Pakistan Economy - News & Updates - Archive

[Neo]

Four offshore petroleum exploration licences granted ​

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Monday executed offshore petroleum exploration licences to Government Holdings (Pvt.) Limited (GHPL) and signed production-sharing agreements with GHPL and Niko Resources Limited (Niko) over four blocks.

The new blocks included (1) Offshore Indus North (No. 2466-7) covering an area of 2466.24 sq. kms, (2) Offshore Indus X (No.2465-3) covering an area of 2482.83 sq. kms, (3) Offshore Indus Y (No.2465-4) covering an area of 2482.33 sq. kms and (4) Offshore Indus Z (No.2466-6) covering an area of 2489.49 sq. kms. These blocks are located in the Arabian Sea.

The minimum financial commitment for these blocks is $32.8 million. The company, however, plans to invest more than $200 million subject to availability of viable structures after conducting seismic survey.

The execution of the new production sharing agreements forms an integral part of the government’s drive to attract investment in the oil and gas sector and boost Pakistan’s economy by substituting imported oil and gas with indigenous supplies. To meet this objective, the unexplored offshore region is being given special emphasis where an oil and gas discovery can provide a major impetus for attracting new investments significantly affecting exploration landscape of Pakistan.

The government is making all out efforts to enhance oil and gas exploration activities through investment friendly policies. Therefore, in order to provide further incentives Petroleum (Exploration & Production) Policy 2007 has recently been promulgated, which is rated as one of the best policies in the region.

M/s Niko is a Canadian company, which has considerable successes in the sub continent being the joint venture partner in a very big discovery made in India during 2002, which is expected to commence production of around 2 billion cubic feet gas per day in 2008. M/s Niko has multiple exploration discoveries and production in India and Bangladesh.

The execution ceremony was witnessed by Ahsanullah Khan, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources and Shaukat Hayat Durrani, Additional Secretary, P&NR, Ms Marilyn Denton, Senior Trade Commissioner, Embassy of Canada and other government officials.

The Exploration Licences and Petroleum Sharing Agreements were signed by Parrakh Qayyum, Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Resources, Mohammad Naeem Malik, Director General Petroleum Concessions, Jehangir Khan Sr. Joint Secretary/Managing Director GHPL, and William T. Hornaday, Chief Operating Officer & Director, Niko.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Neo]

‘Pakistan has weak travel & tourism regulatory framework’​

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been ranked at 103 out of 124 countries around the world, underlining a weak travel and tourism regulatory framework, low prioritisation of the industry by the government, low effectiveness of marketing and branding and a constricted tourism perception.

These facts and figures were revealed by the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008 (TTCR), which highlighted the competitive advantages and disadvantages in Pakistan’s tourism and reinforced the importance of environmental sustainability.

Some of the other competitive disadvantages for Pakistan include the poor tourism infrastructure such as provision of competitive hotel rooms (110), available ATMs accepting Visa cards (110), the national and cultural resources (96) and the prevailing security situation (106) among 124 countries.

Despite showing many competitive disadvantages in the travel and tourism industry, Pakistan ranked well on the air (40) and ground transport infrastructure (39). The price competitiveness in the industry maintains a very viable position based on the low fuel price level (23), purchasing power parity (25) and the extent and effect of taxation (33). Pakistan will, however, like many other countries needed to focus on the sustainability of its natural environment.

The data for Pakistan has been prepared based on a combination of data from publicly available sources, international travel and tourism institutions and experts as well as the results of the executive opinion survey, which was carried out last year by the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) in Pakistan.

Arthur Bayhan, Chief Executive Officer of the CSF shared that CSF, being the partner institution of the WEF in Pakistan, was deeply engaged in the issues of competitiveness and was working with both the public and private sector as well as the academia in Pakistan to improve the global ranking of the country. He shared that the Executive Opinion Survey was a major component of The Global Competitiveness Report, which is published each year by the WEF.

CSF further shared that it is currently working on preparing the second State of Pakistan’s Competitiveness Report for 2007-08. This report is a deeper reflection of the Global Competitiveness Report and will provide a snapshot of the strengths and weaknesses along with key positive and negative trends in the national economy, as well as regional competitiveness trends in each of the provinces.

The report helps Pakistan in measuring the factors that contribute to developing the weak travel and tourism industry and also demonstrates the importance of supportive business and regulatory frameworks, coupled with world-class transport and tourism infrastructure with a strong focus on developing human and natural resources.

The TTCI measures the factors and policies that make it attractive to develop the weak travel and tourism sector in various countries.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Neo]

Ethanol fuel can save country $500m: PSMA​

KARACHI: Chairman, Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) Punjab Zone, Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf has asked the government to introduce ethanol as alternate fuel, which can significantly help the country reduce its import bill to around $500 million in oil.

Speaking at a press briefing here on Monday he said a lot of time has been wasted in going ahead for alternate fuel based on local raw material especially sugarcane molasses.

Molasses is a by-product of sugar and is mainly exported outside the country at lower rates. Therefore, it does not help much the country economically in improving balance of trade. But, he said, if it is processed and refined in to ethanol it can significantly help the country in reducing its import bill.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Neo]

PTA to support ‘Connect Pakistan 2008’​

KARACHI: Pakistan Teleco-mmunication Authority has confirmed its support for the 3rd Information & Communications Technology Exhibition & Conference that is scheduled from May 15 to 17 at the Karachi Expo Centre.

Moreover, Chairman PTA, Major General Shahzada Alam Malik (Retd) also confirmed his visit during the show. The exhibition organised by Pegasus Consultancy will host over 100 local and international companies. Around 7,000 trade and industry professionals from Korea, China, Malaysia, Singapore, UAE & other neighbouring countries are also being invited to visit the show.

In this context, the event is bringing an exclusive display of emerging technologies one to one business meetings, workshops and seminars, leadership awards, roundtable session, networking dinner and the Telecom Day Celebrations.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Neo]

‘Pakistan has weak travel & tourism regulatory framework’​

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been ranked at 103 out of 124 countries around the world, underlining a weak travel and tourism regulatory framework, low prioritisation of the industry by the government, low effectiveness of marketing and branding and a constricted tourism perception.

These facts and figures were revealed by the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008 (TTCR), which highlighted the competitive advantages and disadvantages in Pakistan’s tourism and reinforced the importance of environmental sustainability.

Some of the other competitive disadvantages for Pakistan include the poor tourism infrastructure such as provision of competitive hotel rooms (110), available ATMs accepting Visa cards (110), the national and cultural resources (96) and the prevailing security situation (106) among 124 countries.

Despite showing many competitive disadvantages in the travel and tourism industry, Pakistan ranked well on the air (40) and ground transport infrastructure (39). The price competitiveness in the industry maintains a very viable position based on the low fuel price level (23), purchasing power parity (25) and the extent and effect of taxation (33). Pakistan will, however, like many other countries needed to focus on the sustainability of its natural environment.

The data for Pakistan has been prepared based on a combination of data from publicly available sources, international travel and tourism institutions and experts as well as the results of the executive opinion survey, which was carried out last year by the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) in Pakistan.

Arthur Bayhan, Chief Executive Officer of the CSF shared that CSF, being the partner institution of the WEF in Pakistan, was deeply engaged in the issues of competitiveness and was working with both the public and private sector as well as the academia in Pakistan to improve the global ranking of the country. He shared that the Executive Opinion Survey was a major component of The Global Competitiveness Report, which is published each year by the WEF.

CSF further shared that it is currently working on preparing the second State of Pakistan’s Competitiveness Report for 2007-08. This report is a deeper reflection of the Global Competitiveness Report and will provide a snapshot of the strengths and weaknesses along with key positive and negative trends in the national economy, as well as regional competitiveness trends in each of the provinces.

The report helps Pakistan in measuring the factors that contribute to developing the weak travel and tourism industry and also demonstrates the importance of supportive business and regulatory frameworks, coupled with world-class transport and tourism infrastructure with a strong focus on developing human and natural resources.

The TTCI measures the factors and policies that make it attractive to develop the weak travel and tourism sector in various countries.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

Pakistan at 103rd on tourism index​

ISLAMABAD, March 3: The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Monday launched its annual Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008, in which Pakistan ranked at 103 out of 124 countries because of having a weak travel and tourism regulatory framework and low prioritisation of the industry by the government.

Pakistan also did not have effective marketing and branding strategies and at the same time it was facing a constricted tourism perception.

Some of the other competitive disadvantages for Pakistan include the poor tourism infrastructure such as provision of competitive hotel rooms (110), available ATMs accepting Visa cards (110), the national and cultural resources (96) and the prevailing security situation (106) among 124 countries.

Despite showing many competitive disadvantages in the travel and tourism industry, Pakistan ranked well on the air (40) and ground transport infrastructure (39). The price competitiveness in the industry maintains a very viable position based on the low fuel price level (23), purchasing power parity (25) and the extent and effect of taxation (33).

Pakistan, will however, like many other countries need to focus on the sustainability of its natural environment, the report said. It highlighted the competitive advantages and disadvantages in Pakistan’s tourism and reinforces the importance of environmental sustainability.

The report provides a cross-country analysis of the drivers of competitiveness in travel and tourism, providing useful comparative information for making business decisions and additional value to governments wishing to improve their travel and tourism environments.

The data for Pakistan has been prepared based on a combination of data from publicly available sources, international travel and tourism institutions and experts as well as the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, which was carried out last year by the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) in Pakistan.

Pakistan at 103rd on tourism index -DAWN - Business; March 04, 2008

 

[Neo]

11 percent rise in foreign investors' profit repatriation ​

KARACHI (March 04 2008): Foreign investors sent $519 million as their profits abroad during first seven months of the current fiscal year as compared to $467.9 million of the corresponding period of 2006-07, depicting an upsurge of some 11 percent.

State Bank's statistics show that profit repatriation by foreign investors registered a significantly increase of $51.4 million during July-January of the current fiscal year. The major share of repatriation was witnessed in the power sector, in which foreign investors have done fresh investment during the last few year due to the power shortage in the country.

During the July-January investors sent some 101.8 million dollars profit from financial sector relative to 82.7 million dollar in same period of last fiscal year, depicting an increased of 23.1 percent during first seven months. Communication sector is the second leading sector with 84.3 million dollars repatriation. However, it is less than last fiscal year.

Foreign investors have sent 17.7 million dollars from food sector, 27.3 million dollars from tobacco & cigarettes, 28.4 million dollars from chemical sector, 50.8 million dollars from oil and gas exploration, 19 million dollars from pharmaceutical and 49.9 million dollars from financial sector.

Sector wise, some 5.8 million dollars was sent from food packaging, 13.8 million dollars by trade sector investors, 10.5 million dollars from transport, 2.6 million dollars fertiliser, 48.2 million dollars from petroleum refining and some 23.7 million dollars in the other sector as repatriation during July-January of 2008.

It may be mentioned here that during the last fiscal year 2007 repatriation showed an increased of 299.8 million dollars or 59 percent to 804.2 million dollars as compared to 504 million dollars in fiscal year 2006.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

Rs 579.7 billion collected in eight months ​

ISLAMABAD (March 04 2008): The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected Rs 579.7 billion during the first eight months (July-February) of 2007-08 fiscal year against Rs 515.1 billion in the corresponding period of last year, showing an increase of 12.5 percent.

According to the provisional figures released on Monday, the collection during February 2008 was Rs 68.3 billion against the month's target of Rs 68.2 billion as compared to Rs 52.4 billion of February 2007, showing a growth of 30.4 percent.

The monthly break-up showed that revenue on account of direct taxes has risen sharply from Rs 13.8 billion last February to Rs 22.1 billion in February 2008 reflecting a growth of 60.2 percent.

The sales tax collection was Rs 27.2 billion against Rs 23.7 billion of last February showing a growth of 14.7 percent. While sales tax on import stage has decreased by 0.6 percent due to zero-rating of crude oil, the increase in the sales tax on domestic consumption was 35.4 percent. The collection of federal excise duty (FED) was Rs 7.9 billion against Rs 5.6 billion, showing an extraordinary growth of 40.8 percent.

The collection of customs duty was Rs 11.2 billion in February 2008 against Rs 9.3 billion in the corresponding period last year, showing a healthy growth of 19.9 percent. The provisional figure of February is expected to increase during the next few days, the FBR added.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

Pakistan at 103rd on tourism index​

ISLAMABAD, March 3: The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Monday launched its annual Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008, in which Pakistan ranked at 103 out of 124 countries because of having a weak travel and tourism regulatory framework and low prioritisation of the industry by the government.

Pakistan also did not have effective marketing and branding strategies and at the same time it was facing a constricted tourism perception.

Some of the other competitive disadvantages for Pakistan include the poor tourism infrastructure such as provision of competitive hotel rooms (110), available ATMs accepting Visa cards (110), the national and cultural resources (96) and the prevailing security situation (106) among 124 countries.

Despite showing many competitive disadvantages in the travel and tourism industry, Pakistan ranked well on the air (40) and ground transport infrastructure (39). The price competitiveness in the industry maintains a very viable position based on the low fuel price level (23), purchasing power parity (25) and the extent and effect of taxation (33).

Pakistan, will however, like many other countries need to focus on the sustainability of its natural environment, the report said. It highlighted the competitive advantages and disadvantages in Pakistan’s tourism and reinforces the importance of environmental sustainability.

The report provides a cross-country analysis of the drivers of competitiveness in travel and tourism, providing useful comparative information for making business decisions and additional value to governments wishing to improve their travel and tourism environments.

The data for Pakistan has been prepared based on a combination of data from publicly available sources, international travel and tourism institutions and experts as well as the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, which was carried out last year by the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) in Pakistan.

Pakistan at 103rd on tourism index -DAWN - Business; March 04, 2008

Pakistan pavilion at Berlin tourism festival ​

ISLAMABAD (March 04 2008): Pakistan would showcase it spectacular tourism products at International Tourism Bourse (International Tourism Exchange) to be held in Berlin, Germany from March 5 to 9. Pakistani pavilion to be established at an area measuring 44 sq meters would feature magnificent tourism products of Pakistan to let the world see how fascinating this South Asian country is.

In this connection, a 25-member delegation of Pakistan's tourism experts as well as officials of Ministry of Tourism and Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) headed by caretaker Federal Tourism Minister Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif would also attend the event.

This tourism gala is attended by thousands of participants from over 180 countries the world over. Last year, around 180,000 participants attended it. "This year, we are confident to steal the show given the country's rich potential in its fabulous tourism sector," Mukhtiar Ali Amro, who is Director Media of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) said here on Monday.

"We'll also seize the opportunity to attract nature lovers around the globe to come and explore the beauty of Pakistan," Mukhtiar said. Pakistan is the cradle of some of the world's ancient civilisation - Gandhara, Indus-and it is home to 5 out of 14 mountain peaks (K-2, Nanga Parbat, G I & II and Broad Peak.)

Besides, vast deserts (Cholistan, Thar, Thal, Damaan) serene valleys, gushing rivers and much more are other glaring aspects of Pakistan tourism. "Tourism could earn billions of dollars for the country if marketed effectively. We are eyeing on this event to boost our tourism," Mukhtiar said. Give away items depicting Pakistan tourism sector would be distributed among foreign tourists at the Pakistan stand.

Other members of Pakistani delegation were: Deputy Managing Director Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) Muhammad Yamin, Public Relation Officer Ministry of Tourism Chaudhry Muhammad Sharif, Direct Media Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) Mukhtiar Ali Amro and Anwar Sajid, tourism officer.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

MNCs to invest $30 billion in diverse sectors: advisor ​

ISLAMABAD (March 04 2008): The multinational companies have pledged 30 billion dollars for investment in Pakistan's energy and other diverse sectors. This was stated by Amar Lal, Advisor to Prime Minister on Minorities Affairs after a meeting with Canadian Ambassador and political representatives of Germany, Netherlands, Poland and Austria.

The multinational companies of these countries have shown interest to invest in mining of Thar coal project for 3,000 megawatt coal-based power plant, wind energy projects and gas turbines projects. In addition to that, investment would be made for laying gas pipeline and crude oil pipeline from Turkemanistan and Kazakistan, another project of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) costing 10 Billion Dollars.

It was also discussed to set up three oil refineries, each to produce 100,000 barrels per day, 4 electricity power plants to produce 1000 megawatt electricity at Lahore, Faisalabad, Rohri and Jamshoro. The project to set up three oil refineries at Multan, Karachi and Sukkur was discussed in the meeting.

With mutual consultation, it was also decided to invest in upgrading the education, health and tourism training centres up to international standard to make a joint venture with local and international companies for creating one million jobs in the country and another one million abroad.

Housing schemes will also attract substantial investment as Canadian, American and Abu Dhabi companies have submitted proposals for new housing schemes to be launched on modern lines in the country, Amar Lal said. Those proposals, he said, have been submitted to the Prime Minister.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

Canadian firm granted four offshore blocks ​

ISLAMABAD (March 04 2008): The government on Monday executed petroleum exploration licenses with Government Holdings (Pvt) Limited (GHPL) and productions sharing agreements with GHPL and Niko Resources Limited over four blocks, an official statement said.

The four blocks are Offshore Indus North, covering an area of 2466.24 square kilometres; Offshore Indus "X", covering an area of 2482.83 square kilometes; Offshore Indus "Y", covering an area of 2482.33 square kilometres; and Offshore Indus "Z", covering an area of 2489.49 square kilometres. These blocks are located in the Arabian Sea. The minimum financial commitment for these blocks is 32.8 million dollars.

The company, however, plans to invest more than 200 million dollars subject to availability of viable structures after conducting seismic surveys. The execution of the new production sharing agreements forms an integral part of the government's drive to attract investment in the oil and gas sector and to boost Pakistan's economy by substituting imported oil and gas with indigenous supplies.

To meet this objective, the unexplored offshore region is being given special emphasis where an oil and gas discovery can provide a major impetus for attracting new investments significantly affecting exploration landscape of Pakistan.

The government is making all out efforts to enhance oil and gas exploration activities through investment-friendly policies. Therefore, to provide further incentives, the 2007 Petroleum Policy has recently been promulgated, which is rated as one of the best policies in the region.

Niko is a Canadian company, which has considerable success in the sub-continent, being the joint venture partner in a very big discovery made in India during 2002, which is expected to commence production of around two billion cubic feet gas per day in 2008.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

National grid to have additional 6000 megawatts by 2010-11: Baseer ​

KARACHI (March 04 2008): The national grid will have an additional electricity of 6,000 megawatts by 2010-11, as a result of new projects in both public and private sector on fast track basis.

This was stated by the Pakistan Electric Power Company Managing Director Munawar Baseer Ahmad while delivering a keynote address at a seminar on "Power situation in Pakistan and role of ABB-as a partner in power generation," organised by ABB Pakistan here on Monday.

He pointed out that the financial close of 15 new projects with a generating capacity of 2,868 MW have been achieved and lot of planning and due diligence was going on in this regard. "In addition, a new 500 MW power project will be ready by the end of this year, while another 300 MW project was being rehabilitated by Wapda," he added.

Baseer said that an open cycle power project of 300 MW was also coming up on fast track basis in the private sector, besides a 700 MW power unit. He specifically mentioned that the government has approved the setting up of power projects with a generation capacity of 2,000 MW in the public sector to overcome power shortage in the country.

He said that KESC has to arrange its own power generation to meet the growing demand for Karachi. Baseer made it clear that there was no agreement between Wapda and the KESC for the power purchase. He said KESC was not able to pay the outstanding amount, which runs into billions of rupees. If we (Pepco) do not get the payment against the supplied electricity, how can KESC expect to get power from us, he noted.

He said KESC also needs to recover Rs 15 billion from government departments and PEPCO arrears are more than that amount. He was of the opinion that Pakistan must increase the share of coal-based power projects in the energy mix. The CEO of KESC, Lieutenant General Mohammad Amjad (Retd) said that demand for electricity was increasing at a rate of 8 percent per annum in the metropolis. He said in the early 90s, KESC used to export electricity to Wapda, which now caters to about 27 percent of KESC's total requirements.

He said that a project of 220 MW was coming up at Port Qasim while work on two power projects will start by end of this month and two more in July this year. They will be completed in July 2009. Responding to a question about electricity shortage in Karachi, he said steps were being taken to overcome this problem with the help of combined efforts.

He said the utility company is like to face a shortage of 300 MW in the coming summer, but this will be met with the availability of additional power from KESC's own refurbished units. He pointed out that distribution network has been improved ahead of summer to further reduce load shedding in the city. Amjad said that line losses have been reduced by 2.5 percent in the last six months and KESC was on target to achieve cut of in power theft by 4 percent in a year's time.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

'Two new powerhouses to generate 350 megawatts' ​

LAHORE (March 04 2008): Two powerhouses, having 350 MW generation capacity, will be completed during the current year at Faisalabad, said Ahmad Saeed Akhtar, Chief Executive (CE), Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco). He told Business Recorder that 150 megawatt powerhouse is being constructed on Sammundri Road. This powerhouse would be completed in the next couple of months.

Another powerhouse would be constructed on Satiana Road with a generation capacity of 200 megawatt, he said, adding that tenders have been floated for this project which would also be completed by the end of December this year. He said that these powerhouses would supply 350 megawatt electricity to national grid.

He said that a new power transformer is also being installed at Gatti Grid Station, which would be completed by April 2008. This would not only provide relief to the overloaded grid but also help solve the problems of fluctuation and low voltages. He said that a 500 KV transmission line from Gatti to Muzaffargarh has been completed to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply from thermal powerhouses situated in southern Punjab. "This line is expected to become functional in the next couple of months", he added. About load shedding, he said it was well under control in spite of visible gap between demand and supply.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[ejaz007]

Leather products show healthy growth​

RAMZAN CHANDIO
KARACHI-The exports of various leather products showed a healthy growth of 13pc during seven months of current FY08.
Official data showed that an impressive growth of 37 percent has been witnessed in the export of tanned leather and Pakistan earned $230.72 million dollars in seven months of current FY08 against $167.788 million dollars of same period of last year FY07.
The export of leather manufacturers have remained quite satisfactory and 13 percent increase registered during seven months while country received $371.140 million dollars against $325.598 million dollars of same period of last year.
According to leather manufacturers, the influence of Chinese leather products in the world was main reason behind unimpressive performance of Pakistani leather industry in export. The Chinese products are cheap against our products because Chinese prepared finishing model on machinery.
The Pakistani leather products are expensive due to higher cost of production in comparison of Chinese and other world; manufacturers said claimed that the Pakistani importers are ill fame in world market and their market credibility was poor. Citing an example of poor credibility of Pakistani leather importers he said usually they not provide products on time which irritate exporters. The load shedding of electricity has hampered the leather industry which also can be other reason of not meeting the promises of orders to provide leather material to foreign parties, said manufacturers.
Another manufacturer was of the view that the poor quality of products could be counted as another reason in the shortfall in the export of leather products.
An expert said that the rampant discharge of untreated effluents tanneries was a growing problem in PakistanÆs leather industry which also hurt the export business while the increase of tanneries causing severe environmental degradation as the untreated effluent used in the tanning process is released into nearby water reservoirs and the sea. He further said the air pollution is on the rise with the tanneries burning residuals from the tanning process into the atmosphere.
Leather garments export depicted robust growth of 31 percent during July 2007 to January 2008 while country earned $294.740 million dollars against $224.262 million dollars of corresponding period of last year.
However, country gained $69.574 million dollars from export of leather of gloves in seven months against $73 million dollars of same period of last year which depicted that 5 percent decrease over last year. While a huge decline of 75 percent witnessed in the export of other leather manufactures and country received only $6.826 million dollars against $27 million dollars of corresponding period of last year. Pakistani manufacturers were of the view that Pakistan imports the finishing and other raw material which used in leather garments and other products and labour capability was also a problem.

The Nation

 

[ejaz007]

Pakistan attends Hanover IT fair​

By Jamal Shahid

ISLAMABAD, March 4: As part of its mission to promote the local IT companies’ potential in international market, Pakistan is participating in the CeBit Hanover -- 2008 fair being held in Germany.

Local IT companies had been jointly selected by Pakistan Software Houses Association (Pasha) and Pakistan Software Export Board, Oun Ashraf Rana, PSEB’s director international marketing informed the media on Tuesday.

CeBit is the world’s largest trade fair showcasing digital IT and telecommunications solutions for home and work environment. The key target groups were users from industry, the wholesale and retail sector, skilled traders, banks, the services sector, government agencies, science and technology.

The fair offered an international platform for comparing notes on current industry trends, networking, and products presentations. CeBit is organised by Deutsche Messe AG every year, since 1986.

Mr Rana said that participation in international trade fairs and exhibitions by local companies was integral part of the government policy. It provided a chance to interact with the world renowned IT companies and executives in order to showcase their IT services potential.

He expressed the hope that the delegation would generate valuable business leads with a high probability of transforming into successful business ventures with the participating companies.

He said that amongst the participating companies, Progressive Systems had expertise in web portal, web applications, enterprise mobile applications development and business intelligence and data warehousing.

The GoodCore Software was providing services for the development of business applications; Xorlogics Inc specialised in database applications and mobile applications, while Server4Sale was a known icon in the area of website hosting services with integration of related applications.

According to Mr Rana, Pakistan has immense potential in IT sector outsourcing services and its participation in the CeBit fair would help increase interaction between the Pakistani companies and international IT firms.

With an IT industry worth more than $2.8 billion, including annual IT exports exceeding $1.4 billion, Pakistan is eyeing to increase the size of IT sector to over $11 billion by 2011.

Pakistan attends Hanover IT fair -DAWN - Business; March 05, 2008

 

[solid snake]

Has any one noticed slightly better economic headlines since the elections? It is amazing how political instability can cripple an entire economy. Let us hope for better days ahead with improving macroeconomic indicators.