Pakistan Economy - News & Updates - Archive

[Neo]

Reforms' process must continue: Shaukat ​

ISLAMABAD (November 26 2007): Former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Sunday said reforms process must continue to ensure enhanced development especially in the economic field. Addressing a reception held here in his honour, he said the country has witnessed robust economic growth in the last few years and it is imperative to maintain upward trend in the national economy.

The reception was attended by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Nisar A. Memon, AJK Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan, HEC Chairman Dr Attaur Rehman and 30 ambassadors and diplomats stationed in Islamabad. "Our country having a population of 160 million people has a lot of potential and I hope Pakistan of tomorrow would be quite different from Pakistan of today," he said.

The former prime minister said the most important hallmark of the PML government was transparency that enabled the administration to serve the people in a befitting manner.

He said, "It was for the first time that a person from a middle class became prime minister of the country and I was in a much better position to understand the basic problems of a common man."

Shaukat Aziz said President Pervez Musharraf always supported me and encouraged me to do my best for the betterment of the people and country as well.

He said it had been a tremendous experience to remain in a position where I was able to put in my best efforts and pay back to the country that gave me identity and prestige.

"It is an honour for me to leave my office with all the dignity and respect because in the past we witnessed that the prime ministers used to go back from back doors," he said.

Referring to ongoing election process, he said general elections would be held in free, fair and transparent manner that would pave way for a new political landscape in the country.

"All the political parties should participate in the forthcoming elections and play their due role in further strengthening the democratic system," he said.

Editor-in-Chief of Daily Pakistan Observer Zahid Malik said Shaukat Aziz served the country with devotion and determination and his efforts to bring an economic revival would be remembered forever.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

AOTS focusing on human resource development ​

LAHORE (November 26 2007): Provincial Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Public Health Engineering Mian Shafqat Ali has said that Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship (AOTS) have so far provided about 2000 professionals from Pakistan with various trainings and the association has been contributing to the human resource development of local industries in Pakistan by organising programmes exclusively designed to meet the specific needs of the Pakistani businessmen and other professionals.

He expressed these views while addressing the inaugural session of a 3-day training programme on the topic of Leadership held in collaboration with Pak-Japan Business Forum here today.

President LCCI Shahid Hassan Sheikh, Regional Head AOTS Japan Y. Suzuki, President AOTS Pakistan Akhlaq Ahmad Malik and other prominent business figures were present on the occasion.

The Minister said that AOTS have formed 70 Alumni Societies in 43 countries around the world which were voluntarily organising management seminars and cultural events to promote mutual understanding between their regions and Japan. He admired the activities of AOTS in South Asia.

Mian Shafqat Ali said that AOTS has so far trained over 135000 people from 170 countries in Japan through different programmes, which include over 13000 participants from the South Asian region. Although the proportion of South Asia participants is very small, in the thick of globalisation, the importance of Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship in this region cannot be defied, he added.

The Minister said that at present world is moving towards economic globalisation today's businesses have to operate in an environment of global economic integration where changes in one part of the world affects another.

He said that we must stay innovative and move up to the technological ladder. He said that AOTS services could play a pivotal role in technology transfer, capacity building and bringing industrial and economic development in this region.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

Economic reforms result in record growth rates: World Bank ​

FAISALABAD (November 25 2007): Pakistan is the most urbanised country in South Asia, with a booming economy, while economic reforms resulted in record growth rates and high levels of investment. However, the natural resource base is stressed and it could undermine growth prospect, said Electronic Newsletter of World Bank.

According to World Bank update reports, environmental federalism poses a number of challenges for effective environmental management in Pakistan, particularly in the clear definition of institutional roles and the allocation of resources to build capacity.

Vertically, the challenges relate to the division of responsibilities between national, provincial and local governments, while horizontal challenges arise as a result of the division of responsibilities between environmental, planning and sectoral agencies. Effective environmental management also requires the active participation of key institutions outside government, in particular the judiciary, civil society advocates, and the media.

Furthermore, to help tighten linkages in the institutional framework for environmental management, the WB reports recommends that clearer guidelines be agreed for the delegation and oversight of environmental authority from federal to provincial levels, and that these be supported with increased funding conditional on improved environmental performance. Capacity could also be strengthened by outsourcing non-binding functions to independent third parties, and the political will for stronger enforcement would be emboldened by empowering civil society and public interest advocacy.

To reduce the costs associated with environmental and natural resource damages in Pakistan, the WB reports provides recommendations targeting institutions, regulations, capacity, and accountability:

Strengthen institutional design, in particular to guide federal oversight of environmental authorities delegated to provinces, to build partnerships between federal, provincial and municipal authorities for clean air, and to define responsibilities for water quality protection.

Update the regulatory framework, to set health-based air quality standards, use-based water quality standards, and standards for drinking water. Vehicle emission and fuel quality standards should also be updated. Build capacity for environmental management, especially for effective EIAs, air quality management and protection of water quality. Environment cells in key sector ministries and planning departments should be further strengthened.

Reinforce incentives and accountability, through greater public consultation and disclosure in the EIA process, by providing public information on air and water quality, and by supporting public interest advocacy for the environment, said WB reports.

Constitutionally, WB report recommended that federal and provincial governments share the concurrent legislative authority for environmental pollution and ecology. In addition, Pakistan EPA has delegated powers under PEPA to provincial EPAs to implement and enforce environmental regulations.

Further, the mid-term review of the NCS and the NEP both emphasise the need to develop the environmental management capacity of provincial and local governments. Appropriate roles for national authorities within this environmental federalist structure include: (i) setting national policy and defining environmental quality goals; (ii) providing resources and oversight to provincial environmental authorities; and (iii) publicly reporting on progress in meeting national environmental objectives.

Provincial environmental authorities should play the primary role in the environmental clearance process, the implementation of compliance and enforcement, as well as the monitoring of ambient environmental conditions.

At the same time, the federal environmental authority has a legal mandate to ensure the enforcement of national laws and regulations, which includes federal oversight and suspension of delegated powers. Bringing greater clarity to this structure would reduce the institutional design constraints to improved environmental outcomes. No oversight guidelines have been established for federal environmental powers delegated to provincial EPAs, WB report pointed out.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

Record 1.4 million new domestic gas connections provided ​

ISLAMABAD (November 24 2007): In a bid to supply natural gas to every nook and corner of the country, the government has provided a record 1.4 million new domestic gas connections to the people during the past five years.

"The past governments were able to give 3.4 million gas connections to domestic consumers prior to year 2002," official sources in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources said here on Friday. The industrial connections were increased from 4,434 to 7,756 while commercial connections from 46,113 to 67,647 in the above mentioned period.

Giving other details about performance of the petroleum sector especially the gas sector, he said sale of gas has increased from 1,411 million cubic feet per day to 3,351 million cubic feet per day.

He said the number of cities and towns connected with national gas network has enhanced from 1,414 to 2,552 in five years which is also a record. About transmission and distribution system, he said the length of transmission lines has increased to 10,023 kilometers from 7,444 kilometers in 2002. The distribution system has extended to 83,105 kilometers from 56,208 kilometers, he added.

About performance of CNG sector, he said, so far, 1.5 million vehicles have been converted to this cheap and environment friendly fuel. The numbers of CNG stations have reached 1,834 across the country and Pakistan is the second largest country after Argentina in this sector.

Regarding use of LPG, he informed that present production of LPG is about 1,650 ton per day while its demand is 5,000 tons per day and shortfall is covered by its import. About production, he said that 70 percent of natural gas is coming from Sindh province while share of gas in the energy mix is 54 percent.

He said in view of gas shortfall in future owing to growing demands, the government is considering to bring gas through transnational gas pipelines. For this purpose, the discussions are being undertaken on the Pakistan-Iran-India gas pipeline project, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline and Qatar-Pakistan gas pipeline project.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

CDWP recommends 15 projects worth Rs243.8bn to Ecnec​

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

ISLAMABAD: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Monday recommended some 15 projects of paramount importance to the tune of Rs243.8 billion to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec).

The CDWP also accorded approval to 16 development schemes valuing Rs4.5 billion, including constitution of an experts’ team for installation of 600 megawatt (MW) and 1,000MW nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Karachi.

The meeting also approved four projects of the energy sector costing Rs25.941 billion which include 450-500MW combined cycle power plant at Nadipur of Rs22.335 billion, uranium mining project valuing Rs2.386 billion at Dera Ghazi Khan, comprehensive exploration of uranium resources in DG Khan and development and installation of 600MW and 1,000MW nuclear power plants in Karachi.

The CDWP, which met with Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Akram Sheikh in the chair, also cleared concept papers for the reconstruction of berths at Karachi port costing Rs6 billion and upgradation of Lok Virsa media centre.

Flanked by Adviser Infrastructure Dr Asad Ali Shah and Member Implementation & Monitoring Lt-Gen (Retd) Muhammad Zubair, spokesman for the Planning Commission Asif Sheikh said that 29 projects to the tune of Rs242 billion will be financed by the federal government.

“Since the costs of five projects have been revised upward from Rs9 billion to Rs12 billion, total net addition for new projects is Rs239 billion.”

In infrastructure, 13 development schemes costing Rs75 billion with foreign exchange component (FEC) of Rs30 billion have been recommended to the Ecnec. Some 13 projects worth Rs172.1 billion with an FEC of Rs56.2 billion were approved in the social sector. The CDWP also approved five projects worth Rs1.2 billion in other sectors.

The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) expects that World Bank would provide a loan of US$100 million for the project, said the spokesman for the Planning Commission while briefing reporters after the CDWP’s fourth meeting in the current fiscal. “The PC-I of the scheme will be submitted later,” he added.

The overall FEC for 31 projects has been estimated at Rs86.3 billion, said Sheikh. In the earlier three meetings, the CDWP 114 projects costing Rs205.6 billion. Sheikh said that 17 projects, approved in CDWP meeting, will be implemented all over the country. Five projects were approved for Punjab, two projects each for Sindh and Balochistan and one for the NWFP. Of the five projects in Punjab, the Punjab Irrigation System Improvement Project costing Rs6.6 billion will be financed by the provincial government. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) will provide 88 per cent funding for the scheme.

Of the two projects in Balochistan, the construction of different roads in coastal areas will be fully financed with the Omani grant to the government of Balochistan. The total cost of the scheme is Rs934 million.

The CDWP gave a go ahead signal to Wapda’s project of 450-500MW Combined Cycle Power Plant at Nadipur, near Daska.



The project costing Rs22.33 billion would be completed in five years. The Wapda will fund this project from its own resources, said Sheikh.

Detailed exploration of uranium resources in DG Khan (revised) costing Rs856.5 million, and uranium mining project of Rs2.386 billion Taunsa DG Khan, were other important projects in energy sector. In transport and communication, eight projects costing Rs42.45 billion have been approved. Some of these projects are part of the mega project of National Trade Corridor Improvement Programme, said the Adviser Infrastructure.

The most important schemes approved in Monday’s meeting are the establishment of universities of engineering and technology (UETs) in collaboration with Austria, Germany, China and Italy. One UET will be established each in Karachi and Islamabad and two in Lahore. The project’s cost has been estimated at Rs165 billion. The FEC in the project is Rs55 billion. Sheikh said that the government will not get financial foreign assistance in establishing these universities. The foreign countries will provide the teaching staff for all the four universities, he added and said that the number of scholarships for the students of Indian Held Kashmir has been increased from 100 scholarships to 200.

CDWP recommends 15 projects worth Rs243.8bn to Ecnec

 

[Neo]

Airports’ privatisation from next year: CAA DG ​

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

LAHORE: The privatisation process of the country’s airports will start from next year and Faisalabad Airport would be privatised first.

Director General Civil Aviation Authority Farooq Rahmatullah addressing a press conference here on Monday said that foreign companies would be allowed to take part in the privatisation process of the airports.

Responding to a question, the DG said that restructuring process of the CAA had been initiated and so far the CAA had been running in profit. He said that the restructuring process that CAA is undergoing has long been needed to bring it in line with the aviation authorities of international standard.

The conference also highlighted commercial development projects which include the new Islamabad international airport (NIIA), development of mega airport cities in Karachi and Lahore, as well as the creation of cargo complexes, hotels, shopping malls and attractive retail propositions. He said that the CAA had been renovating all the airports of the country and increased the amount of development fund by Rs5 billion.

He said that in the first three months of this fiscal year Rs3 billion had been spent on the renovation. “On the best performance of the CAA employees, the CAA had given three salaries as bonus which happened in the second time in the history of the CAA”, he remarked.

He said that a new cadre would also be established for the contractual employees of the CAA to improve the fringe benefits. To a question, he said that a project was also underway to improve the radar system of all airports of the country which would be completed by the end of July 2008.

Farooq mentioned that the performance of CAA’s Air Navigation services has witnessed further improvement during the 1st quarter of 2007 and has increased by almost 10 per cent as compared to the 1st quarter of 2006 owing to enhanced air space management capability and transit traffic over flying Pakistan airspace.

He also highlighted numerous initiatives and developments undertaken by the new management of CAA, which were aimed at enhancing the nation’s aviation sector while serving national and public interests.

Fundamental changes made within CAA that were announced during the briefing included CAA’s plans to give aviation in the country a significant boost by allowing market forces to determine the price, quality, frequency and range of air services options with a view to increasing its contribution to the nation’s GDP from 0.1 to 1 per cent over a period of five years.

Reiterating the CAA’s commitment to maintain a proportionate balance between the generation of revenue via aeronautical and commercial operations, the DG said that plans are presently underway to support the development of passenger hubs and cargo transhipment hubs in the country to facilitate the objectives of National Transport Master Plan (NTMP) and National Trade Corridor (NTC).

Airports’ privatisation from next year: CAA DG

 

[Neo]

Economy to withstand external shocks: Shamshad ​

Says Pakistani financial markets remain insulated from global turmoil

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan Governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar has said that the country’s economic prospects would remain strong despite the recent turmoil in the international financial markets and upsurge in global oil prices.

Briefing businessmen and industrialists here on Monday, she said that resilience of the country’s economy was due to underlying financial health and strong macroeconomic fundamentals that have helped Pakistan remain ‘untouched’ by external shocks like US subprime mortgage market crisis, depreciation of the dollar and rising international oil prices.

“Pakistan’s financial markets remained insulated from the global financial market turmoil as it did not have exposure to mortgage or other asset-backed securities,” the Governor said. However, she said the external sector could see some spill over impact of the U.S. slowdown if it turned out to be more severe.

She pointed out that some emerging trends could affect the economic outcome of current fiscal year. On production side, growth is likely to be impacted by setback to two major crops i.e. cotton and rice as they were hit by pest attacks and other problems. Part of the agriculture crop shortfalls could be offset by the higher than expected other crops, for instance sugarcane harvest is likely to touch new high level of 62.3 million tons - up by 13.5 percent relative to last year.

SBP Governor said the July-October, 2007 data for industrial production reflects mixed picture, as production growth in construction-related industries appeared reasonable including cement, wood, paints and varnish units, followed by fertilizer, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining and few metal and engineering goods.

She maintained that in these sectors, Pakistan could reduce rate of import dependency (such as petroleum refining where production capacity is 13.2 million tons relative to consumption which is 18 million tons) through capacity augmentation and exploiting export markets, she said, adding in contrast to some of these sectors, first-quarter results of some industries reflect slower growth.

Deceleration is evident in cotton yarn and cloth, footwear, automobile, edible oil and vegetable ghee. While demand remained strong, slowdown in manufacturing sector emerged due to demand for import substitutes (as Government relaxed imports of automobile), slowdown in export demand and increase in raw material prices such as palm oil, which recorded 73 percent growth in value.

Both local manufactures and the Government need to take measures to improve competitiveness of domestic goods, the Governor said and added that ensuring quality through innovation, skill development, upgrading technology, reducing costs through economy of scale, diversifying product-line according to market demand, and achieving self sufficiency in raw materials etc. are some of the areas where entrepreneurs need to concentrate.

Adversities in production sectors is, however, likely to be offset by the continued buoyant performance of services sector, which accounts for over half of value added of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), she said.

Dr Akhtar said the State Bank’s policy measures have brought down core inflation. Higher non-core inflation penetrates economy in different ways (i) it impacts consumer purchasing powers since cutting down essentials is difficult and there is low price elasticity of food and energy, (ii) even if the Government delays to pass on the impact of higher energy prices to consumers, businesses often pass on higher costs of energy to their consumers immediately, and (iii) with inflationary trends persisting consumers and producers higher inflationary expectations set in trends too. Higher inflation expectations have become self-fulfilling, as they have impacted wage setting and pricing decisions now.

SBP Governor said the inflation currently is a global phenomenon and driven largely by commodity price trends both in energy and food. She said the inflationary pressures could rise, since fiscal imperatives now demand for Government to pass through the impact of the recent oil prices that reached close to $100 per barrel in the international markets.

“But for the tight monetary policy that curbed demand pressures and kept core and headline inflation in check, inflationary trends would have been more significant in Pakistan,” she added.

Economy to withstand external shocks: Shamshad

 

[Neo]

WAPDA studies 12 hydropower projects ​

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

LAHORE: The Water and Power Development Authority is vigorously carrying out studies of 12 mega hydropower projects mainly Bunji, Dasu and Kohala with total capacity of more than 17,000MW of electricity.

This was told in a meeting here at the WAPDA House to review the progress on water and hydropower projects presided over by Federal Caretaker Minister of Water and Power Tariq Hamid.

The minister, expressing satisfaction over the progress on the projects, said that the country was in dire need of exploiting water as well as power resources in view of the ever-increasing population and rapid economic growth. He directed WAPDA to complete all such projects on priority basis.

The minister was briefed that the contract for construction of 969MW Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project has already been awarded and the work on the project will commence soon.

The meeting was told that water filling in the raised Mangla Dam would start by April 2008. The additional storage of about 2.88 million acre feet of water will also contribute towards enhancing the power generation capacity of the existing Mangla Power House by 12 per cent.

The three high-head hydropower projects namely Khan, Duber and Allai Khawar would start power generation from 2009 onwards in different phases. On water projects, the minister was told that phase-I of the Kachhi Canal Project comprising 400km-long main canal and allied distribution system was scheduled to be completed by December 2008 while phase-II and III were likely to be completed in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

Work on preparation of detailed engineering design and tender documents for Diamer-Basha Dam are progressing as per the schedule. The minister was also briefed about the Satpara Dam Project, Greater Thal and Rainee canals, and various drainage programmes.

Later, the minister presided over a conference of the power Distribution Companies (DISCOs). PEPCO Managing Director Munawar B Ahmad briefed the minister about the performance of DISCOs during July ñ October 2007.

He also apprised the minister of the various measures being taken by PEPCO to minimise the gap between consumption and generation of electricity in the country. The minister, appreciating the measures for conserving electricity, directed PEPCO to provide energy saver bulbs to the shopping centres and hospitals in addition to the domestic consumers for saving electricity.

WAPDA studies 12 hydropower projects

 

[Neo]

Construction industry faces labour shortage ​

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

LAHORE: Despite demand the construction boom is stagnating due to a shortage of workforce as increase in building activity has outstripped availability of masons, carpenters, electricians and plumbers.

Industry experts point out that construction activities have doubled during the past four years, which is evident from the increase in annual cement production from 11 million tons in 2002-03 to around 22 million tons now. They said the industry benefited from the unskilled or semi-skilled workforce released by other industries which upgraded their machinery requiring more skilled workers.

They said most of the redundant unskilled workforce was absorbed by the construction sector as laborers and some of whom were trained gradually as masons as well. This kept up the pace of construction.

“Training an unskilled labourer as mason is a relatively easy job,” said Engineer Akbar Sheikh, a renowned housing developer. He said experienced masons at construction sites guided newly-trained masons in their work. However, he added, the contractors remained on their toes as they could not risk leaving any major construction job with fresh masons.

Arshad Chughtai, an architect, said the workforce in the construction sector came mainly through years of on-job training. The quality of construction, he said, suffered if hastily trained workers were assigned responsibilities in building work.

He said inducting workers as semi-trained masons might be possible but for other technical jobs like electrical fittings, plumbing work and wood work highly-skilled workforce was essential.

He said there was acute shortage of trained electricians, plumbers and carpenters, which was impacting the construction pace, particularly at the finishing stage. “Once the basic structure is built, completion of a house takes time more than twice than it took four years ago,” he said.

Property developer Khalid Rehman said “sometimes the quality of work, particularly in wood work, suffers when purchasers get impatient with the delay to take possession of their new houses due to non-availability of properly skilled technicians.”

He said unskilled plumbers could ignore many aspects while laying drainage pipes, sewerage and water connections. He said the leakages likely to occur afterwards would damage the building.

Similarly, he added, an untrained electrician would not know the type of wiring needed in the building. He might even mess up the entire wiring which would make it difficult to repair any fault which might occur in future. There would always be a risk of short-circuit in wiring work done by unskilled person, he added.

Akber Sheikh said construction boom had engulfed entire Asia. He said many skilled workers had found better wages abroad which added to the labour shortage. He said reconstruction activities in earthquake-hit areas had also impacted the availability of workers in other regions.Arshad Chugtai said construction activities in Pakistan had reached a level where reliance on on-job training of workforce would not be advisable. He said the government should establish dedicated institutes to train skilled electricians, masons, plumbers and carpenters to ensure global standard construction.

Construction industry faces labour shortage

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

^^^ A labor shortage in Pakistan!!

 

[Bushroda]

^^^ A labor shortage in Pakistan!!

Maybe because most are busy constructing towers in Burj Dubai

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

In a sense perhaps a good thing, as those involved in the services sector start seeing a rise in wages and living standards and become a new part of the middle class.

The initiative by the GoP to set up vocational training institutes may pay off big if handled properly.

 

[ejaz007]

Wind power generation: Letters of Intent issued to 93 firms

* AEDB, IRSA to hold meeting of advisory committee on December 4

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Letters of Intent (LoIs) have been issued by the government to 93 local and foreign firms for power generation using wind energy. This is hoped to help meet the country’s growing power demand, Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) officials said Tuesday during a meeting with the caretaker federal minister for power and water, Tariq Hameed.

The minister had held two separate meetings with AEDB officials and the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) officials to seek briefings regarding ongoing and upcoming projects.

AEDB officials told the minister that five investors had applied for licenses to set up such facilities at Gharo-Keti Bandar in Sindh where the AEDB had identified the potential of around 50,000 MW, sources told Daily Times. Licenses were issued to (among others) Green Tower, New Park Energy, Tenega, Win Power and Miligro. The licenses of Zephyr Power, Zolyu Energy and Beacon Energy are under process. Moreover, land has been allotted to 15 companies so that each of them could establish plants for 50 mega watts each, the minister was told.

Officials said that the major thrust of the AEDB was to assist investors in meeting the increasing power demand. The country has been facing a power crisis, and the galloping demand-supply gap had resulted in frequent breakdowns, hurting not only domestic consumers but also the industry. Officials further said that the generation potential was based on three-year wind data gathered at Gharo-Keti Bandar by the Meteorological Department.

The AEDB, after conducting an extensive analysis of the data, got four 50-metre-high wind-measuring masts installed by private sector. The AEDB and the Sindh government are now working in close co-ordination for the identification and allotment of land in the wind corridor. In another meeting, IRSA officials told the minister that a meeting of the advisory committee would be held on December 3. During this meeting, all provinces are expected to present their water plan for the Rabi season.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

Good step in the right direction.
Regards,

 

[ejaz007]

Pak-Mauritius PTA

FBR notifies concessions on items

Wednesday, November 28, 2007
By our correspondent

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has notified concessions on items agreed between Pakistan and Mauritius under the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA).

According to the FBR, Pakistan and Mauritius have signed the PTA, which applied to trade between the two countries relating to a large variety of products. Mauritian market has good potential for Pakistani exports and can also serve as a gateway to the entire African region. The PTA will ensure that Pakistani products have an edge over the products of other countries in the Mauritian market, sources said.

The Pakistan-Mauritius Preferential Trade Agreement will be functional from November 30 and the Government of Pakistan has already issued SRO 1151(I)/2007 dated November 26, 2007 wherein margin of preference of 50 per cent of existing tariff rates to 64 products which include flowers, fruits, tea, sugar, sea food and soap has been granted. This margin of preference shall increase to 100 per cent on these items from November 30, 2008. Similarly, margin of preference ranging from 35 per cent to 50 per cent and tariff rate quota ranging from 200,000 to 300,000 pieces has been granted on 66 textile items. Similarly, Mauritius has offered margin of preference ranging from 15 per cent to 30 per cent for the first year of the PTA on 102 Pakistan Customs Tariff lines which includes products like flowers, fruits, cereals, tobacco items, salt, marble, carpets, bed linen, textiles, furnishing articles and electrical machinery and microwave ovens. This margin of preference will increase to in the range of 50 per cent to 100 per cent from November 30, 2008 onwards.

According to SRO issued by the FBR, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 19 of the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969), the Federal Government is has exempted with effect from the November 30, 2007, the goods specified in column (3) of the table below, falling under the Headings and sub-headings of the First Schedule to the said Act as specified in column (2) of the said table, to the extent of percentage of exemption as specified in columns (4) and (5) of that table, on the import into Pakistan from the Republic of Mauritius, if made in conformity with the Rules of Origin notified by Ministry of Commerce as agreed under the Preferential Trade Agreement between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Mauritius.
Pak-Mauritius PTA

 

[Introvert]

Nippon Paint to enter Pakistan with US$25 mln investment

Karachi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Nippon Paint, the largest paint manufacturer in Asia, announcing its entry into Pakistan on Monday, said the company will be investing US$25 million in Pakistan over the next three to five years, which will include a manufacturing facility in District Kasur, near Lahore.

Nippon Paint Pakistan general manager Samad Zaheer said: "From today, the Japanese technology and quality of Nippon Paint will transform the Pakistan paint industry into something more vibrant and colourful; it is a proud day for Nippon Paint."

ANTARA News :: Nippon Paint to enter Pakistan with US$25 mln investment