Pakistan Economy - News & Updates - Archive

[fatman17]

China preparing rescue package for Pakistan

Saturday, October 25, 2008

By Hamid Mir

BEIJING: China is quietly working to provide Pakistan a soft loan of $1.5 billion to overcome its financial crisis in addition to more than $3.7 billion to be invested in the telecom and power generation sectors in the next two to three years, Chinese officials told The News here on Friday.

Despite all security issues and financial pressures, China has decided to stand by its two trusted friends — Pakistan and Nigeria — where China will invest more than $4 billion by the end of 2009, they said.

Top Chinese government officials emphasised that both Nigeria and Pakistan were very important countries for China. Many Chinese oil companies are working in the dangerous Niger delta zone of Nigeria, while in Pakistan China is planning to connect its Xingjian province with African countries through the Gwadar Port.

Chinese experts are sure that their workers in both Nigeria and Pakistan are becoming victims of an international conspiracy and say that China will expose the hands behind this conspiracy very soon.

Nigeria was the first country to get a Chinese satellite in orbit and Pakistan will be the second country to use a Chinese telecommunication satellite by 2011. This satellite, named PakSat-IR, will have a lifespan of 15 years and will open new opportunities for foreign investment in Pakistan.

At a briefing in Beijing on Friday, hundreds of European and dozens of Indian journalists tried their best to force Chinese government officials to say that China would not build two more nuclear power plants for Pakistan but foreign office spokesman Qin Gang told a briefing: “We will help Pakistan for the peaceful use of nuclear energy under the IAEA laws.”

China is also aware of those countries that are not happy over its presence in Africa and Gwadar. A Chinese official told this scribe that three Chinese workers were abducted by unidentified kidnappers this year in Calabar, the capital city of Nigeria’s southern cross-river state.

Five Chinese telecom workers were kidnapped early last year in southern oil city Port Harcourt while two workers of a Chinese company were abducted in southern Nigerian state of Anambra by unidentified kidnappers late last year.

These kidnappings began in 2007 when China announced to provide a multi-billion dollar telecommunication satellite to Nigeria. India organised a powerful public relations campaign in the Chinese newspapers on Friday. Many Chinese papers were filled with “Incredible India” advertisements with pictures of Taj Mahal.

Though, the Pakistani government did nothing to use the Asian-European summit to tell the delegates of 43 countries what China was doing in Pakistan, many Chinese journalists and diplomats were fighting for Pakistan by saying that Pakistan did not support enemies of China like India supported Dalai Lama.

It appears that the Indians cannot make any breakthrough in China until they decide to expel Dalai Lama from India. This Tibetan rebel leader is an “honourable guest” of India for the past many decades.

Chinese government officials have tried to make it clear not only to Indians but also to some Europeans that they are not in a position to help them out of the way. The China Daily gave a clear warning on Friday that the financial crisis was also damaging China’s own economic growth.

 

[nitesh]

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

The chief minister of Punjab, Mr Shehbaz Sharif, received a delegation on Thursday which an official handout called a “team of foreign investors” but which the newspaper Dawn has reported as a delegation from the Tata group of industries in India. It called on the chief minister to seek his support for their plan to set up a plant for CNG buses in Punjab. Given the fact that our chief minister is development-oriented and is looking to boost the Punjab economy when no one in the world wants to invest in Pakistan, we hope that his support would be forthcoming for this project.

The handout however lays out the vision of the chief minister for the transport system of his province. He not only wants the foreign investors to set up a plant for the manufacture of CNG buses but also to run the buses after making them, as a part of the transport grid in Punjab. He has asked the “investors’ delegation” to submit “practicable” recommendations “at their earliest” so that he can move the project forward. The federal government has already envisaged CNG buses from India in its trade policy for 2008-09, including a factory inside Punjab. The “foreign investors” pledged to submit their report in a week’s time. It hardly matters who it is, and if Tata has the credentials, let us get the project started. Mr Shehbaz Sharif, more than anyone, is the right man to deal with such issues

 

[dr.umer]

Traders cancel Rs 5.5 bln import orders ​

KARACHI, Oct 25 (APP)- Traders have canceled import orders worth Rs 5.5 billion keeping in view the fast depleting foreign exchange reserves in the country.

Chairman Trader Action Committee (TAC) Siddique Memon said that traders had contracted for the import of 85 items from China, Thailand and Indonesia one month ago. Most of the orders had been canceled now, he added.

“We have decided to stop imports of these items as our forex reserves were falling, rising foreign currency rates and the present financial crisis in the country, he opined.

Memon said that traders have decided to promote locally made items instead of imported merchandises.

He said prices of imported items have surged by at least 50 percent in the market due to rising dollar.

 

[dr.umer]

PSO warns govt of default if dues not paid by next week ​

By Zafar Bhutta

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has warned the government that PSO might default during the next week if its dues were not cleared immediately.

Sources in Petroleum Ministry told Daily Times on Friday that banks have refused further credit and are reluctant to open Letter of Credit (LC) for oil import. They said that due to these reasons, PSO is expected to default to banks during the next week. In this regard, PSO authorities have written letter to Petroleum, Water and Power Ministries.

They said that during the meeting held with the President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, held on October 20, it was guaranteed that PSO would be provided a sum of Rs 600 million on daily basis for further supplies of fuel.

They said that PSO was released Rs 8.3 billion price differential claims on October 21 that were paid to oil refineries but PSO was not being released Rs 600 million on daily basis to clear the back log of payments. During the meeting with President and Prime Minister it was decided to settle the backlog of payments of PSO on priority basis to ensure uninterrupted fuel supply, but due to non payment of backlog PSO has informed the government that the entity was facing extreme financial difficulty and was not able to open LC for further import of oil.

Sources said that PSO’s total receivable amount stood at Rs 71.6 billion, which includes dues against different entities in power sector and price differential claims on petroleum products. They said that overdue amount against Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), HUBCO, KAPCO and PIA was Rs 54.15 billion and the amount that was not yet due stood at Rs 5.6 billion.

They said that out of total receivable amount, price differential claims were Rs 11.8 billion. PSO has asked the government to clear all the dues so that it would be able to pay refineries and open LC for the oil import. Due to non-payment of such huge receivable amount, the entity was facing financial difficulty to run its operations of fuel supply in the country.

Sources said that PSO had also to pay huge amount to the oil refineries. They claimed that PSO was to pay Rs 70.8 billion dues to the oil refineries and these oil refineries were pressing the PSO to make payments for further fuel supply. PSO has to pay Rs 41.9 billion to PARCO, Rs 11.09 billion to ARL, Rs 6.08 billion to NRL, Rs 3.07 billion to Bosicor and Rs 281 million to other fuel suppliers.

Due to non payment of billion of rupees by WAPDA, HUBCO, KAPCO and PIA, PSO failed to pay Rs 59.6 billion dues to oil refineries. PSO requires Rs 19.9 billion to open LC for oil import that was due up to November 13, 2008.

 

[Neo]

32pc Pakistanis eat less as prices rise: survey ​

Saturday, October 25, 2008

ISLAMABAD: Thirty-two per cent of Pakistanis say they have cut down on food because of rising prices, for which 70 per cent of the population blame the government, a research group said on Friday.

Soaring food prices and shortages of staples mean about 77 million of Pakistan’s 160 million people are food insecure, a 28 per cent increase over last year, according to UN World Food Programme (WFP) estimates.

The survey, of 1,732 people in rural and urban areas, conducted in early August, also found that 56 per cent of people said rising costs of food, fuel and electricity had had a severe impact on them and their families.

“It might be a serious concern for the government to know that 70 per cent of Pakistanis blame the food price hike on government policies as opposed to other factors such as global price trends,” said the Pakistani Institute of Public Opinion, which carried out the survey. The institute is the Pakistani affiliate of Gallup International.

Like most emerging economies, Pakistan was badly hit by soaring global oil and food prices over the past year and the country was facing an economic crisis even before the global financial crisis developed.

Pakistan is facing inflation at close to 25 per cent, a balance of payments crisis and foreign reserves falling by $1n billion a month.

With no external funding, analysts say the country will most likely have to agree to help from the International Monetary Fund.

International organisations say about a third of Pakistanis live in poverty and an increasing number of them are turning up at food centres set up by charity organisations.

“If we don’t tackle the problem, we’ll start finding dead bodies,” said Abdul Sattar Edhi, head of one of Pakistan’s main private aid groups, the Edhi Foundation. “We’ll find entire families dead from hunger.”

 

[Neo]

S Arabia says no to urea supply on deferred payment ​

Saturday, October 25, 2008

ISLAMABAD: Saudi authorities have plainly refused to extend $400 million from its Development Fund for supply of urea fertiliser on deferred payment, official sources in the Economic Affairs Division told The News on Friday.

“The Kingdom has serious concerns about smuggling of imported urea fertiliser from Pakistan to the Central Asian States through Chaman border,” an EAD official said.

“We have differences over modalities but hopefully the Saudi Development Fund (SDF) may release the amount,” an official of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) said when asked for comments.

Besides a credit facility of $125 million for fertiliser, Pakistan has received Saudi credit facility of $133 million, which the Kingdom pledged after the devastating earthquake of 2005 and Pakistan imported urea fertiliser due to its shortfall in the country during the last couple of years.

Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock Nazar Mohammad Gondal, addressing a press conference at B block, told media that the finance minister has authorised MINFAL to import about 0.25 million tonnes of urea for the forthcoming Rabi season as it had released $100,000 for the purchase of the commodity through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan from the international market.

After getting a nod from Saudi authorities, MINFAL with the consent of urea manufacturers are forwarding a summary to the ECC for permitting the private sector to import the commodity at their own and the government would pick the price differential under the head of subsidy.

The availability of DAP and urea fertilisers for the coming Rabi season will be quite enough to meet the domestic consumption that is around 990,000 tonnes DAP and 2.6 million tonnes urea, said a statement distributed at the press conference.

To ensure the food security, the government has planned to import an extra one million tonnes of wheat thus totalling wheat import to 3.5 million tonnes against the previous import of 2.5 million tonnes for 2008-09, the statement added.

The statement further said that up till now, the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has contracted 1.7 million tonnes and 1.5 million tonnes of wheat have already arrived in the country.

 

[Neo]

Pakistan fully committed to IPI construction, Senate told ​

Saturday, October 25, 2008

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Farooq Naek on Friday told the Upper House of parliament that Pakistan was fully committed to the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, which was expected to meet substantial portion of ìour energy needsî.

Replying to a question raised by Nisar Memon during the Question-Hour, he hoped that the project would be finalised soon.He said two obstacles had impeded its progress. These include Iran’s decision to renegotiate gas sales and the Indian indecision to participate in the project. The minister said implementation of the project would take five years.

He told the House that Iran and Pakistan had decided to establish a joint finance company on public-private partnership basis to raise funds for the project. While responding a question from Dr Ismail Buledi, the minister said presently there were three persons working as ambassadors in Pakistan embassies.

He said the present government realised that in the past Balochistan people’s rights were usurped and it would compensate them. Answering a question, he said some posts of ambassadors were vacant which would be filled soon on merit.Meanwhile, Minister for Food and Agriculture Nazar Muhammad Gondal told the Senate on Friday that many projects were under progress to enhance the storage capacity for food grain in the country.

The minister said the storage capacity at present was 3.87 million tons against the procurement target of 6.5 million tons of wheat for the coming crop.Replying to Senator Talha Mahmoodís question during the Question-Hour, Gondal said these projects included some projects of Passco and some of the provincial food departments.

To a question from Nisar Memon, he said Pakistan did not import rice as the country had surplus quantity of the commodity. He said the local varieties of rice were being grown in the AJK, the Fata and the Northern Areas.

He said rice may be available for export during the current financial year after meeting the domestic requirement of about 3.5 million tons.To another question raised by Senator Talha, Gondal said animal health infrastructure in the country had been developed to cater to the needs of veterinary services.

 

[Neo]

IMF’s decision on Pakistan package next month​

WASHINGTON, Oct 24: The International Monetary Fund will consider a rescue package for Pakistan on Nov 7 during a meeting of its board of governors in Washington.

Diplomatic sources in the US capital say the Fund has agreed in principle to help Pakistan avoid defaulting on its foreign debt repayments but a final decision can only be taken by its governors.

The IMF has estimated that Pakistan has unmet funding needs of around $4 billion and needs some extra cash to meet its other urgent requirements. The Fund is willing to provide up to $6 billion.

On Thursday, Finance Adviser Shaukat Tareen told reporters that Pakistan needed up to $4.5 billion within the next 15 to 30 days to avoid a default.

If IMF’s board of governors approves a rescue package for Pakistan on Nov 7, the country can meet its balance of payment requirements on time but this may not be enough to jumpstart its ailing economy.

Pakistani officials believe that IMF’s endorsement will not only bring the much-needed cash advance but will also encourage other donors to come forward and help.

But a credit-rating company, Standard & Poor’s, warned on Thursday that the IMF bailout package might not be enough to save Pakistan from further credit-rating cuts.

“It doesn’t mean they are out of the woods,” said Agost Benard, a Singapore-based associate director at S&P, which cut Pakistan’s debt rating on Oct 6 to CCC+, seven levels below investment grade. “It’s just the first step in the right direction, or the only direction Pakistan has to go now.”

 

[Neo]

French envoy asks govt to work for GSP+, FTA ​

KARACHI, Oct 24: Danel Jouanneu, Ambassador-designate of France, has advised the government to take up the matter of Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) Plus with the European Union (EU) vigorously so that Pakistan exports could be exempted from customs duty from January 1, 2009.Speaking at a dinner organised by Pakistan Bedwear Exporters Association (PBEA) here on Thursday, the French envoy suggested that Pakistan should also work on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the EU to overcome its economic crisis.

He said presently there was a lack of confidence between Pakistan and the West and this needed to be overcome by adopting other methods to extend financial assistance to pull the country from financial crisis.

Mr Danel said his country, which presently holds the chairmanship of the EU, would assist Pakistan in getting GSP Plus which would give Pakistan exports duty-free access to EU member states.

The envoy said that the previous government worked hard for getting GSP plus but the link had been broken after a political turmoil engulfed the country for over a year. “Therefore, the present government should immediately take up the matter for duty-free market access with the EU,” he suggested.

PBEA Chairman Shabir Ahmed said that in 2001 the EU had offered Pakistan duty-free market access which helped it to generate employment and also enhance export earnings.

He said the business community would like to have duty-free market access which would help to jumpstart the economy and generate employment. “The cost of production is much higher than the regional countries rendering our exports uncompetitive on world markets,” he added.

 

[Neo]

Foreign exchange saving drive: Govt plans to boost local tea production to reduce import bill​

ISLAMABAD: To save the precious foreign exchange being spent on the import of tea, the government has initiated a scheme ‘Commercialisation of Tea Production through Public Private Partnership’ worth Rs 5.272 billion on commercial scale.

This programme will be implemented in the tea growing areas of NWFP and AJK with the help of private sector. Official in the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) told Daily Times that after completing the project in 2011, the country would be produce about 1000 kilogram tea per acre per annum. According to the officials about 4200 acres of land would be brought under tea production.

The officials said that the country has a long tradition in tea consumption, which has become an integral part of the social life. The per capita consumption of tea is 1 kg. All the tea consumed in the country is being imported. Last year the government imported approx 102,000 metric tonnes of black tea with the total cost of Rs 13.73 billion and 1,260 metric tonnes of green tea with total cost of Rs 104 million. Pakistan imports its black tea from 21 different tea-producing countries with the major share of 63 percent from Kenya. Green tea is imported from China, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Keeping in view the heavy drain of precious foreign exchange the GoP started tea cultivation in the northern parts of NWFP in districts Mansehra, Battagaram and Swat. Simultaneously, the private sector and the provincial Tea Development cell of NWFP also started tea plantation on the farmers’ land in small pockets. For processing the black tea from the raw material obtained from tea gardens at the NTRI and farmers’ filed, a processing plant with the capacity of one tonne made tea per day was procured form China and installed at the NTRI during the year 2001.

During the same year the private sector Lever Brother (Pvt) Ltd, also procured the black tea processing plant with the capacity of one tonne tea per day. A pilot green tea plant with the capacity of 100 kg made tea was installed with the financial assistance of the Pakistan Science Foundation, Islamabad at NTRI, Shinkiari. Similarly, a pilot green tea processing plant of 50 kg capacity was installed for Tea Development Cell, NWFP at Matta Swat.

The successful plantation has been demonstrated, its yield potential and quality have been assessed to be economically viable and finally a production package has been evolved by the long efforts of scientists.

Tea is the world’s most popular beverage due to its palatability, comparative cheapness and other beneficial effect. Such as a source of dietary water, stimulatory effect on central nervous system causing pleasure with increased capacity for sustained intellectual efforts, more rapid flow of thoughts and ideas accompanied with reduction in fatigue. Tea plant originally from South East China, gradually expanded to India, Srilanka and further into tropical and sub-tropical countries.

The project aims at development of tea production as part of diversification to high value agriculture and increase in agriculture development in the remote region of NWFP and AJK according to their specific comparative advantages. The project also helped in creation of economic opportunities in the mountain areas and alleviation of poverty in remote areas.

 

[Neo]

Pakistan, US sign $339m agreements​

By Sajid Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States on Friday signed six amendments worth $339.1 million for the year 2008-09 under the existing Strategic Objective Agreements (SOGA) for education, economic growth, governance, health and population welfare, earthquake reconstruction programme and FATA development programme.

USAID Pakistan Director Anne Aarnes and Economic Affairs Secretary Farrukh Qayyum signed the SOGA amendments on behalf of their respective governments, while Adviser on Finance Shaukat Tareen, USAID acting Deputy Administrator James Kunder and US embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Gerald Feierstein signed the agreements as witnesses. The US has committed to provide $128.9 million for the Education Sector Support Programme. This contribution would strengthen and improve basic education and higher education programme. Financial assistance under the head of governance to the tune of $23.2 million would be spent for improving the judicial system, civil participation and media freedom, the electoral process and the decentralisation programme.

The $76.5 million allocated for health and population welfare would ensure the improvement of reproductive health, combating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, increasing maternal and child health and water supply and sanitation in Pakistan. Financial assistance under economic growth, amounting to $43.5 million, would help stabilise the economy in fields such as trade and investment, infrastructure, agriculture, private sector competitiveness and strengthening of micro-enterprises productivity. The US would provide $48.5 million for the Earthquake Reconstruction Programme.

 

[Neo]

Gilani calls upon Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan in a big way​

BEIJING (October 25 2008): Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday urged the Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan in a big way, strengthening the bonds of ever-lasting Sino-Pak friendship through economic diplomacy.

Addressing the Chief Executives of the top Chinese corporate sector at the State Guest House, he said his country provides immense opportunities to the foreign entrepreneurs, especially those from China to establish joint partnership and undertaking profitable business.

There is very favourable business environment in Pakistan, he said while inviting the Chinese side to visit Pakistan. He said he feels honoured to be in China on his second visit in less than three months. The visits, he said, have provided him an opportunity to meet prominent Chinese businessmen. In Pakistan, the Prime Minister said we have always admired Chinese skills and felt comfortable working with them.

"New generation of Pakistani entrepreneurs is keen to take Pakistan to a higher platform of performance in business and industry and feels pleasure to work in joint ventures with their foreign friends," he added. Gilani said that despite all the changes at international horizon, the two countries have remained steadfast in their solidarity.

He particularly mentioned the role played by former prime ministers Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto in laying the foundation and strengthening the all weather China-Pakistan friendship. The Prime Minister pointed out that today we have a sound architecture in place for developing and strengthening strategic political, economic, commercial, scientific, technological and cultural relations between our two countries.

The Free Trade Agreement in Goods and Investment came into effect in July this year, the Prime Minister said, adding that both the countries have made good headway in negotiations on FTA in trade and services. We are likely to sign it by the end of this year.

The Joint Five-Year Programme, for Trade and Economic Co-operation, signed by the two sides, gives us an elaborate roadmap for tangible targets. The government has decided to mobilise its resources for the speedy implementation of the Five-Year Plan.

This is why it has established an inter-ministerial task force, headed by the President to monitor progress of the projects initiated under the programme. We have a Joint Investment Company (JIC) with paid up capital of $200 million. This company will act as a bridge for Chinese investors coming to Pakistan and play a lead role in launching economic projects.

We have designated the target of $15 billion for our bilateral trade by 2011. If we work harder, we can meet this ambitious target before 2011. The Prime Minister said: "as we go forward, we have to move into the new sectors for investment, joint ventures and marketing.

Pakistan's cement industry, he said for instance is witnessing a boom. Its production and sales are poised to grow further, as the demand in Pakistan and our neighbourhood increases, because of anticipated growth and construction of houses, infrastructure and industrial estates. China and Pakistan can deepen their co-operation in this sector, he noted. He said that Pakistan realises that we will have to expand production of steel fast. Our present capacity of steel manufacturing has to increase; therefore we are planning to set up new plants.

The Prime Minister invited leading Chinese enterprises with proven competence to step in. He pointed out that Pakistan's fast growing economy has huge energy requirements. Our energy demand is expected to increase from present 18,000 MW to more than 160,000 MW by 2030.

He in this connection also invited Chinese companies to invest in the growing economy and become partners in achieving these goals. Pakistan has the world's second largest reserves in coal; the Prime Minister said and added that we need to produce more than 20,000 MW energy from coal in the next 20 year. We need Chinese expertise and technology to turn this reservoir into energy.

He said that the joint collaborative projects in agriculture, food production and food processing sectors will lead to enhanced trade between the two countries. In terms of connectivity, the Prime Minister said Pakistan has to conquer new frontiers. Karakoram Highway is a monument to Pakistan-China friendship, ingenuity and industriousness.

"We can link China and Pakistan by railways, by optic-fiber, by oil and gas pipelines and by building trans-boarder economic zones, along the Karakoram Highway", he noted. This trans-border co-operation can soon morph into trans-regional project co-operation among China, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The time is ripe to encourage Chinese banks and financial institutions to establish their presence in Pakistan, Prime Minister Gilani said.

The Prime Minister said that he knows that the Chinese banks are keen to support the Pakistan-China Joint Investment Company. Pakistan would contribute directly, to the construction of the facilities of JIC. He said that the fundamentals and macroeconomic basis of our economy are being steered in the right direction.

The Prime Minister said that his party has formed the new government as a particularly perilous time for our economy. But we are optimistic that we will overcome these. This year's budget has set out a series of incentives to spur growth in agriculture and manufacturing sectors, he said. Our GDP has doubled to US $170 billion, our resilient population with a rich agriculture base and sufficient natural resources will support an economical revival.

Geographical proximity of China and Pakistan, the exceptionally close political relations between them and Pakistan's location as a bridge between several geographical regions, create a natural interface between our two countries for friendship for transactions, for commerce and for joint undertaking. 'All the doors open warmly as you step into Pakistan's homes, offices and business," the Prime Minister said.

 

[Neo]

Saudi Arabia to support Pakistan in all economic sectors​

ISLAMABAD (October 25 2008): Ambassador of Saudi Arabia Ali Saeed Mohammad al-Awad Assery has said that the government of Saudi Arabia is ready to support Pakistan in all sectors of the economy.

During a meeting with Dr Fehmida Mirza, Speaker National Assembly on Friday, the Ambassador stressed the need for spreading the true message of Islam through placing appropriate people on the pulpit for curbing extremism from the Muslim World.

The Saudi Ambassador also handed over a letter from Imam-e-Kabah Dr Saleh Bin Abdullah in which Imam-e-Kabah condemned the Islamabad explosion on his behalf and on behalf of the Members of Shura Council of Saudi Arabia. The Imam-e-Kabah Dr Saleh Bin Abdullah Bin Humaid expressed his sympathies for the affected families and prayed for the departed souls.

While talking to the Ambassador at the Parliament House, Dr Fehmida Mirza said that Saudi Arabia has always supported Pakistan in difficult times and is also expected to play a leading role in the Group of Friends. She said that new government was facing many challenges, which could be overcome with the support of friendly countries like Saudi Arabia.

She said that the adoption of unanimous resolution by all political parties on the issues of national security and curbing terrorism was a landmark achievement of the Parliament and has sent a clear message to all that the whole nation was united on issues of national importance. She said that the resolution in fact envisages change in the course of history. The Speaker said that stable and strong Pakistan was necessary for stability of the region. She said that Pakistan was pursuing a multi-pronged policy including dialogue, development and determination to end terrorism and extremism from the country. The Speaker informed the Ambassador that the Speaker's Relief Fund for the internally displaced people of Bajaur and Fata has been established to provide them relief and rehabilitation. The Speaker further informed that the fund was established with the consent of the House and a committee comprising parliamentarians was formed to oversee and handle the relief work.

 

[Neo]

'Great potential to boost economic ties between Pakistan and Canada'​

ISLAMABAD (October 25 2008): Pakistan and Canada need to reinforce their bilateral economic relationship, specially trade and commercial exchanges for which there is a great potential, High Commissioner to Canada, Musa Javed Chohan said while addressing the ambassador's roundtable organised by the prestigious institution the Norman Patterson School for International Affairs at the Carleton University in Ottawa.

Chohan said that with a population of approximately 165 million people, Pakistan offers an attractive and huge market for Canadian exports and investments. "Foreign investment is critical to our endeavours to maintain our economic growth rate of 7 percent so necessary to meet the requirements of our burgeoning population," he added.

Highlighting Pakistan's contributions in the war against terrorism, Chohan said Pakistan was fighting the war against terrorism in its national interest and making every possible effort to eliminate this scourge from the globe. He said peace, stability and security in Afghanistan were crucial for Pakistan. Without stability in Afghanistan there cannot be stability in Pakistan.

Pakistan was providing $300 million for Afghanistan's reconstruction, besides offering 1000 scholarships for training of Afghan cadres. He said Pakistan was following a policy of constructive engagement with the Karzai government. Pakistan has deployed 100,000 troops to fight terrorism, which is more than the collective presence of international troops, deployed across Afghanistan.

Chohan said there were institutional frameworks available for co-ordinating military actions in Afghanistan such as the Tripartite Military Commission. As far as Pakistan was concerned, it will continue its efforts to eradicate the menace of terrorism and extremism, which affects the fabric of body politics. Chohan appreciated the sacrifices made by Canada in the war against terrorism. He said Canadian involvement and troops presence in Afghanistan added another perspective to Pakistan-Canada relations.

He said Pakistan was firm in its commitments to Afghanistan and hoped that other nations involved were equal in their resolve. Talking of bilateral relations, he said there was a strong political will at the highest level to further strengthen and broaden Canada-Pakistan relationship. The function was attended by Canadian Academia, intelligentsia and media persons.

 

[Neo]

Grants for social sector areas: Pakistan and US sign $339 million agreements​

ISLAMABAD (October 25 2008): Pakistan and USA on Friday signed agreements, worth $339.10 million, on strategic objective grant to be spent in areas of economic growth, education, governance, health, population welfare, earthquake reconstruction programme and Fata development programme during fiscal year 2008-09.

Under the strategic objective grant agreements, for Education Sector Support Programme US Government has committed to provide $128.9 million. This contribution will strengthen and improve basic education and higher education programme. It will further enhance the need and merit-based scholarships programme with the collaboration of Pakistan Higher Education Commission.

The financial assistance under Governance to the tune of $23.2 million will be spent for improvement of justice system, civil participation and media freedom, improvement in electoral process and decentralisation programme. Similarly, the amount allocated for Health & Population Welfare of $76.5 million will ensure improvement of reproductive hea1th, HIV Aids, tuberculosis, maternal and child health and water supply & sanitation in different parts of the country.

The financial assistance under economic growth amounting to $43.5 million will ensure the economic stability in the areas such as trade & investment, infrastructure, agriculture, private sector competitiveness and strengthening of micro enterprises productivity.

Under Earthquake Reconstruction Programme the Government of United States has committed to provide $48.5 million. The said contribution will further enhance the technical assistance & capacity building in the affected areas and will also be utilised for construction and procurement.

In September 2007, US Government had approved huge package assistance for Fata Development amounting to $750.0 million over a period of five years (2007-2012). Last year, US Government provided $73.0 million under this programme, whereas now $20.5 million will be disbursed during the year 2008-09. The funds under this programme would be utilised for capacity building of Fata Secretariat and other government institutions for service delivery, good governance, infrastructure, economic growth, micro enterprises development, health arid education.

Earlier, Anne Aarnes, Director, USAID/Pakistan and Farrukh Qayyum, Secretary, Economic Affairs Division, signed these SOGA Amendments on behalf of their respective governments, whereas James Kunder, Acting Deputy Administrator of USAID, Gerald Feierstein, Deputy Chief of Mission, US Embassy, Islamabad and Shaukat Tarin, Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs signed the agreements as witnesses.