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pAkIStAN’S FIrSt INDepth NewSpAper oN cuStoMS

Daily

Vol 1 Issue No. 168

Karachi, Thu August 27, 2015

ISLAMABAD

M FAIZAN

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ederal Board of Revenue (FBR) Inland Revenue Policy Member Shahid Hussain Asad has urged all Pield formation ofPices to take stern action against tax evaders.

Talking to Customs Today, Asad said that the third party informa-

tion system will be strengthened in order to increase tax collection from the potential taxpayers and others.

He added that the department would provide full protection to the well-wishers (informers) as there was a law in this regard in Pinance bill which is in effect. He said that the FBR is taking measures to make third party information system more functional, as in the past not proper attention

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was given to this aspect by the department which was a loophole.

Sharing the priorities which were set by department for running Piscal year with Customs Today, he said that “our priorities are to enhance tax base and revenue collection, besides developing a documented economy of Pakistan.”

Asad said that people have been misusing the exemptions given by FBR instead of paying taxes honestly.

Ex-collector Muhammad Saleem to be assigned task at Customs

19 Customs Liaison B order Committee meets in Amritsar

21,000MW electricity to be added in national grid by Dec 2016: Ali

Hyderabad ASO seizes 60,000 litres of smuggled diesel, oil tanker

KPCCI hails govt for establishing Expo Centre in Peshawar

The FBR has decided to assign the post of director to recently transferred | See pAge 02 |

In order to expedite bilateral trade activities between Pakistan and India | See pAge 03 |

State Minister for Water Sher Ali Tuesday informed the Functional Committee | See pAge 04 |

The Customs ASO confiscated 60,000 litres of smuggled Iranian diesel | See pAge 03 |

KPCCI appreciated the federal government decision for giving approval | See pAge 09 |

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PKR further weakens to reach 104.75 against dollar Thursday, August 27, 2015

National

KARACHI: The Pakistani currency Wednesday remained under pressure against the US dollar in cash-free markets.

According to the local currency market, the greenback gained another 10 pasias to reach 104.75 in open market, however, it lost 30 paisas in interbank to be traded at 103.80. On Tuesday, the US dollar gained 40 paisas in open market to reach 104.65 mark. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) bank has directed banks to immediately curb artificial shortage of dollar in the interbank market.

19 customs Liaison Border committee meets in Amritsar

KARACHI

LAHORE

AFtAB chANNA

M hAYAt

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he Model Customs Collectorate-MCC Preventive held an auction of precious stones on Tuesday at SWH Custom House/ Ghasbandar ASO Store.

The auction of precious stones included synthetic stones, tartuies/imitation jewelry, plastic pearls/synthetic stones, plastic broken jewelry, ruby precious stone rough, tambel sami stone, artificial zarghon, glass beads synthetic, natural pearls, agate Feroza, pearl small, emerald cheap quality, rice pearls, zirghon, amithist sami P stone, plastic beeds, synthetic stone assorted, zarghom mix colour, D mobi pearls, quartz rough sami precious stones, sami precious stones, golden stone immitastion, smoky tapaz sami precious stone, tiger eye rough and tarquies stones.

The sources told Customs Today that the auction received thin response from the bidders as they showed least interest in almost all the auction process. The minimum prices of the cargo are higher than the actual prices that is the reason the bidders are avoiding to take part in the process, sources added.

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n order to expedite bilateral trade activities between Pakistan and India through Wagha border, the customs authorities of both sides will propose to their respective governments to establish IT based data transfer system between the two countries.

The proposal came under discussion during the 19th Customs Liaison Border Committee (CLBC) meeting between both sides of the borders and will be implemented if it is approved by Islamabad and New Delhi. Both the customs authorities will take up the proposal with their respective governments and will await its approval.

The CLBC is held after every two and a half month between Customs authorities in Lahore and Amritsar to discuss and streamline issues and concerns related to trade via Wagha border. Earlier, a delegation of Indian customs under the supervision of Indian Customs Principal Commissioner Sunil Kumar Sahani held a meeting with Pakistan Customs authorities at Customs House Lahore.

The 19th CLBC was held in Indian city of Amritsar and Pakistan customs’ delegation under the supervision of chief collector of customs Rozi Khan Burki met Indian

Customs Preventive holds auction of precious stones with almost no response

Customs authorities. The delegation was comprising of Collector of Customs Mukarram Jah Ansari, Wagha Additional Collector of Customs Sadia Munib, Deputy Collector Ammara Durrani and others.

Collector of Customs Lahore Preventive Mukarram Jah Ansari told Customs Today besides the proposal of evolving data exchange system of tradable goods and articles a number of major issues were also discussed.

The Indian Customs acknowledged and lauded efforts of Pakistan Customs in arresting issues pertaining to smuggling of narcotics and trans-

portation of Indian currency to the country through passengers while Pakistani customs ofPicers lauded Indian customs measures against betel leaves smuggling and vegetable fumigation related issues. He told this scribe that the Indian customs authorities had complained of narcotics smuggling from Lahore to Amritsar in mechanical parts of trains. However, the Indian customs authorities have acknowledged that within the last two and a half months the narcotics smuggling has almost Pinished.

“We took up the issues with the Railways authorities which resulted in

95 percent reduction in the complaints and the Indian customs authorities welcomed the results,” he added. Mukarram pointed out that foreigners are not allowed to take with them more than Rs 2,000 Indian currency. “ The Indian Customs authorities had sought Pakistani Customs cooperation in resolving the issue. We extended our full corporation initiating a move by educating passengers leaving for India and the drive resulted in 95 percent reduction of such complaints of Pakistani passengers carrying Indian currency more than Rs 2000.

Ex-collector Saleem to be assigned task at Customs Intelligence ISLAMABAD

M FAIZAN

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he Federal Board of Revenue has decided to assign the post of director to recently transferred Collector Appraisement-West Karchi, Muhammad Saleem here at Directorate General of Customs Investigation and Intelligence Head-

quarters Islamabad. Sources said that the FBR would issue a notiPication in this regard during current week.

Muhammad Saleem is considered an honest person in the FBR and he is assigned task on merit. As collector in Karachi, he showed outstanding performance. The sources added that Saleem met with FBR Chairman Tariq Bajwa here at headquarter. During the meeting, Bajwa said that appointment of Muhammad Saleem as director in DG Intelligence will enhance the efPiciency of the department.

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SHC moved to de-block NTN, WeBOC ID KARACHI: The wife of Moazzam Ali Khan, a prime suspect in a murder case, has approached the Sindh High Court (SHC), seeking de-blocking national tax number (NTN) and Web Based One Customs (WeBOC) User ID of Comnet Enterprise.

Sadia Bano, wife of Khan, submitted that the NTN of the Comnet Enterprises, run by her spouse, was blocked due to which several shipments, which were lying at the Air Fright Unit (AFU) of the Jinnah International Airport, were not being released. She said the company had paid all custom duties but despite that the consignments have been detained, causing huge loss to the company.

ptBA elections 2015 will be held on September 5 MULTAN

IMrAN ALI

Thursday August 27, 2015

National

hyderabad ASo seizes 60,000 litres of smuggled diesel, oil tanker

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he Pakistan Tax Bar Association has announced the schedule for holding elections 2015.

As per details, election schedule for the year 2015 of the Pakistan Tax Bar Association has been announced for selecting their representative through vote. During elections, the tax lawyers from all over the country will use their right to vote.

Former president Multan Tax Bar Association Younas Ghazi is contesting the election for the spot of president Pakistan Tax Bar Association in the upcoming elections 2015.

Younas Ghazi is contesting against the former president of Lahore Tax Bar Association Mohsin Nadeem.

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rto-I extends contracts of four employees LAHORE

MuhAMMAD NAwAZ www.customsbulletin.com

he Regional Tax Office-I has extended the contract period of employees who are appointed on the contract basis under Prime Minister Assistance Package.

The extension period notification has been issued by the Additional Commissioner headquarters after the final approval of the competent authority of the Regional Tax Office Lahore.

The employees whose contract period has been expired on certain date include Fahad Ali Nasir lower division clerk, Tauseef Ahmed naib qasid, Asif Shehzad naib qasid will and Mohsin Ali.All four employees are working in Regional Tax Office Lahore from last one year and now after the end of contract period the RTO-I extended the contract of their services.

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HYDERABAD

ASLAM QureShI

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he Customs Anti-Smuggling Organisation (ASO) here Tuesday conPiscated 60,000 litres of smuggled Iranian diesel and tanker worth Rs 13.6 million.

As per details, Additional Collector Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Hyderabad, Omer shaPique, received information regarding the smuggling of Iranian diesel. Following the information, the additional collector formed a team comprising Inspector Khair Mohammad Pathan, ShaPi Jamali, Waqar Ahmed Baig and other to foil the smuggling bid.

ASO team intercepted the oil tanker bearing Registration No. TLZ-298 near Tool Plaza at superhighway, Hyderabad and recovered smuggled diesel which was being transported from Karachi to Lahore.

The ASO team conPiscated the diesel, besides impounding the truck under the prevailing customs law. The case has been registered against the accused, while further investigation is underway in this regard.

Meanwhile, The Customs AntiSmuggling Organisation Hyderabad has impounded a non-duty paid vehicle, Toyota Hilux Vigo worth Rs 2 million.

As per details, the ASO team, following tip-off received through Additional Collector Model Customs Collectorate Hyderabad Omer ShaPique, conducted a raid to seize

the smuggled vehicle.

The ASO team intercepted the vehicle near Qasimabad area of Hyderabad and asked the driver to produce the documents showing the legal possession and import of the vehicle. But the driver could not show any documents. Therefore, the customs ofPicials impounded the vehicle considering it a smuggled one under the prevailing customs laws.

Meanwhile, The Customs AntiSmuggling Organization (ASO) Hyderabad has seized 520 kilogram of

smuggled gutka with Suzuki pickup worth Rs 1.3 million during an action. The Anti-Smuggling Organiza-

Smuggled diesel was being transported from karachi to Lahore, case registered against accused under prevailing customs laws

Qasim Zia approaches LHC; files bail application

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Former Pakistan Hockey Federation chairman and PPP leader Qasim Zia has Piled a bail plea in the Lahore High Court on Tuesday.

The bail plea of former PPP Punjab president Qasim Zia,

who was apprehended in corruption case, has been submitted in the Lahore High Court. According to details, Barrister Ali Zafar has Piled the bail petition stating that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has named his client in a false

case. He said that NAB was unable to collect evidence against Qasim Zia despite getting a 16day physical remand.

Earlier, the accused was presented before the NAB court during which the investigation ofPicers.

tion has seized smuggled Gutka with Suzuki pickup in Hyderabad.

Following the instruction of Hyderabad Customs Collector Dr. Mr Ahmed Mujtaba Memon, an ASO team under the supervision of Additional Collector Omer ShaPique conducted action to fail the smuggling bid in the region.

ASO team intercepted a vehicle at Jamshoro Road, Hyderbad following credible information and recovered smuggled gutka from the vehicle.

govt urged to address issues of SMe sector rominent practitioners and stakeholders of the SME sector of the country have urged the government to address issues pertaining to the serious decline of the SME sector in Pakistan, considering its bleak performance in the current fiscal year. The concerns were raised at the 9th Pakistan SME Forum 2015. Dr. Saeed Ahmad, Deputy Director, State Bank of Pakistan while addressing the inaugural session said.

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Rehabilitation, repair of 177 locomotives under way ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Railways is carrying out rehabilitation and special repair of 177 locomotives through Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) at a cost of Rs 11.289 billion. The repair of non-operational locomotives will improve their reliability and performance and ultimately help the organization generate revenue, said an official source on Tuesday. Meanwhile, 58 locomotives from China have arrived in the country. While tender for the procurement of 55 locomotives (4000-4500 HP) out of 75 locomotives is at an advance stage and will be decided in near future.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Business

Secp raises minimum paid-up capital requirements for insurance firms

KARACHI

KARACHI

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he Policy Board of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), approving an amendment to the SECP (Insurance) Rules 2002, has enhanced the minimum paid-up capital requirement for both nonlife and life insurance companies by Rs200 million.

A new Rule 9 has been inserted under which the baseline paid-up

NhA directed to expedite work on takht Bai project

capital requirement for non-life and life insurance companies has been prescribed as Rs500 million and Rs700 million, respectively.

Further, the amount of minimum paid-up capital will be net of any discount offered on issue of shares.

These new capital requirements will be applied in a phased manner and the existing insurance companies will be allowed a period of two years, until December 31, 2017, to meet the said requirement.

At the time of the enactment of the Insurance Ordinance, 2000, the minimum paid-up capital requirements for non-life and life insurance companies were Rs80 million

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he Senate Standing Committee on Communications Tuesday expressed displeasure over delay in completion of Takht Bai Bridge in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and directed National Highway Authority (NHA) to expedite construction work. The Senate body met here under the chairmanship of Senator Daud Khan Achakzai ann attended by other Senators Molana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri.

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ment’s ability to manage its Pinances. A chronic crisis in the power sector – made worse by poorly targeted subsidies – is also a major brake on growth. “The main challenge in Pakistan was to deliver higher, sustained and inclusive growth to cut poverty and create productive jobs for the growing labour force,” ADB Pakistan country director Werner Liepach said in a statement. The new programme, which runs until 2019, will target six sectors including energy, transport and public sector management, the ADB said. The funds will support improvements to highways and provincial roads.

chinese company keen to invest $50b in pakistan’s energy projects

ISLAMABAD

cuStoMS BuLLetIN report

and Rs150 million, respectively. In 2007, the paid-up capital requirements for non-life and life insurance companies were.

Meanwhile, With the aim to improve infrastructure and create jobs, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has okayed a new Pive-year loan package for Pakistan worth $1.2 billion annually. According to the ADB, Pakistan is on track to meet targets for cutting poverty. However, the Manila-based bank said that overall development was below potential and further institutional reforms were needed.

Tax collection in Pakistan is tiny, severely hampering the govern-

ISLAMABAD

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Chinese company has showed its interest to invest $50 billion in Pakistan’s energy sector.

The China Three Gorges Corporation is willing to invest in about eight hydroelectric power projects, out of which, 4,500 megawatts Diamer-Bhasha dam is

the biggest project, which will require an estimated $15 billion.

The projects were discussed during a meeting between a delegation of the Chinese company, led by its Chief Executive Qin Guo Bin, and Federal Minister of Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif.

China Three Gorges owns and operates the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric power project with a generation capacity of 22,500MW. Apart from Diamer-Bhasha, Bunji, Thakot, Munda and other

hydroelectric power projects with a capacity of 35,000MW came up for review.

As per the studies conducted by the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), Pakistan has the potential to produce up to 60,000MW of hydroelectric power. Of this, 40,000MW can be generated in a region called the Indus cascade, which begins in Skardu (Gilgit-Baltistan) and runs through to Tarbela, the site of Pakistan’s biggest dam in KhyberPakhtunkhwa. However, so far only 6,919MW has been tapped.

pakistan’s exports fall 21% to $1.59 billion in July cuStoMS BuLLetIN report akistan’s improved economic growth prospects are being nullified by official trade data as Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported on Friday that the country saw 21% decline in exports, widening trade deficit by 35% in July 2015.

Pakistan started new fiscal drearily as in the very first month of Fiscal Year 2015-16 (FY16), exports from Pakistan to the world fell by 21% to $1.59 billion in July 2015 as compared to $2.01 billion of corresponding month of previous fiscal while exports registered 17% decline over exports worth $1.92 billion in June.

Similarly, imports of goods in the country increased by 4.04% to $3.37 billion in July as against $4.39 billion of imports in June while due to lower international oil prices, Pakistan’s import bill dropped in July by 23.28%, as compared to $3.24 billion in July 2014. As a result, dwindling exports from Pakistan broadened country’s trade deficit in July 2015 (FY16) by 34.62% to $1.77 billion as compared to $1.31 billion in same period previous fiscal. Experts said it seems that the government has focused only to gain international lenders confidence by running positive statements in media while the actual figures.

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21,000MW electricity to be added to national grid by Dec 2016: Ali ISLAMABAD

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tate Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali Tuesday informed the Functional Committee on Less Developed Areas that 21,000 megawatt

additional electricity would be added in the national grid till December, 2016.

The meeting of Senate Functional committee held under the chairmanship of Senator Muhammad Usman Khan Kakar here at Parliament House.

The minister briefing the committee said citizens of the country were being

treated equally and there was no discrimination among them regarding distribution of electricity.

He said to resolve the issue of electricity shortage in Swat and Malakand, a 500 KV Grid Station would be established in Nowshera.

The minister said government always preferred to resolve the problems of backward areas including

Balochistan and provision of electricity to Balochistan was also priority of the ministry.

He also suggested for establishing a subcommittee on the Senate members of Balochistan which should help resolve electricity related problems of the people.

Accepting the suggestion of minister, the committee decided to hold next meeting of the Senate Functional Com-

mittee on Less Developed Areas in Quetta.

The committee member, Senator Jehanzeb Jamaldeni said people of Balochistan people were peaceful adding that some elements were against the prosperity of the province and giving negative impression of Balochistan.

The committee members Senator Robina Irfan said lo-

cal people should be given preference in security jobs.

Abid Sher Ali said Rs 103 billion were outstanding against the tube wells owners.

The committee meeting was attended by senators Nisar Mohammad, Mushahidullah Khan, Giyan Chand, Mir Kabeer, Jehanzeb Jamaldeni, Robina Irfan and Khalida Parveen.

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ederal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Tariq Bajwa has approved Rs 120 million for Pakistan Customs to purchase speed boats equipped with latest weapons to contain the menace of smuggling.

Talking to Customs Today, Chief Collector Enforcement-South Zahid Khokhar said presently, the Pakistan Customs has only one or two boats. However, the smugglers have the latest boats. “I have talked to Collector, Model Customs Collectorate-Preventive Syed Tariq Huda who has told me that the FBR chairman has approved Rs 120 million for the purchase of latest boats equipped with weapons.

The move will definitely help Customs control and hit at the smugglers,� the chief collector added. Moreover, despite all this, the Customs officials are performing their best to control the smuggling in the country particularly at the ports, Zahid Khokhar said.

The Maritime Security Agency, Pakistan Coast Guards and Pakistan Customs

have close coordination with each other against the smugglers and when they receive tip off against the smuggling of goods, narcotics we just react promptly.

Meanwhile, ISLAMABAD: The Board-inCouncil of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has granted permission to make an accord with Institute of Business Management (IBA) in order to launch an MBA programme in tax management.

The board meeting was chaired by FBR Chairman Tariq Bajwa to make consideration over the inception of the programme here at the FBR Headquarters Islamabad. The programme will start after signing the agreement.

Sharing his view on the occasion, the FBR chairman said that the launching of the programme will not only help the department overcome the shortage of staff but will also support broadening of tax base and enforcement of tax laws appropriately.

It is important to mention here that department will take undertaking from the participant of the tax management programme that they will serve the FBR or Government of Pakistan for five years after completion of the course.

Besides, council has also suggested de-

creasing the condition of 85 percent marks to 80 percent for getting admission in the programme.

However, council has also decided to send a copy of accord to Law ministry for review before engaging in an accord with IBA. Meanwhile, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Tariq Bajwa has urged the tax ofPicials to enforce the tax laws strictly in order to achieve the set revenue targets for the running Piscal year 2015-16. He stated this while addressing to the Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) Islamabad Chief Commissioner Raana Saeed and other ofPicers here at a meeting. He also appreciated the performance of the LTU during last year; besides emphasizing that it has potential to generate more revenue for national exchequer. Bajwa said that competent and honest ofPicials will be encouraged at every level but the menace of corruption will not be tolerated at any cost.

n ta FBr chairma ve pro Bajwa has ap ak or p 120 million f rc u customs to p equ speed boats p ea with latest w n e contain the m g smugglin

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ariq ed rs kistan chase uipped pons to nace of g.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

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Founder & Chairman Zulfiqar Ali Editor rahil Yasin editor@customsbulletin.com.pk For advertising & subscription marketing@customsbulletin.com.pk www.customsbulletin.com Phones: 042-35781643-4, Fax: 042-35781645 Address: 627, Siddiq Trade Centre, Gulberg, Lahore

eDItorIAL

hostility and economy

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he world is inching closer to cooperate in trade and investment, but Pakistan and India are going further apart with every passing day. Both the countries have failed to offload the burden of history, mistrust and hostilities and have never shied of showing the worst scenario of provocative diplomacy despite international pressure. On its part, Pakistan has always shown its readiness to negotiate with India despite illegal occupation of Kashmir and military intervention in the East Pakistan, inflicting irreparable loss on Pakistan. While on its part, India has adopted multi-prong strategies to harm the interests of Pakistan and isolate it from the rest of the world. It has never missed a chance to push our “brethren” Islamic country Afghanistan to harbor and implement every evil design against Pakistan. Indian Prime Minister Modi has recently signed a multi-billion dollar deal with another so-called brethren country, UAE, to improve infrastructure and launch development projects in India and is pouring and distributing dollars among its agents in Pakistan in the journalism, civil society and political elite. New Delhi now does not need to speak against Pakistan, as its agents are ready to serve its purpose on this land. As the members of fifth column, the Indian agent oppose the construction of Kalabagh Dam, fan insurgency in Balochistan and are involved in other anti-Pakistan activities.

In a recent development, Indian leaders are thumping their chests on the success of their “silent diplomacy” in isolating Pakistan within the 53-member Commonwealth that represents over 2.2 billion people by inviting the speaker of the occupied Jammu and Kashmir Assembly to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference. The conference was scheduled to be held in Islamabad from September 29 to October 8, but Commonwealth countries bowed to the Indian pressure and rejected Pakistan’s appeal to cancel the invitation. In this situation, Pakistan had no option, but to cancel the meeting. The commonwealth countries have revealed a bitter fact that principles of justice and fair play have little room in their dictionary. The government has taken a right decision on the right time.

Kashmir is an international issue and India should not be allowed to hide itself under the lopsided world diplomacy. At a time when various regions in the world are moving closer to form business and economic blocs, the Indian leadership is still living in fool’s paradise and wants a solo flight by ignoring important countries in the region like Pakistan and China.

pakistani stocks react to china’s slowdown woes LAHORE

Dr AFtAB AFZAL

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he Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) has gone down 4.1 percent or 1,419.4 points to settle at 33,100.34 points on the week’s first day of trading on Monday.

The panic selling at the KSE-100 index started as the world stock markets plunged after the China shares dived nearly nine percent and oil prices tumbled in the international market. The US stocks were on track to end the day with steep losses despite a striking comeback in a volatile day. This is almost the first time

the global sell-off which has gripped the local stock market and the same reaction is expected in days to come. According to experts, the KSE-100 Index is reacting in line with global share markets that have been experiencing bearish trends amidst concerns over the slowdown in the Chinese economy and political instability in Greece.

The world equity markets have lost more than $5 trillion in a three-day route, which is followed by the devaluation of currency by the Chinese government. In Karachi, small players are offloading their portfolios as foreign investors are selling their stocks to cover the losses they have incurred during the last few days. The foreign in-

vestors own nearly 30 percent of the $7 billion holdings of the Karachi Stock Exchange and domestic investors promptly reacted to the selling.

On the international market front, the Standard and Poor’s 500 index has been downed by four percent and has apparently landed in correction territory. As the US investors have started focusing on domestic issues, the CBOE Volatility Index shot over the 50 mark before dropping back to 36.

The Karachi Stock Exchange is emerging as an important player in the world financial arena, sharply reacting to variables of demand and supply as well as profit and loss. According to experts, the Chinese stocks have shown the worst

performance since the world experienced overall financial crisis in 2007 and the current situation has wiped out what was left of the gains in 2015. The Pakistani economy is resilient and has always emerged successful from the worst situations. The current losses in the stock market are a transit phase and the situation will go back to normal in the near future. The most pressing issue before the government at the moment is to arrest the falling prices of the Pakistani rupee as dollar has been gaining value day by day whereas it is losing strength in the face of world currency market. Fall of currency means fall of economy and the government must come to rescue the value of the Pakistani rupee.

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LCCI opposes increase in gas tariff LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Friday demanded of the government to avoid any increase in the gas tariff. “At present when economy is excelling and economic indicators are portraying an encouraging picture, increase in gas tariff would dash all efforts of the government.” In a statement issued here, the LCCI President Ijaz A. Mumtaz said that increase any increase in gas tariff would give a big blow to the trade and industry which is trying to supplement the government’s efforts aimed at economic revival despite various challenges. “Policy makers would have to keep it in their minds that gas is the basic raw material of the industry, increase in its prices would add to the miseries of Pakistani products in the international market”, Ijaz A. Mumtaz said.

LPGA urges government to bring down input cost of the local producers PG Association of Pakistan has demanded of the government to bring down the input cost of the local LPG producers who are suffering hard due to import and smuggling of adulterated and dangerous LPG. In a statement issued here Chairman of the LPG Association of Pakistan Farooq Iftikhar said that local producers of LPG are in deep trouble because of high input cost while adulterated and dangerous LPG is being smuggled and sold openly. Chairman LPGA said that LPG Association of Pakistan had for the last many months been calling on the concerned government circles to take measures for the promotion of alternate fuels like LPG that would certainly cut the burden on conventional fuel sector.

He urged the government to bring down the LPG producer’s price through a policy framework in line with LPG Policy. Farooq Iftikhar said that it was an ample proof of LPG Association of Pakistan’s commitment with the country.

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FPCCI chief calls for direct flights, Pakistani banks in Belarus elarus was an industrialized country located in the heart of Europe and Pakistan could achieve better access to this region by promoting trade with Belarus.

Acting President FPCCI Waseem Ahmed Vohra, in a meeting with Ambassador of Pakistan designated to Belarus Masood Ahmed Khan Raja here at FPCCI, said Pakistan desires to enhance trade with Belarus.

The current trade statistics do not reflect the true picture of the potential of both the countries, said statement issued by Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) here on Tuesday. Among others, Vice President FPCCI, Shahnawaz Ishtiaq, Farooq Afzal, Capt.

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Thursday August 27, 2015

Chambers

kpccI hails govt for establishing expo centre in peshawar PESHAWAR

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hyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KPCCI) appreciated the federal government decision for giving approval regarding establishment of Expo Centre in Peshawar. The centre will be established at cost of over Rs 2 billion.

For the project, seed money of Rs 500 million has been allocated in Public Sector Development Scheme (PSDP) by the federal government in the current Pinancial year 2015-16, this was revealed by KPCCI president Faud Ishaq while speaking at meeting of the chamber executive committee.

He urged the federal government for early initiation of work on the important scheme. Leader of Businessmen Forum, Senator Ilyas Ahmad Bilour, KPCCI vice presidents Engr Maqsood Anwar Pervez, and Haji Iqbal Afridi, former president

Afan Aziz, Ghazanfar Bilour, and members of the chamber executive committee were attended the meeting. During the meeting, the chamber vice president, and Chairman of

Finance Standing Committee Engr Maqsood Anwar presented the KPCCI budget for year 2015-16, which was unanimously approved by the house.

IccI honours football team for winning final in korea

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ISLAMABAD

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he Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has organized a ceremony in honour of Pakistan Under-13 Football team that won the Asian Youth Football Fiesta cup held in Korea from August 7 to 10, 2015 by beating Mongolia by 3-0 in the Pinal.

Dr M Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera Director General Pakistan Sports Board, Mohsin Ali, president of the Rawalpindi Islamabad Sports Journalists Association, Agha Amjadullah Deputy Director General Pakistan Sports Board, representatives of RISJA and a large number of business community was present on the occasion. Speaking at the occasion, Muzzamil Hussain Sabri, president

of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the whole nation is proud of the Under13 Football team that has won the Pinal of Asian Youth Football Fiesta. It shows that Pakistan has great talent in football and the government should provide maximum support and required facilities for the promotion of football in the country.

He stressed that government should allocate more funds to develop football stadiums in the country and give more focus to this sports so that Pakistan could make its mark at international level in the Pield of football. He assured that ICCI would extend all possible cooperation to Pakistan Sports Board and RISJA for the promotion of football in the region.

Dr. M. Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera, Director General, Pakistan Sports

Board announced Rs.25,000 cash prize for each player of Pakistan Under-13 Football team and thanked ICCI for holding ceremony to encourage the young football players.

He also appreciated the role of RISJA for its support to the Under-13 Football team due to which it achieved great success.

Mohsil Ali, President, Rawalpindi Islamabad Sports Journalists Association lauded the performance of young footballers and urged that government should patronize these youngsters so that they could achieve more successes for Pakistan in future. Shakeel Munir Senior Vice President, M. Ashfaq Hussain Chatha Vice President ICCI, Agha Amjadullah, Deputy Director General Pakistan Sports Board and others also paid tribute to the young footballers.

Faud Ishaq informed the participants about activities of the chamber during this tenure. He stated that KPCCI is taking proactive measures for resolution of problems of business community in the province. He extended special thanks to Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, Federal Minister for Commerce, Engr Khurram Dastgir, Federal Secretary Commerce Muhammad Shahzad Arbab for approval of funds regarding establishment of Expo Centre in Peshawar.

He said the Centre would play vital role for showcasing and promotion of locally manufacturing products at international market, besides would create job opportunities for many people.

Senator Ilyas Bilour while speaking on the occasion thanked the federal government for announcement of five year tax-holidays for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa businesses through the federal fiscal budget 2015-16. He expressed the hope that with exemption of turnover, income taxes, along with other incentives, would promote trade and industries in KP.

Govt urged to encourage SMEs to boost economy he government should take measures to help boost the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which has potential to develop economy with less investment. United International Group Chairman Mian Shahid said that SME is very important sector facing issues like branding, access to the markets, -commerce, online trading, research and financing which should be tackled at the earliest. He said that there are 3.2m registered SMEs in Pakistan with 40pc share in GDP and 46.5pc share in exports while countless are unregistered. Among the registered SMEs, 65 percent are in Punjab, 18 percent are in Sindh, 14 percent are in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 2 percent are operating in Balochistan.

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Dhaka Customs seizes drugs worth Tk20m at Shahjalal airport Thursday August 27, 2015

World

DHAKA: Customs officials at Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport have seized contraband medicine worth about Tk 20 million imported under a false declaration.

The medicine was found at the airport’s courier section on Sunday noon.

They were brought in under the guise of foodstuff, Shahiduzzaman Sarkar, Assistant Commissioner of Dhaka Customs House, told media.

“Around 22 types of life-saving medicine were brought from Turkey using a false address at Dhanmondi,” he added.

None could be arrested over the seizure.

Ireland customs seizes cigarettes, Malaysia’s gold jewellery exports drop alcohol at Dublin port by 20% this year T

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fPicers from Revenue’s Customs Service seized 35,000 cigarettes and 12.5kg of tobacco worth over €22,000 in retail value and 41 litres of alcohol worth over €1,000.

In an intelligence-led operation in the Moore Street area, ofPicers obtained a warrant and searched a house in Dublin’s north inner city.

They found 10,600 Marlboro, MG, BN and Eagle cigarettes and 8.5kg of Eastenders tobacco.

In a separate operation, over nearly 22,500 cigarettes were discovered along with 41 litres of alcohol at Dublin Port.

A Northern Irish-registered car that a Polish national was driving was also seized. He had been on a

Monsanto to raise Syngenta offer to about $47 billion onsanto Co. has made an increased takeover offer to Syngenta AG, seeking to draw the Swiss pesticide producer to the negotiating table after its earlier approach was rejected, according to people familiar with the matter.

The recent offer values Syngenta at about 470 Swiss francs per share in cash and stock, compared with the 449 francs the U.S. firm offered earlier this year, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private situation. That would translate to a market capitalization of about 43.7 billion francs ($47 billion), data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The proposal contains a higher proportion of cash than the prior bid, which envisioned a split of 45 percent cash to 55 percent Monsanto shares, the people said.

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ferry from Holyhead. In the third operation in Enniscorthy on Tuesday 18 August, ofPicers got a warrant to search a private house and found 1,940 counterfeit cigarettes and around 4kg of tobacco. The brands included Marlboro, L&M, West and Casa Blanca. A Polish man in his 40s was questioned and investigations

are continuing.

Meanwhile, In an intelligence-led operation in the Moore Street area, ofPicers obtained a warrant and searched a house in Dublin’s north inner city.

They found 10,600 Marlboro, MG, BN and Eagle cigarettes and 8.5kg of Eastenders tobacco.

Taiwan’s exports fall 11.9% YoY in July

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n a bid to boost Taiwan’s lackluster exports to Southeast Asia, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is encouraging Taiwanese companies to invest more in India and Indonesia, where domestic demand is promising.

Taiwan’s exports suffered an 11.9 percent year-on-year decline in July, dropping for the sixth consecutive month, while exports contracted 7.8 percent in the Pirst seven months of the year. In particular, Taiwan’s exports to the countries in the Association of

Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) dropped for the eighth consecutive month in July, registering an 18.9 percent year-on-year decrease. With the rise of the “red supply chain,” in which China is encouraging the use of locally made components, Taiwanese suppliers have been seeing decreasing orders despite their investments in China. In light of those factors, the MOEA said, it is hoping to create new export momentum by encouraging investments in other promising markets such as India and Indonesia.

he Penang Goldsmith Association (PGA) sees the value of Malaysia’s gold jewellery exports dropping by 20% this year from the RM6.82bil last year, which is higher than the 10% drop in sales it had forecast in April.

PGA adviser Joeson Khor told StarBiz that small and mediumsized gold jewellery manufacturers and exporters would have to fork out between RM700,000 and RM1mil in goods and services tax (GST) to import the gold bars used to make the jewellery products.

“A smaller-sized company would need to spend between RM100,000 and RM200,000 to import the gold bars. “This has impacted the small and medium enterprise gold manufacturers’ capability to export and stay competitive in the market, which will inPluence the volume and value of gold jewellery products exported. “About 80% of the gold jewellery products exported from Malaysia come from Penang-based gold jewellery manufacturers and exporters,” Khor said.

Khor said the price of gold was

currently hovering around US$1,119 per ounce, which was close to the cost of producing an ounce of gold.

The cost of producing an ounce of gold is now about US$1,070.

“We project the price to Pluctuate between US$1,200 and US$1,300 per ounce.

“We don’t think it will drop further because the current gold price is very close to the actual cost of producing an ounce of gold bar,” Khor added. Currently, only large gold jewellery manufacturers with an RM25mil annual turnover are eligible to register with the Finance Ministry’s jewellery schemes permitting them to import gold bars.

Since April 1, gold jewellery manufacturers have to register for the Approved Jewellers Scheme, Approved Traders Scheme, or Approved Traders and Manufacturers Scheme to import gold bars. The registration also allows the gold jewellery manufacturer to obtain a bank guarantee for the GST payment for the gold bars imported, and to claim back the 6% input tax payment.

hong kong customs seizes 760g of suspected liquid cocaine

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ustoms ofPicers seized 760 grams of suspected liquid cocaine being smuggled in massage oil bottles inside a parcel sent form Brazil to Hong Kong.

The parcel, which declared it contained massage oil, was inspected by a customs ofPicer at the airport when he discovered the drugs, worth about HKD800,000.

Upon a follow-up investigation, a

32-year-old man, who was probably expecting a nice package from a postman rather than handcuffs, was arrested in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The suspect, who claims to be a “businessman”, was charged with one count of trafPicking in a dangerous drug and will appear at Tsuen Wan Magistrates’ Courts today. Drug trafPicking can be punished by life in prison and a Pine of HKD5 million.

Dubai crude trade: exports to Asia hit record in August

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he number of cargoes traded during a pricing process for Middle East crude exports to Asia hit an all-time high in August after Chinaoil snapped up another four cargoes on Friday, traders said.

Trades during the Platts Dubai Market on Close (Moc) process led to the delivery of 58 October-loading cargoes this month, exceeding the previous high of 55 June-loading cargoes traded in April, they said.

Chinaoil, the trading arm of PetroChina Co Ltd, bought 55 cargoes this month, while Swiss trading company Mercuria purchased

three.

Meanwhile, Kia Motors is celebrating the global export of its ‘15 millionth vehicle’, with the milestone car, an all-new Sorento shipped to Al Majid Motors Company, the sole distributor of Kia vehicles in the UAE. Kia achieved its previous landmark Pigure of ‘10 million overseas

vehicle exports’ in March 2011, the latest achievement having taken only four-and-a-half years to increase exports by a further 50 per cent, said a statement from Kia. The past decade has seen rapid growth expansion for Kia Motors globally, as the earlier Pive million overseas export vehicle Pigure taking 30 years to reach, it added.

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Port of Oakland to resolve labour shortage for terminal operations OAKLAND: The Port of Oakland wants Saturday operations at its marine terminals, but first a labour shortage that has slowed vessel loading operations must be resolved, and the fee to fund Saturday operations must be reasonable and used exclusively for those operations, the Port’s Executive Director Chris Lytle said in a letter to the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission.

Lytle’s letter was in response to plans by Oakland marine terminal operators to open their gates on Saturdays. The proposal, currently under Commission review, could ease weekday terminal crowding by adding a sixth day of work.

white goods shipments in Japan rise by 7.1 percent in July 2015 hite goods shipments in Japan rose 7.1 percent in July from a year earlier to ¥242.2 billion, up for the third month in a row, an industry group said Tuesday.

The shipments, which include air conditioners, held firm thanks to higher temperatures in Japan in mid-July and later, according to the Japan Electrical Manufactures’ Association. A drop in the shipments a year before due to the April 2014 consumption tax hike also helped boost the increase for the month, according to the association.

However, the shipment value was down 9.9 percent from the level in July 2013. The latest level was almost the same as the average in the past decade, a JEMA official said. Shipments of air conditioners increased 0.2 percent to ¥107.7 billion. Shipments were up 7.1 percent to ¥46.2 billion for refrigerators and 16.3 percent.

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Maersk’s Svitzer plans to secure foothold in AMEA aersk’s towage specialist Svitzer is planning to secure greater foothold in two strategic markets in Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) and Americas, the company said.Both regions are of smaller weight in Svitzer’s portfolio, but have substantial growth opportunities. The AMEA region today covers a huge geographical area from the Russia Pacific Coast to West Africa.

“We have therefore decided, from October 1, to create two focused regions covering this area: MEA – covering Middle East and Africa including the Indian Subcontinent and Sri Lanka, and Asia – covering Bangladesh in the West to Japan in the East and Russia in the North to Indonesia in the South,” the company said in an announcement. ” Our strategic objective is to accelerate growth outside Europe and Australia.

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Ports & Shipping

Thursday August 27, 2015

Diana shipping announces time charter contract with transgrain for m/v Alcyon

HONG KONG

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outh Carolina Ports Authority reported 2015 fiscal year-end operating earnings of USD 30.4 million and revenues of USD 196.8 million, significant increases over the previous year’s financial performance.

From July through June, SCPA more than doubled its previous fiscal year’s operating earnings of USD 14.3 million, while operating revenues increased 20 percent over FY2014 revenues of USD 32.6 million. Total operating expenses for the 2015 fiscal year totaled USD 166.3 million.

“The strong financial performance achieved during the 2015 fiscal year reflects the SCPA’s focus on achieving the growth required to execute its aggressive capital investment plan,” said SCPA Board Chairman Bill Stern.

The positive financial report comes on the heels of 14 percent FY2015 container volume growth reported last month. SCPA handled 1.9 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) during the period, an increase of 231,473 TEUS over the previous fiscal year. The fiscal year results continue SCPA’s above-market growth trend, with 8 percent growth achieved during the 2014 fiscal year and 9 percent the prior year. “With 14 percent container volume growth and operating cash flow well above plan.

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iana Shipping Inc., a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, today announced that, through a separate whollyowned subsidiary, it entered into a time charter contract with Transgrain Shipping B.V., Rotterdam, for one of its Panamax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Alcyon. The gross charter rate is US$7,600 per day minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum eight (8) months to maximum eleven (11) months. The charter commenced on August 22, 2015 The “Alcyon” is a 75,247 dwt

South carolina ports report 30.4m operating earnings

Panamax dry bulk vessel built in 2001. This employment is anticipated to generate approximately US$1.82 million of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of

the time charter. Diana Shipping Inc.’s Pleet currently consists of 41 dry bulk vessels (2 Newcastlemax, 12 Capesize, 3 Post-Panamax, 4 Kamsarmax and 20 Panamax).

Scorpio Tankers to buy 4 vessles worth $34.5m each corpio Tankers has upsized its vessel order with South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo shipyard to four MR product tankers with 10 options, superceding both of the two-option-six orders for MR tankers and handymax tankers agreed in July. The vessels will cost Scorpio $34.5m each, the same price tag as previously.

The four firm vessels are scheduled for delivery in the first and second quarter of 2017, the company said. Meanwhile, the NYSElisted company has spent $17.6m in repurchasing another 1,850,000 of its common shares in the open market, at an average price of $9.49 per share. Since the company announced the buy-back scheme in May, Scorpio Tankers has repurchased 3,836,504 of its shares, costing around $35.6m in total. These will be held as treasury shares, the company said. Scorpio Tankers still has around $210m left to spend on the scheme.

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Steelhead LNG signs agreement with Malahat First Nation

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teelhead LNG Corp. has inked a Mutual BenePits Agreement (MBA) and Long-Term Lease with the Malahat First Nation supporting the proposed development of Malahat LNG, a liquePied natural gas (LNG) facility to be situated on the shoreline of Malahat Nation-

owned land, 8 kilometres south of Mill Bay on Vancouver Island.

The proposed facility, expected to have a capacity of up to 6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), would include Ploating liquefaction facilities moored to the shoreline and minor supporting land-based infrastructure. “As a BC-based LNG development company, we are committed to early engagement with First Nations and getting things right. That is why

our Pirst step over the past 13 months was to develop a close working relationship with the Malahat Nation based on trust and respect.

Our MBA with the Malahat at this early stage of the project is a rePlection of our commitment to working with each other and of the relationship we have developed,“said Nigel Kuzemko, CEO, Steelhead LNG. The industrial-zoned land allocated for the proposed project has hosted a

cement manufacturing facility for more than 100 years and is currently being used as a rock quarry, for offloading industrial equipment and materials and other industrial activities. It is part of a 525-hectare parcel of land that the Malahat recently acquired, tripling the size of their Nation. As part of the arrangement, Steelhead LNG will provide Malahat Nation with capacity funding to assist the Nation.

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Customs foils bid to smuggle fertiliser to Afghanistan KARACHI: Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Quetta, during a successful operation, foiled an attempt to smuggle fertilizer to Afghanistan. The market value of the seized fertilizer is Rs 15 million.

Sources told Customs Today that Customs authorities received a credible information regarding the smuggling of fertilizer in Pasni.

After receiving the information, the Customs authorities intercepted three trucks and recovered 2,000 sacks full of fertilizers from these trucks.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

CUSTOMS BULLETIN

Customs Court sends suspected mobile phone smugglers on judicial remand ISLAMABAD

ShAhID MINhAS

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pecial Customs and Taxation Court has sent four accused involved in smuggling of cell phones worth Rs 4 million on judicial remand for further interrogation. As per details, Model Customs Collectorate Preventive Islamabad had arrested four accused those were attempting to smuggled cell phones and DVDs by foiling it.

Collector Zeba Hai received information regarding the possible smuggling of the said items on which she directed the Deputy Collector (DC) Yawar Nawaz to fail the smuggling bid. Following the directions, DC Yawar formed a team under the supervision of Superintendent Zargam Dil. Customs Preventive team established a picket near an entrance of Islamabad and intercepted two vehicles. During checking, custom ofPicials recovered 3,700 sets of China origin cell phones and number of DVDs. OfPicials asked the person traveling in the vehicles to produce the documents showing the legal import of the recovered items but they remained fail to do so.

Embezzlement of Rs 76m: NAB KP arrests judicial tehsildar Shah Wazir N

PESHAWAR

NADIr khAN

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AB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has arrested Shah Wazir Khan, the then tehsildar in Chitral. He was presently working as judicial tehsildar in Swat district. He is allegedly involved in embezzlement of Rs 76 million by depriving the genuine beneficiaries of their due right of forest royalty in district Chitral in connivance with other people.

On the complaint of poor beneficiaries of Chitral, NAB KP initiated an inquiry in which it was revealed that as per policy of forest department /government of Khy-

ber Pakhtunkhwa, the forest royalty shall be equally distributed among the locals through Joint Forest Management Committee. Nevertheless, Shah Wazir Khan supported Noor Shahideen (private person) to make a fake Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC) and made him chairman of the committee through the active connivance of other accused persons. The accused persons later on diverted and embezzled an amount of Rs 76 million through complex banking transactions and pocketed the same.

It merit to mention here that, NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has already arrested Gulzar-ur-Rehman, the then divisional forest officer Chitral, Prince Khalid Pervez,

member district council Chitral, Noor Shahideen, Rehmat Karim, Malak Shaye in the instant case.

NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa actively perusing the case. The Accountability Court Peshawar granted 14 days physical remand into NAB custody.

Meanwhile, NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has arrested Gulzar-ur-Rehman, the then Divisional Forest Officer Chitral, presently working as Assistant Professor Forest College Peshawar, Prince Khalid Pervez, Member District Council Chitral, Noor Shahideen , Rehmat Karim and Malak Shaye, who were allegedly involved in embezzlement of Rs 76 million by depriving the genuine beneficiaries of their forest

royalty in connivance with each other.

On the complaint of poor beneficiaries, NAB KP initiated an inquiry in which it was revealed that as per the policy of forest department /the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the forest royalty should have to be distributed among the locals through Joint Forest Management Committee. However, Noor Shahideen (private person) made a fake Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC) and fraudulently made himself chairman of the committee through the active connivance of other accused persons. The accused persons later on diverted an amount of Rs 76 million through complex banking transactions and pocketed the same.

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