Pakistan Economy - News & Updates - Archive

[Neo]

Trade with China to reach $15bn: PCICL launched​

KARACHI, Dec 17: A formal launch of $200 million Pakistan-China Investment Company Limited (PCICL) was held on Monday on the lawns of Governor’s House at a ceremony, chaired by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad.

Those who attended the ceremony included caretaker finance minister Dr Salman Shah, SBP Governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar, the Chinese consul-general, diplomats and business leaders.

The Pakistan-China Investment Company is the outcome of a joint venture agreement signed between the China Development Bank and the Government of Pakistan on July 18.

Under the memorandum of association, the PCICL has been set up to establish various subsidiary companies to carry out particular projects in financial, infrastructural, industrial, mining, manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors.

The company will strive to promote economic collaboration between the two countries by way of improving contacts between capital markets and corporate sectors of the two countries, investment in infrastructure projects, development of real-estate projects, participation in the privatisation process, hotels and tourism projects, development of special economic zones, and act as full service investment and merchant bank, and offer a host of financial and advisory services.

One of the first projects, being taken up by the PCICL, is development of 400-acre industrial estate near Lahore while many other projects are also being considered for investment.

“The Pakistan-China Investment Company Limited brings into active and close collaboration the economic superpower —China — with Pakistan which is an emerging economic market, and it would augur well for regional development and prosperity.

“With a capital base of $300 billion, the Development Bank of China is in partnership with Pakistan in the company,’’ he said.

The Development Bank of China, Dr Salman said, is a bigger bank than the World Bank in terms of resources.

China, he said, is a huge exporter of resources and Pakistan is well-positioned to receive resources.

China, he declared, is now driving global markets in energy, steel and commodities, and had achieved excellence in a number of fields, while Pakistan, with 160 million population that include 100 million young people of up to 25 years of age, and with an average economic growth of seven per cent in the last five and six years, has all the potential to prove a worthy partner in economic progress.

“We will measure your progress in terms of successful implementation of a number of projects,’’ the minister told the Chinese chief executive and his Pakistani deputy of the company.

State Bank of Pakistan Governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar, in her address, said that the Pakistan-China Investment Company is the seventh financial institution of the country set up with Chinese assistance.

She recalled her association with the Asian Development Bank during which she remained involved in a number of projects in China.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad spoke about economic cooperation between Pakistan and China over the last more than five decades in which the setting up of Pakistan-China Investment Company was an important milestone as it marks collaboration between private sectors of the two countries.

Mr Chen Jianbo, the managing director of the launched company, expressed great prospects for investment by the company.

Mr Jianbo was introduced as a banker, who has, so far, appraised projects worth over $15 billion investment and is managing assets worth $5 billion.

Syed Iqbal Ashraf, the deputy managing director, who represents Pakistan in the PCICL top management, gave a full account of the trade and business relationship between the two agreements and involvement of China in many key projects.

The speakers highlighted many projects that symbolise Pakistan-China friendship. These are Karakoram Highway, Gwadar Sea Port, Heavy Mechanical Complex, Heavy Electrical Complex, Heavy Forge and Foundry, Saindak Copper Mining Complex, the two Chashma Nuclear Power Plants and many other projects of vital strategic nature.

The two-way volume of trade between the two countries is $5 billion which is expected to increase by three times to $15 billion a year in next five years.

A five-year development programme has also been drawn up to increase the level of economic cooperation.

Trade with China to reach $15bn: PCICL launched -DAWN - Business; December 18, 2007

 

[Neo]

Remittances rules for airlines relaxed​

KARACHI, Dec 17: The State Bank has further liberalised remittances rules for airlines and also lifted ban on airlines in Pakistan to issue tickets for Saudi Arabia during Hajj season.

The SBP issued a circular on Monday to facilitate foreign airlines in Pakistan through liberalisation of foreign exchange regime.

Under the existing regulations, airlines are required to submit applications, along with all relevant documents, including passage statement (V-37) to authorised dealers for effecting remittances of surplus passage and freight collection.

“Now, it has been decided that instead of V-37, foreign airlines will henceforth submit BSP sales statement which is being provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to each airline in Pakistan,” said the SBP circular.

However, data contained in V-37 statement should readily be available with the concerned ticket issuing office, it added.

At present, airlines in Pakistan have been restricted from issuing tickets to Saudi Arabia or its adjoining countries during the Hajj Season i.e. from 10th of Shawwal to 10th of Zilhaj each.

“Now, it has been decided to waive this restriction,” said the State Bank.

Remittances rules for airlines relaxed -DAWN - Business; December 18, 2007

 

[Neo]

Row over Thar power tariff: $5 billion indigenous resource project​

By Khaleeq Kiani

ISLAMABAD, Dec 17: Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro is pushing for an expeditious decision on upfront tariff for the Thar coal-based power projects, but his adviser on energy is opposing such a mechanism, terming it ‘impracticable’, Dawn has learnt.

The development and exploitation of $5 billion indigenous resource in Sindh has raised political stakes to such an extent that the prime minister has taken a public position for announcing an upfront tariff within days, but his adviser Mukhtar Ahmad says that international competitive bidding is the only way forward.

Mr Soomro has the support of Sindh chief minister Justice (retd) Abdul Qadir Halepoto and former minister for mines Irfanullah Marwat and the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and also of President Pervez Musharraf.

On the other hand, adviser on energy Mr Ahmad, who is expected to relinquish his post early next month, believes that the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) -- an independent regulator -- would “not be in a position to determine the ‘upfront’ power tariff”.

At the heart of dispute is a 1,000 MW integrated power project at Thar being sponsored by Hassan Associates of Farooq Hassan at an estimated cost of $2.2 billion. Mr Farooq Hassan, who was instrumental in setting up the Uch power project under the 1994 policy and who later became one of the major shareholders in the Karachi Electric Supply Company, has offered the government an average tariff of about 10 cents for the Thar project.

Sources close to the adviser said the Sindh authorities were presenting an emergency-like situation to get a tariff of their choice without any consideration for economic principles. They said there was no point in having domestic energy when it did not offer any saving compared with imported energy.

They also said that short-term thermal projects and their costly tariff could not be accepted as a benchmark for long-term energy supplies from domestic sources.

Those supporting the upfront tariff said the competitive bidding envisaged under the 2002 power policy did not yield any results and not a single project could be lined up for development.

On December 12, an Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) meeting presided over by the caretaker prime minister considered the request of a committee headed by secretary water and power Ismail Qureshi that suggested ‘separate indicative upfront tariff’ for different coal fields like Thar, Lakhra, Badin and Sonda and fixed coal price of imported Indonesian coal at Karachi minus freight charges as a benchmark coal price for determination of upfront tariff.

The ECC, however, directed Nepra to come up with upfront tariff in 10-15 days due to opposition from some of the participants.

On December 13, Mr Ahmad who is expected to join Asian Development Bank on January 5, 2008 said that credible capital cost and operating cost estimates were essential for tariff determination -- which at present is not available particularly for coal mining segment of integrated the coal mining and power generation facilities.

He proposed to have a reference tariff, instead of upfront tariff, on the basis of opportunity cost and that too if it was lower than 12 cents per kilowatt-hour of the furnace oil-based thermal projects. “With the reference tariff thus established (based on information available with Nepra and PPIB), a competitive bidding process could be implemented for each location (Badin, Thar etc)”.

On December 15, Mr Soomro reiterated at a business convention in Karachi that the issue of upfront tariff had been referred to Nepra without “loss of much time” which “should signal the beginning of gainful exploitation of the coal”.

A day later, Sindh caretaker chief minister wrote a strongly worded letter to Mr Soomro and complained that agencies at the federal level were not “forthcoming in providing conditions for development in this sector”.

Row over Thar power tariff: $5 trillion indigenous resource project -DAWN - Top Stories; December 18, 2007

 

[Neo]

Kazakhstan keen to strengthen economic ties with Pakistan ​

ISLAMABAD: The Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan Bakhytbek Shabarbayev on Monday expressed keen interest to strengthen economic relation with Pakistan in various fields particularly in energy sector. The envoy was speaking at a meeting with President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Nasir Khan at ICCI. Mr. Shabarbayev stressed the need to increase the current level of trade between the two countries and to facilitate joint venture in the field of trade, industry and services.

He said Kazakhstan is the second largest among the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). It was the 9th largest country in the world. Its border extends to about 12,187 km with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. This showed its vital strategic location and its important role in the CIS. He said Pakistan could import oil and gas products from Kazakhstan at cheaper rates. Kazakhstan has oil, coal, iron ore, manganese, chromites, lead, zinc, copper, titanium, bauxite, gold, silver, phosphates, sulfur, iron and steel, tractors and other agriculture machinery, electric motors, construction materials industries. He underlined the need for exchange of trade delegation to enhance the bilateral trade. He said that Kazakhstan is rich in natural resources. He invited Pakistani investors to invest in his country.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Neo]

'No major break through in trade sector expected’​

ISLAMABAD: Chances of Pakistan making a major break through in the trade sector are quite small, if it is unable to meet challenges like quality control, human resource development, branding and bridging the skill gap in the textile and manufacturing sectors.

Dr Ather Maqsood Ahmed, Member, Fiscal Research and Statistics concluded this in his research paper on “Structure of International Trade in Pakistan: Some Recent Insight” that was carried in the First Quarterly Review of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), released on Monday.

Export performance of the textile sector remains a concern that requires a careful review. The argument that there is discriminatory dumping duty on the bed linen might be valid to some extent, but it is also true that international markets are being lost due many other crucial reasons, the analysis added. The first quarter of current fiscal year has witnessed a low growth of only 4.8 percent in exports as compared to the corresponding period of last year. Similar to import structure, the composition of export basket has also been fairly narrow for quite sometime. Whereas, the share of cotton and other made up of textile in total exports has declined as compared to first quarter of previous fiscal, major export items like cotton, articles of apparel and clothing, other made up textile articles and rice have, in fact, recorded negative growth. On the other hand, minor items like salt, sulphur, stones, slag, ash, products of milling industry, mineral fuels, inorganic chemicals, rawhides and skins, articles of leather have performed relatively well. However compared to major sectors, this performance has limited consequence for improving the overall balance of trade position.

A detailed review confirms that ten major commodity-groups contribute nearly 80 percent of the overall national exports, showing how narrowly the export base has been structured over the years. No doubt that there has been a little improvement during the first quarter of current fiscal and the share of mineral fuel, raw hide and skins, articles of leather, and man-made staple fibres in total exports have increased marginally, there is no doubt that the overall position remains unsatisfactory.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Neo]

Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves to cross $16 billion mark next month: Dr Ashfaque ​

ISLAMABAD (December 18 2007): The country's foreign exchange reserves will regain their previous position of $16 billion plus as major cash inflows were expected next month, Special Finance Secretary Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan told Business Recorder on Monday.

He said fluctuation in the foreign exchange reserves is a normal economic phenomenon and recent 5 percent decline could not be wholly attributed to the imposition of emergency in the country.

Explaining the outflow of $700 million from the reserves during November-December, Dr Ashfaque said the yearly bulk payment on the debt servicing takes place in these months. Besides, he said, the oil prices touched all-time high during the same period, which almost doubled the oil bill. He admitted that the emergency shattered the confidence of the foreign investors who withdrew some $200-$250 million investment from the stock market.

However, after the President's announcement to lift the emergency before December 16, foreign investors returned and enlivened the stock market, he added. Dr Ashfaque said the tight monetary policy pursued by the State Bank of Pakistan had played a vital role in moderating import growth.

He said as a result of the developments on exports and imports the trade deficit shrunk by $191 million to $3,533 million from $3,724 million from July to October 2007.

=========================================================================
Table: Current Account Balance (Million $)
=========================================================================
2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 (July-October)
2006 2007
=========================================================================
Exports (f.o.b) 16388 16924 5413 5997
Imports (f.o.b) -24647 -26655 -9137 -9530
Trade Balance -8259 -9731 -3724 -3533
Invisible Balance 2610 2162 210 537
Private Transfer Workers' 9914 10103 2899 3693
Remittances 4600 5494 1644 2080
Current Account Balance -4968 -7055 -3514 -2996
as% of GDP -3.9 -4.9 -2.4 -1.8
=========================================================================

Copyright Business Recorder, 2007

 

[Neo]

Caretaker government decision on mega projects: no more financing through levy of new surcharge ​

ISLAMABAD (December 18 2007): The caretaker government has imposed a ban on financing of mega projects in public sector through levy of any new surcharge, well-placed official sources in the Water and Power Ministry told Business Recorder on Monday.

Referring to the 969-MW Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project, which was cleared by Prime Minister Muhammedmian Soomro after several ' ifs and buts,' the sources said when the project came up for discussion in the Cabinet on December 12, it caused consternation among the participants. Some members were incensed at the move. They protested against the decision saying that by levying 'special surcharge', the government was introducing an entirely new mode of financing for a mega project and that too without taking general public into confidence.

Interestingly, the architect of this mode of financing, Dr Salman Shah, Minister for Finance, was not present in the meeting. "This mode should not be seen as an example or a rule to be followed in future projects in power or any other economic sector by the government later," the sources quoted the members who were arguing strongly against the move as saying. According to the sources, initially the Prime Minister also did not approve of this mode.

The sources said the Ministry of Water and Power had submitted the summary to the Cabinet Division soon after it obtained approval in principle from the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet, headed by former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, but the prime minister secretariat did not allow its appearance on the agenda owing to political considerations. The sources said this move by the concerned officials had irritated the caretaker prime minister in the Cabinet meeting.

"Why should the caretaker government clear a controversial mode of financing when the government of Shaukat Aziz had not done so and how would this surcharge affect people at large?" the sources quoted Soomro as saying. The Prime Minister also asked whether a 10 paisa increase would hit the consumers of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation.

"When Wapda sells up to 700 MW electricity to KESC, there is no doubt a 10 paisa raise will be passed on to the latter's consumers but the Water and Power Ministry hid this fact from the Cabinet," the sources added.

They said the concerned officials of the Water and Power Ministry assured the Cabinet that no precedent of financing would be set in for power sector projects as after eight years, which is the deadline for completion of Neelum-Jhelum project, surcharge of 10 paisa would be withdrawn.

According to the sources, the Ministry of Water and Power was also of the view that since the caretaker government did not have political motives, it would be easy for it to approve the projects of national importance.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

Steps against threats to economy: IMF to issue corrective guidelines today ​

ISLAMABAD (December 18 2007): For the International Monetary Fund (IMF), rising inflation and huge current account deficit are two potential threats to Pakistan's economy and it is going to issue guidelines to the government for corrections on December 18.

The IMF releases review on Pakistan's economy biannually under Article 4, and asks the government for corrective measures. Since Pakistan is not utilising any IMF loan facility, implementation of its guidelines are not mandatory for it.

An Islamabad-based official IMF official on Monday said the board would review Pakistan's economic situation and suggest various measures for corrections where it thinks are needed. He said that some indicators of Pakistan's economy were showing robust growth in the current fiscal year, but many of them were giving alarming indications.

IMF is encouraged that Pakistan, despite some major shocks to the economy like deadly October 8, 2005 earthquake and unending political turmoil, achieved economy growth target of over 7 percent during last four years, but it is obviously concerned for taking over of the economy by the politics.

The government has failed to take some necessary steps to make the economy less vulnerable to politically motivated decisions. One can refer capping of the oil prices as an evidence. In this case the government was not able to take a bold decision of passing on the actual prices to the consumers.

IMF and other international donors are seriously concerned over Pakistan's huge current account deficit and they, time and again, have suggested to the government to take corrective measures before it got too late. They also suggested to Pakistan to walk out of all kinds of business and leave this role for the private sector, but Islamabad is yet to take this advice to make a difference.

Pakistan has its own limitations to keep on intervening through some public sector organisations, such as Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), Passco, to protect the poor segment of the society from private sector's exploitation. Although this system of protecting the poor from market exploitation is not working up to its expectation, yet even partial success gives satisfaction, and encouragement, to policy-makers to continue intervening in the market.

Similarly, IMF and other international donors are pressing the government to do away with the policy of subsidising power, gas and other utilities, but it is resisting the demand, for various reasons.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

'Economic indicators testify massive uplift' ​

VEHARI (December 18 2007): President Pervez Musharraf on Monday said all economic indicators testify that the country has been put on the road to progress and prosperity and record amount was being spent on development projects across the country.

Inaugurating the natural gas supply project to Vehari, he said the nation did not witness as much progress in the 50 years since independence than the achievements made during the past eight years. He said the annual development plan has crossed the figure of Rs 500 billion and countless mega development projects were being executed.

The President said South Punjab gas project will cost the exchequer Rs 3.7 billion benefiting 1.3 million population of three districts and 12 tehsils and towns of the region. The President, praising the accomplishment by Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), said the government would provide Rs 750 million more required to complete this mega project.

He said employment opportunities were expanding, poverty was being alleviated, industrial and agricultural sectors were flourishing and investment was rapidly increasing, all reflecting swift development of the country.

Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool, Caretaker Chief Minister Ijaz Nisar, Federal Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Ihsanullah Khan and District Nazim Shahid Mehdi Nasim also attended the event.

President Musharraf said that extremism and terrorism were a big threat to the national development and it was imperative to extirpate it. He sought support of the masses to curb this menace that may reverse the wheel of development and prosperity.

He said suicide attacks are completely un-Islamic and the people should advise such perverts who want to impose their brand of ideology on others. He said he has been to the Holy House of Allah (Khana Kaba) at Makka Mukarrama and sacred Rauza Rasool (PBUH) at Masjid Nabvi, Madina Munawwara several times he never claimed to be a better Muslim than others.

The President urged the people to vote those to power, who may continue the pace of development. He asked the masses to beware of those, who want to stop the wheel of progress and want to spread despondency in the motherland.

He stressed that to him Pakistan comes first and individuals or organisations come later. He said he cherishes to continue to work tirelessly to translate his dream of a developed Pakistan into a reality.

President Musharraf said when he took power the country's development budget stood at Rs 80 billion which has now jumped to Rs 520 billion. He said a huge sum of Rs 87 billion has been spent on Southern Punjab's development during the last five years.

He said in the past only 1,000 villages would get electricity annually, but now this figure has multiplied to 16,000 villages. The gas connections per annum have gone up from 100,000 to 250,000.

He said filtration plants for provision of clean drinking water is being installed all over the country at a cost of Rs 7 billion. This facility will be provided to small villages in the next phase, he added.

The President said some elements wanted to disrupt the pace of progress and tried to create an atmosphere of uncertainty in the country. In order to prevent that he had to impose emergency and now everything had been rectified and normalised.

He announced to set up a campus of agricultural university at Vehari and upgrade the district headquarters hospital from 125 beds to 250 beds. Earlier, Khalid Maqbool and Ihsanullah Khan also spoke. A large numer of ex-MNAs, MPAs and common people, including women attended the ceremony.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[ejaz007]

Remittances soar by 23.62% to $2.587bn during July-NovStaff Report

KARACHI: Remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis rose to $2.587 billion during the first five months of the current financial year, showing an increase of $494.26 million or 23.62 percent over the same period of the last fiscal year.

The monthly average remittances for the above mentioned period comes out to $517.41 million as compared to $418.56 million during the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

The inflow of remittances from the USA, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Gulf countries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman), UK and EU countries amounted to $733.76 million, $481.81 million, $423 million, $380 million, $197.41 million and $76.09 million respectively, as compared to $533.46 million, $398.99 million, $318.12 million, $291.47 million, $180.10 million and $62.57 million respectively, during July-November last year.

Total remittances received from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries amounted to $294.03 million as against $306.93 million in the same period last year.

During November, Pakistani workers sent $505.58 million, up by $56.97 million or 12.70 percent when compared with $448.61 million sent home in November 2006.

The inflow of remittances into Pakistan from most of the countries of the world increased last month as compared to November 2006. Remittances from USA, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Gulf countries, UK and EU amounted to $142.95 million, $90.90 million, $88.18 million, $77.86 million, $32.91 million and $15.41 million, respectively, as compared to $111.70 million, $80.79 million, $67.42 million, $59.86 million, $41.65 million and $14.26 million received from these countries during November 2006.

Remittances received from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries during November 2007 amounted to $57.07 million as compared to $72.78 million during November 2006.

The total remittances include $0.97 million received through encashment and profit earned on Foreign Exchange Bearer Certificates (FEBCs) and Foreign Currency Bearer Certificates (FCBCs).

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[ejaz007]

Russia for establishment of Pakistani trade house in Moscow

KARACHI: Russia desires to establish a Pakistani trade house in Moscow to create awareness about the vast potential of Pakistani products and their competitive pricing. A four-member delegation of Russian Federation led by Ambassador Sergey N. Peskow expressed this desire in a meeting with Chief Executive Officer, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), Tariq Irkam here on Tuesday. Consul General of Russian Federation Valdimir V. Seliverston and others were also a part of the visiting delegation. The delegation also called for the revival of Pakistan-Russian Business Council and for a joint business body. It expressed desire to expand trade opportunities with Pakistan and displayed keen interest in single country exhibition. Russian delegation also informed their hosts of setting up two Pakistani banks viz. National Bank of Pakistan and Askari Bank to facilitate exporters in Moscow. Tariq Ikram told the delegation that during the last eight years Pakistan’s export to Russia went up from $20 million to $140 million. He gave the delegation an analysis of export of Pakistani products pointing out where imports declined and where the opportunities exist for further expansion of trade ties between the two countries. He spoke of competition and pricing in textile, garment and leather goods where Pakistan has a competitive edge and could be enhanced to the benefit of both. He also assured the delegation to consider setting up of a Pakistan display center as a warehouse that TDAP wishes to establish in Moscow. Mr Ikram asked the delegation to look into possibilities of joint ventures for promotion of trade. He said that there existed a lot potential for export fruits, vegetables, sports goods, man-made textile apparel, footwear, seafood, electronic equipment, pharmaceutical goods etc. staff report

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Introvert]

Pakistan to export 100000 tonnes cement to India

Tuesday, 18 December 2007
Pakistan is all set to export about 0.1 million tons cement to India on monthly basis and both the countries are engaged in negotiations to devise a comprehensive mechanism for the export of the commodity. “We have been in negotiations with Indian officials for cement export to that country,” Federal Minister for Commerce and Textile Industry Shahazada Alam Monnoo told APP in an exclusive interview here on Tuesday.

He said India has great demand for cement and the Pakistani industry has great capacity for producing export quality cement, adding: “The cement industry can manage export 0.1 million tons to the neighbouring country,” he remarked.

India has shown willingness to import maximum quantity of cement from Pakistan through sea as well as land routes, he said. He said: “I had a meeting with the India ambassador to Pakistan on the issue who has shown keenness on his part for cement import from Pakistan.”

However, he was of the view that the immediate barrier in the way of export was inadequate transportation facilities for the lucrative trade across the border. He said both the sides realized the need for improving road transportation facilities for smooth flow of trade.

Due to abolished countervailing duty and additional customs duty on cement imports the Pakistani cement would become competitive in the huge Indian market. Analysts calculate that the landed cost of Pakistani cement in India would be cheap.

The shortage of cement in the region gained well for Pakistani cement manufacturers, which not only resulted in export of a major quantity, but also brought high export price. Regarding textile industry, the minister expressed the hope that the industry would come out of the crisis soon.

He said that the government had already allowed the import of 0.5 million short staple bales from India to facilitate the textile industrialists, adding that the federal cabinet would be approached to approve another junk of cotton through land route if the textile industry showed better performance.

He was of the view that the textile industry was flourishing till two years back however, due to certain mistakes it suffered a setback. However, he expressed the hope that with hard work and better planning the glorious past of the industry would be regained.

Answering a question about rice export, he said the overall rice export had Increased, adding that Pakistan was producing quality rice which had good international market.He said efforts were underway to ensure handling of sea food on international standards for export, particularly to the European Union countries, which had banned seafood exports from Pakistan since April 2007.

Pakistan to export 100000 tonnes cement to India - Unique Pakistan

 

[Introvert]

$200m Pak-China Investment Company launched
Tuesday, December 18, 2007; Posted: 08:11 PM

Karachi, Dec 18, 2007 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- CHXDF | charts | news | PowerRating -- Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan, and China Development Bank (CDB) jointly launched $200m Pak-China Investment Company Ltd (PPICL), at a ceremony held in the Sindh Governors House, here on Monday.

First tranche of capital amounting $70million for the PCICL was received in October this year while rest of capital would arrive by the year 2009. The Federal Finance Minister Dr. Salman Shah would chair PCICL, while its Managing Director (MD) would be the nominee of CDB Mr. Chen Jianbo, Deputy MD Pakistani Syed Iqbal Ashraf with two directors from Chinese and one from Pakistani side.

Company would invest in sector of engineering, telecom, construction, infrastructure projects, merger and acquisitions, debt syndication and private equity placements.

Addressing the launching ceremony, Sindh Governor Dr. Ishratul Ibad Khan said that Pakistans liberal and investor-friendly economic policies have made the country attractive for both domestic and foreign investment.

He said that the PCICL would further strengthen Pak-China friendly ties and help achieving 5-year target of 15 billion USD bilateral trade between the two countries.

Sindh Governor added that the free market oriented economy of Pakistan has provided great potential to foreign direct investment in oil and gas sectors, power generation, IT and infrastructure development.

Federal Finance Minster Dr. Salman Shah said on occasion that PCICL must set goal of $160billion for next five years. He said that the success of PCICL would be estimated not from its funds but by the number of projects it conceives and the amount of investment in attracts in both the countries.

China is worlds emerging economic power while Pakistan is worlds emerging hub of economic investment, and their coalition would boost economy of both the countries Dr. Salman Shah said.

He said that china is a huge exporter of capital and while in Pakistan there are vast opportunities for investment. There has been 7% growth in Pakistans GDP last year, which has reached to $160 billion from $60 billion in 1999 he said.

Governor State Bank Dr. Shamshad Akhtar said that Karachi has huge potential for foreign direct investment in infrastructure development. She urged the PCICL to focus on it. She urged upon corporate community to invest in PCICL and make it a success story.

MD PCICL Mr. Chen Jianbo said that establishment of PCICL would provide open-window opportunities for Chinese investors in Pakistan and for Pakistani investors in China.

Chinese Consul General at Karachi Chen Shanmin said that his country was already investing in many projects in Pakistan including Gwadar Port, Chashma nuclear power plant, mechanical complexes and many more.

He added that China would invest $500million in coal-based power generation at Sonda-Jharak Sindh while work on 200 million USD project of Managing Karachis municipal waste would begin soon. PCICL would focus on corporate finance and investment-banking activities, selling credit/ non-credit based products and services and liaison with the Risk Management department in screening of target markets and customers.

Its functions would include management of assets and liabilities, managing organizations liquidity needs, trading in government securities, and accepting Pakistani rupee deposits under certificate of investment.

$200m Pak-China Investment Company launched

 

[Neo]

Two Pakistani banks to open branches in Moscow ​

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

KARACHI: Russian Ambassador to Pakistan Sergey N Peskow said here on Tuesday that two Pakistani banks would open their branches in Moscow in the near future to facilitate exporters.

Theses are National Bank of Pakistan and Askari Commercial Bank. He was talking to the chief executive of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), Tariq Ikram. Russian Consul-General at Karachi Vladimir V Seliverston and head of the trade commission of Russia Vitaly Glinkin also accompanied him.

He called for revival of the Pakistan-Russian Business Council and setting up of a joint business council body to enhance bilateral trade with Pakistan. The Russian envoy showed keen interest in holding single country exhibitions, besides establishment of a trade house of Pakistan in Moscow for creating awareness in Russia of the vast potential of Pakistani products and their competitive prices.

Tariq Ikram informed him that Pakistan’s exports to Russia have increased from $20 million to $140 million in the last eight years and added that vast potential existed for expanding bilateral trade. He also assured him of examinine the possibilities of setting up a Pakistan display centre in Moscow.

Two Pakistani banks to open branches in Moscow

 

[Neo]

Khushhali Bank to develop human resource capacity ​

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

ISLAMABAD: Khushhali Bank has signed a contract under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) project of ‘Widening Harmonised Access to Microfinance’ implemented by Shore Bank International to acquire SBI services for a customised mid-level staff training programme for the bank.

The training programme is supported by the USAID in SBI efforts to develop human resource capacity for the microfinance sector of Pakistan. The USAID support for the Widening Harmonised Access to Microfinance (WHAM) is part of the $1.5 billion aid that the US government is providing for Pakistan over five years to improve economic growth, education, health, governance and for reconstruction of earthquake-affected areas.

As a consultant, the SBI will develop and deliver customised training on staff management and financial analysis & management to Khushhali Bank’s branch management. The training will be given throughout the bank’s vast network of branches across different regions.

As part of the agreement, Shore Bank will initially evaluate and assess diverse needs and skills of Khushhali Bank’s large number of employees across Pakistan to design the training content and material which is relevant and thus effective.

After ensuring a fit between the training material and training needs of the bank’s staff, the SBI will deliver training following a high impact-oriented methodology and practices tested and institutionalised within its Human Resource Development Initiative (HRDI) for microfinance.

The objective of the training programme is to enhance Khushhali Bank’s staff capacities through focused sessions emphasising on balancing multiple performance targets, customised design and exclusive delivery of training to the staff.

The SBI will also work hand in hand with the Khushhali Bank’s management to ensure suitability of training material and provide technical assistance to further enhance the bank’s internal staff development systems and capacity to track the impact of the training programme.

Stressing its importance, Khushhali Bank President Ghalib Nishtar said “we understand the need for consistent training and development to address immediate human resource capacity-building needs of Khushhali Bank. Through this partnership, we hope to provide market-led, high-quality and cost-effective training to our employees.”

The SBI has launched HRDI to augment the capacity of microfinance middle-level management, specifically the branch-level management to undertake greater delegation from senior management and to manage further decentralization of quality control and decision making, necessary to achieve sustainable scale.

Shore Bank has vast experience through national and international initiatives for providing training and development for the sector’s human resource. This has allowed the SBI to develop a process of preparation, delivery and follow-up and continuous improvement that helps to ensure the effectiveness of training organised under HRDI.

Khushhali Bank to develop human resource capacity