased all of a sudden.”

Pakistan will receive a little over 1000mmcfd from the IPI gas pipeline when the 2,600km peace pipeline is completed in the next six-seven years. By then LNG imports would have started at even a higher price.

As against the prevailing gas cost of $2.9 per MMBTU, a conservative estimate puts IPI cost at $6 per MMBTU and that of LNG at $8-9 per MMBTU.

Affordability of imported gas will heavily depend on the extent to which it is benchmarked with fluctuations in international oil prices.

In any case during fiscal 2006-07 industries Sindh and Balochistan paid Rs7 billion to cross subsidise domestic and fertiliser manufacturing gas consumers.

“The government has failed to pass the burden on to domestic (residential) consumers. On average, they pay Rs125 per MMBTU against their cost of Rs185,” said an SSGC official, requesting not to be named.

When increase in cost of imported fuel is passed on to power consumers, it will be a double whammy for the government.

“The government is having a hard time in maintaining the existing subsidies. How can it be further increased?” wondered a National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) official. As per the agreements with power producers fuel cost has to be passed on to consumers, he added.

Successive governments have clinched on to the policy of picking up part of power tariff cost. But as production from local reserves remains sluggish and import of is gas becoming necessary, an increase in energy prices seem inevitable.

Gas demand in Pakistan outstrips supply by 800mmcfd

 

[Neo]

Govt to restructure investment strategy ​

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

ISLAMABAD: The government is all set to restructure its investment strategy to attract more foreign investment and make the country a safe-haven for all investors.

Pakistan is an investor-friendly destination where the investors can expand their operations, start new ventures and make profits in a competitive environment as more than 600 multinational companies are successfully operating in Pakistan, Muhammad Wasi Zafar Federal Minister for Privatisation and Investment stated this during an Iftar dinner hosted by him in the honour of the representatives of the national print and electronic media.

Pakistan has so far privatised 166 public sector units raising $7 billion since 1991 while 87 per cent of the privatisation was completed during the last seven years realizing around $6.1 billion through the privatisation of 61 transactions, the minister informed the media men.

Wasi Zafar said, “Our Privatisation Program provides a number of opportunities in Oil & Gas, Power, Engineering, Financial Institutions, Minerals, Tourism and Restaurants sectors.”

The privatisation minister said that the highest ever-foreign investment of $8.4 billion was witnessed during 2006-07 would be further increased after the implementation of restructuring the strategy.

The continuity and consistency of the policies have yielded remarkable results.

Pakistan is a safe haven for all investors where they enjoy no restriction for availing opportunities in any sector of economy.

Investors can invest 100 per cent equity and repatriate desirable amount of equity and profit without any permission.

The Board of Investment is providing all assistance to the local and foreign investors without any discrimination in a level-playing atmosphere.

Based on the three pillars of deregulation, liberalization and privatisation, the economic 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.

Wasi Zafar further stated that the government’s broad based and comprehensive privatisation program, its attractive, liberal investment policy and the exciting investment opportunities in Pakistan today have yielded record results.

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

Mushtaq Malik Secretary Board of Investment (BOI), Ahmed Jawad, Federal Secretary Ministry of Privatisation & Investment and senior officials of Privatisation commission and BOI were also present on this occasion.

Govt to restructure investment strategy

 

[Neo]

KSE near 14,000 barrier as stocks attract fresh funds ​

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

KARACHI: Stocks remained buoyant and attracted fresh funds on Tuesday, as market participants lived with high assumptions of re-electing President Musharraf despite change of rules in political game.

Hectic buying across the board added 184.61 points or 1.34 per cent in KSE 100-share Index that swelled to 13,922.08 points. The 30-Index surpassed the mark of 17,000 points, as it posted an increase of 271.69 points to 17,048.38 points.

Investors continued to show their appetite for accumulation and enlarged their portfolios with buying in almost all the leading base shares and fundamentally strong stocks, analysts commented.

Now market stands just 77.92 points away from 14,000 points the next psychological barrier. This target seems achievable while keeping in view the present buying euphoria at Karachi bourse, but profit-sellers might change their loyalty to the bearish forces in short and medium term, said S. Kashif Mustafa, Head of ECL Research.

Therefore, investors should remain highly cautious and conscious this week, as presidential elections are due on October 06 (Saturday), he advised and added: “In the long-term the 100-Index is poised to cross 15,000 points,” he opined.

The news of appointing the next chief of army staff by Gen. Musharraf was also there in the market, which confirmed that the next political government would be formed as assumed by investors and Musharraf would be a civilian president.

This reshuffling in army personnel ranks was also in line with the market expectations that tempted and intimated investors to hunt fundamentally strong scrips, he added.

Kashif Mustafa discounted affects of political situation in Islamabad and NWFP and replied it was just a disturbing phase.

Ahsan Mehanti of Shahzad Chamdia Securities, however, gave a little importance to the situation in Islamabad and NWFP and said that unrest on domestic political front kept bulls curbed otherwise more 300 or so points could have been.

He added that increase of five per cent in furnace oil prices by PSO and Shell; increasing inflow of foreign portfolio investment and persistent rise in CFS investment were all encouraging and investment-friendly news.

Banks remained relatively high in demand as they clutched bulk volumes; NBP was the major volume holder among its sector mates. Low tier scrips also joined the run and closed with handsome gains. BAFL was the second major performer closed with high volumes of almost 16.9 million shares. Moderate buying was seen in specifically strong scrips, analyst said.

Cement sector also joined the bullish pace and closed with moderate gains. Almost all the major scrips showed positive movement and closed in green zone. Telecom and fertilizer sector also showed positive movement and closed with moderate gains, he said.

E&P sector was the major puller in this sector; OGDC was the major volume gainer of about 27 million scrips closed with the appreciation of 2.38%. POL and PPL also followed its sector mates and closed with high gains as well as volumes, he added.

Trading activity improved furthermore, as volumes in the ready market surged to 355.194 million shares from 316.471 million recorded a day earlier.

The future market volume, however, decreased slightly to 49.240 million shares as compared with previous session 50.742 million shares.

The overall market capitalisation surged by Rs59 billion to Rs4.270 trillion.

The CFS investment ceiled to Rs55 billion cap, as it enhanced to Rs54.8 billion from Rs52.2 billion a day earlier, registering an increase of Rs2.7 billion or 5.1 per cent.

It was somehow a balance market with 180 companies stocks closed in positive column against 147 stocks closed in red. Therefore, the value of 33 scrips remained unchanged with total 360 active counters on board.

Highest volumes were witnessed in Oil and Gas Development Company at 27.377 million closing at Rs121.25 with a gain of Rs2.55, followed by DG Khan Cement at 19.960 million closing at Rs113.65 with a gain of 35 paisa, Arif Habib at 18.198 million closing at Rs142.35 with a gain of Rs1.85, Pak Oilfields at 17.402 million closing at Rs336.50 with a gain of Rs13.55 and Bank Al-Falah at 17.049 million closing at Rs52.80 with a gain of Rs1.65.

KSE near 14,000 barrier as stocks attract fresh funds

 

[Neo]

Pakistan loses edge in global citrus market​

ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: A host of managerial issues have severely damaged the prospects of Pakistan to enjoy comparative edge over other countries in the global citrus market.

Sources in the federal food ministry and Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board (PHDEB) believe that besides an uncertain growth history, mushrooming administrative problems have been haunting the growth prospects of the country’s kinno export.

Even some of the most optimists amongst a group of policymakers, who once believed that Pakistan would reap many benefits under the WTO to increase the volume and quality of its kinno exports, have now started thinking differently.

In the last few years, Pakistani kinno has claimed a share in some of the prominent citrus markets worldwide including Russia, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, Iran, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and Mauritania.

However, certain managerial problems are keeping the Pakistani citrus fruit blessed with many special traits, from taking off as for as consumers’ demands and international best practices are concerned.

Sources in the federal ministry of food, agriculture and livestock (Minfal) told Dawn that Pakistan was facing difficulties in keeping a grip on its existing kinno markets due to the lack of proper plant protection measures to avoid pests and diseases and poor plant protection coverage that create favourable conditions for pests and diseases.

According to the PHDEB sources excessive carbohydrates and mineral elements depletion due to retention of fruit on tree beyond its maturity is on the top of a list of problems Pakistani kinno export is facing at present.

According to the Horticulture Research Station, Sahiwal, in Pakistan fertilisers are inadequately applied to exhausted plants, particularly the weaker plants after heavy fruit crop during preceding year.

Weather calamity hit Pakistani kinno frequently mostly in the form of severe frost persisting at the critical stage of flower-bud differentiation.

Excessive low temperature also causes death to stigma (the terminal part of the ovary) at the end of the style, where deposited pollen enters gynoecium.

Although natural and genetic factors are difficult to control, however, management factor, if handled carefully, could minimise their impact and ensure better crop during the lean cycle.

Pakistan loses edge in global citrus market -DAWN - Business; October 03, 2007

 

[Neo]

Trade with India and its problems​

Pakistan and India have abandoned the pantomime of propagating hate while opening up trading facilities via the land route on the Wagah border post in Lahore. Now trucks carrying goods will be able to cross the dividing line and unload on the other side. If this is difficult to understand, let us go over the practice of bilateral trade between the two old rivals. Until now each other’s trucks were not allowed across the line. The Indian trucks unloaded on the Indian side and Indian porters carried the goods up to the line where Pakistani porters took them and loaded them unto Pakistani trucks as if in a relay race. The same kind of comic routine was observed on the Pakistani side with customs officials and border guards looking on in pretence of intense scrutiny.

The same kind of thing happens with the train link. Thousands of Pakistanis cross over to India to meet their relatives by train. The train stops at the last station on the Pakistani side, after which they are forced to walk across the border and board an Indian train. This practice has gone on for the past 60 years during which the two countries have fought many wars. Keeping the bilateral trade down was actually a way of facilitating the prosecution of war.

Pakistan is also responsible for the “transit” trade of Afghanistan as a land-locked state. Afghan trucks are allowed to come up to the border at Wagah and unload as per the routine established between India and Pakistan. After that, the Indian side is not allowed to use the same Afghan trucks to send goods to Kabul. This goes on even after the entry of Afghanistan into the regional economic grouping called SAARC which is wedded to a free trade area in South Asia.

The Wagah border continues to be the venue of a fascistic drill by goose-stepping Pakistani troops, showing battle readiness to their equally hostile Indian counterparts, while mutually jeering crowds sit and watch on both sides of the border. So what will the facilitation of the trucks do to this warmongering?

Officials expect 150 trucks crossing every day as the two sides import foodstuff from each other on short notice to balance their local supply-demand imbalances. In August this year India and Pakistan decided to increase their two-way trade by ten times, to $10 billion. Tradeable items have increased, from 40 under General Zia-ul-Haq after his “cricket diplomacy”, to 1,800 under General Musharraf’s “out of the box” India policy. The pledge to allow more trade may have been forced by the fact that Indian goods kept coming into the Pakistani market through smuggling and also “via Dubai” . Despite the goose-step drill on the border, this year’s bumper crop in Pakistan is said to have been smuggled to India too. Thus Wagah will have to be expanded many times over if the planned trade is to go ahead. In fact the trade of perishables — the trucks that crossed the line on Monday were carrying Indian tomatoes — crowding on both sides has to be avoided. But there is many a slip yet. Pakistan has recently shown umbrage at India’s plan to allow tourism on the Siachen glacier that it has illegally occupied. Pakistan also renewed its complaint about India’s “interference” on Monday when the Foreign Office spokesperson said that Pakistan had evidence of “India’s links with anti-state elements in the country”.

The “peace dialogue” with India is going on while the “irritants” become more irritating and feed into the national politics of Pakistan. There is an increasing lack of cohesion in Pakistan because of protest in the provinces and a growing quarrel between civil society and the state on the fundamental assumptions of state behaviour. Pakistan is continuing to link the “peace dialogue” to the resolution of the Kashmir issue and is resisting all moves to ratify a free trade agreement with India following the example of the other members of SAARC.

Clearly the “peace first” argument is still important to Islamabad. But in the rest of the world, peace has come after all aspects of state relations leading to “normalisation” have been sorted out. Yet, the gesture at Wagah should be welcomed as a step towards this normalisation. *

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Neo]

Cement sales post 34% rise in Q1​

* Expanding local demand, higher exports responsible

KARACHI: Cement sales rose by 34 percent during to the first quarter (July-September) of current financial year over the corresponding period of last year on the back of expanding local demand as well as higher exports.

According to sales figures released by the industry, cement dispatches totalled around 7.3 million tonnes in the period under review as compared to 5.4 million tonnes in the same period of previous year.

Of the total dispatches, local cement sales depicted 21 percent growth at 5.7 million tonnes as against 4.8 million tonnes previously. Export performance of the industry also continued to shine with total cement exports of 1.5 million tonnes during the first three months of current fiscal year, a phenomenal upsurge of 133 percent over the same period last year.

Local dispatches during this month stood at 1.8 million tonnes while exports were at 523,000 tonnes, representing eight and 120 percent growth respectively on a year-on-year (YoY) basis.

However, on a month-on-month (MoM) basis, total cement sales declined by 6.7 percent in month of September 2007 against the preceding month of August due to the month of Ramazan falling in the said month, which generally witnesses a slight slowdown in economic activity.

Analysts attributed the surge in cement sales to lower cement prices coupled with improved housing and construction activities during this period.

“Substantial export growth was the consequence of increasing construction activities in Afghanistan, Iraq, Middle East and African countries, said Muhammad Rehan Khan, analyst at First Capital Equities Limited (FCEL), adding that this upward trend is likely to continue in future with likely penetration in the Indian market as well.

The future outlook, he added on cement demand growth is also positive on the back of higher PSDP allocations and new avenues for exports.

Bilal Hameed, analyst at Jahangir Siddiqui Global Markets also forecasted pick up in cement sales particularly after Ramazan, when the sales slow down during the holy month due to sluggish construction activities.

On the export front, analysts see bright prospects for the cement sector as Russia is reportedly eyeing to import cement from Pakistan as well as the government is in final stages to allow cement export through the land route to India, whose appetite for cement could well be grabbed by Pakistani cement industry due to its close vicinity.

During the first quarther of current fiscal year, capacity utilisation of the industry improved slightly, despite the increase in industry’s installed capacity, as it improved to 81 percent as against 80 percent in last financial year.

Company-wise breakup shows that Pioneer Cement posted the highest growth of 85.7 pecent as its sales stood at 425,000 tonnes during the said period versus 229,000 tonnes last year.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Neo]

Construction of fishing jetty at Gwadar to enhance seafood export​

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided that the existing fish harbour at Gwadar would be used as mini port for cargo handling purpose annexed with the Gwadar deep sea port and to replace the existing fish harbour, the government plans to construct a fish landing jetty and allied harbour facilities at Pishukan, Gwadar.

Official sources told Daily Times here on Tuesday that the project will cost Rs 628.575 million and the provincial government of Balochistan and the federal government will share the cost on a 20:80 basis.

Pishukan village consists of fishing community, which requires basic facilities to enhance the fish catch handing, preservation and trading. At present there is no fish landing jetty or allied structures in these villages for necessary all-weather fish catching. A feasibility study for the new landing jetty and allied harbour facilities has been carried out by the GDA consultants on which the project’s PC-I was based the sources added.

The project was to be implemented in two phases. Phase-I that comprises fish jetty, road works, auction hall, break water and groyne wall was proposed to be completed within two years through the federal PSDP, where as second phase will be completed in 36 months through private sector under BOT (build operate transfer)/BOO (build-operate-own) basis consisting of construction of additional jetty, break water, reclamation works, for fighting facility, repair yard, cold storage, ice plant and packing and processing plant.

Sources further said that the proposed project would give boost to various industrial activities such as boat building, repairs workshops, packing processing and canning of fish, etc. and generate job opportunities. With the construction of landing jetty, there will be an appreciable increase in registration of motorised boat traffic.

After construction of the fish-landing jetty, the fish catch at Pishukan will increases from 9,310 metric tonnes in 2007 to 12,040 metric tonnes per year by the year 2015.

The Pishukan share in fish catch will further increase to 15,560 metric tonnes per year by 2,020 and it will touch the figure of 20,310 metric tonnes per year by 2025.

The sources further said that with increase fish catch activities; road traffic was expected to grow. It has been proposed to provide access roads from the proposed jetties to the coastal highway.

The officials further said that work on the provision of facilities like cold storage and ice plant through private sector should be started simultaneously to optimise the benefits of the project. The GDA should ensure supply of clean water at the two jetties as per their annual requirement.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Neo]

Only 3.3% of country’s population has Internet access​

* Dial-up connections remain favourite, despite the availability of broadband and DSL

By Romail Kenneth

KARACHI: The Internet user base in Pakistan has reached 5.3 million people (3.3 percent of the total population estimated at 160 million), among whom there are 51,870 broadband Internet users leaving a vast majority of population without Internet access, a disappointing figure even compared to the standards in least developed countries.

This is because of total absence of customer support, lack of accountability and transparency in the Internet service provider’s financial statements.

According to the Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (ISPAK) there are over 13,500 users registered under the ‘.pk’ domain and approximately 60 Internet service providers are operating in Pakistan.

Slow-speed dial-up connections are still leading as they control the predominant size of the market share while broadband users ratio is still very low. The main reason behind low broadband ratio is that the middle and lower middle class Internet users are unable to afford this service, as it is relatively expensive. These subscribers have to rely on dial-up connections using Internet cards ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 250 and more.

“The cost of a broadband connection is around Rs 1,000 to 2,000 per month for a volume limited connection but this budget is too much for a middle-class internet user,” said Mir Wajahat Ali, IT Manager in a local company.

He said that in his office we have a DSL connection but recently PTCL has cut down its DSL rates due to which other DSL providers have also reduced their rates but their service standards have also come down. Currently there are six to eight companies providing DSL service but their customer support service is very deprived as there is support staff is totally non-cooperative.

An IT graduate, Azeem Alfred said that most of the users are still relying on dial-up connections but now Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) is getting popular in Karachiites. Faria’s is the pioneer in the MAN as they are currently covering almost 60 to 70 percent of the metropolis and are offering unlimited speedy Internet connections for Rs 500 to 800.

In the current scenario, it can be easily seen that the government is not taking the IT industry seriously despite the IT minister’s claims that Pakistani IT industry is flourishing every year.

Internet, with its massive repository of knowledge and potential benefits is a must for educational institutions. Unfortunately in Pakistan, many universities are without Internet access. To provide immediate relief, while larger plans were under consideration of the National IT Task Force, ISPAK, under a commitment with the Ministry of Science and Technology, provided free dedicated Internet connections to universities and educational institutions selected in consultation with the Higher Education Commission.

At present there are three under-sea cables connecting Pakistan to the rest of the world of which two cables belong to the Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL) and one cable is owned by Trans World Associates (Pvt) Ltd (Transworld), Pakistan’s first private submarine fibre optic cable operator. Transworld has setup the largest submarine cable system in Pakistan with a total capacity of 1.28 Tbps.

In collaboration with other landing partners, Etisalat and Omantel, high quality submarine cable network sf over 1274 km in length connects Pakistan to UAE and Oman and onwards to the rest of the world.

While there are two domestic fibre optic backbones owned by PTCL and Wateen Telecom and two more are under construction.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

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Environmental degradation threat to Pakistan’s growth: WB report​

ISLAMABAD: Environmental degradation is threatening Pakistan’s growth prospects, says a World Bank’s (WB) assessment report. According to the study, degradation of Pakistan’s resource base and high burden of diseases are costing the country at least 6 percent of its GDP (about Rs 365 billion annually). “Due to indoor air pollution, about 30,000 children die every year,” says the report. Deaths and diseases resulting from waterborne diseases caused by inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene cost 1.8 percent of GDP. In addition, reduced agriculture productivity, due to salinity and soil erosion, accounts for about 20 percent of the cost. Environmental damage has severe impact in both rural and urban areas, as nearly 40 percent of country’s irrigated land is water logged, and 14 percent is saline. Forest and rangeland is also at risk.

The estimated cost of deforestation is between Rs 206 to 334 million ($ 3.4 to 5.5 million) per annum, where as up to 80 percent of the rangeland is degraded, says the report. All major cities of the country experience air pollution, airborne particulate matter, which exceed safe levels and cause 22,700 deaths annually, the report said. The report also says that the main binding constraint to improving environmental performance included gaps in incentives and accountability, institutional design, regulatory framework and capacity limitations. The country lacks standards of quality ambient air and water, suggests the report. It also suggested an important need for investment by public and private sector to improve the quality of air and water. The report stresses the importance of the improvement of regulatory framework to set health based air quality, drinking water, vehicle emission and fuel quality standards on an urgent basis.

To improve the environment of the country, WB Senior Environmental Specialist Paul Jonathan Martin recommends that partnership must be build between federal, provincial and municipal authorities for clean air and to define responsibilities of water quality protection and educate common people on it. When Daily Times contacted Environment Director General Javed Ali Khan said the environment was being given a low priority. He said the environment should be given priority, as the WB report figures were alarming. “We do not have any centralised database system to record the environment change which took place during the last couple of years, however we are now working to have a national environment information management system to record and store environmental data,” said Khan.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan