PRO 06-09-2012_Layout 1 9/5/2012 11:51 PM Page 1
Thursday, 6 September, 2012
NOT COMPETITIVE ENOUGH Pakistan loses its competitiveness on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index 2012 2013 Falls 6 points on the Global Competitiveness Ranking, 124 among 144 economies
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AkISTAN has been ranked among bottom 20 of the 144 economies around the world in The Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013, released Wednesday by the World Economic Forum. According to the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2012-13, Pakistan lacks a long-term view of competitiveness. The level of corruption and poor governance are some of the factors slowing down Pakistan’s economic growth, therefore ranking Pakistan at 124 among 144 other countries on the index. The World Economic Forum ranks countries on more than 100 economic indicators comparing 144 countries. “Persisting divides in competitiveness across regions and within regions, particularly in Europe, are at the origin of the turbulence we are experiencing today, and this is jeopardizing our future prosperity.” said klaus Schwab, Founder and
Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum. “We urge governments to act decisively by adopting long-term measures to enhance competitiveness and return the world to a sustainable growth path.” Pakistan’s secured ranking on 12 pillars: institutions (115), infrastructure (116), macroeconomic environment (139), Health and Primary Education (117) Higher Education and Training (124), Goods Market Efficiency (97), Labor Market Efficiency (130) Financial Market Development (73), Technological Readiness (118), Market Size (30), Business Sophistication (78) and Innovation (77). ‘Pakistan has lost its competitive advantage almost on all the pillars of the competitiveness index except for in Health, Primary Education and Labor market Efficiency’ says Amir Jahangir Chief Executive Officer Mishal Pakistan, country partner for the Center of Global Competitiveness and Performance at the World Economic Forum. Further adding, although Pakistan showed good performance on the innovation and sophistication pil-
Corridor of certainty ECO trade corridor to help Pakistan trouble-free export of goods to Turkey ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul trade corridor or ECO trade corridor, which is likely to be opened this year, will help Pakistan export its goods directly to Turkey without any hindrance. The corridor will be later expanded to the European countries. The 5th meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Transit Transport Coordination Council (TTCC), was held in Islamabad in May aimed at bringing the ECO countries closer in trade and economic activities, said a source in Ministry of Communications on Wednesday. He said that the ECO provided a unique opportunity of trade development as its member states’ borders stretched from Europe to South Asia and from the shores of Arabian Sea to the Russian borders. Pakistan, he said, had extended transit trade facilities to the land-locked member states of ECO states through its warm water seaports but the benefits of that facility could not be optimized without an efficient road and rail network. The source said that for that reason Pakistan had conceived the National Trade Corridor (NTC) and responsibility of its early construction had been given to the Ministry of Communications. He said that the NTC would provide an efficient and economical road network for inter-regional connectivity, particularly an effective access to Pakistan’s seaports to the ECO member states. Establishment of the road corridor will greatly facilitate the implementation of the Transit Transport Framework Agreement (TTFA); an agreement signed a decade ago to facilitate trade and transport among the 10-member Economic Cooperation Organization, he said. APP
lars, but on the factors for basic requirements and efficiency enhancer pillars Pakistan continues to show poor performance. The Pakistani business community has identified Corruption as the most problematic factor for doing business in the country. The report indicates that Pakistan has failed to come up with effective regulations on intellectual property protection, where the country lost its position of 93 to 108 from 2011 to 2012 respectively. Poor governance in terms of favoritism in decision-making (129) and wastefulness of government spending (96) have also shown significant decline in rankings. The Efficiency of Legal Framework in Challenging Regulations has also impacted the competitiveness of Pakistan’s economy as it has declined from 79 in 2011 to 97 in 2012. The law and order situation has been a serious threat to the economic activities, with war on terror and other target killing issues impacting throughout the year, the Reliability of Police Service has
gone to 127 in the current year as compared to 116 in the last year. On the Macroeconomic Pillar the government’s performance has been weak with the budget balance ranking (% of GDP) deteriorating from 108 to 125 from 2011 to 2012 respectively. The general government debt has also seen poor performance as it has lost 11 points from last year, by being ranked at 107 in the current year. Although Pakistan ranked 41 in 2011 on the Tax Collection Efficiency index, however the economy has lost its competitive advantage due to decline in 2012 by ranking to 59, limitations on the ease of access to loans and venture capital availability, where Pakistan stands at 65 and 55 respectively. The labor market efficiency pillar shows a decline in the cooperation between labor and employer relations whereas the rank has slipped from 80 to 90. The GCR also identifies that the businesses in Pakistan are shying away from reliance on professional management as the ranking has decreased from 88 to 101.
EXPERTS WELCOME SINGLE DIGIT INFLATION ISLAMABAD APP
Experts and business community here on Wednesday welcomed the decrease in inflation to single digit saying that if the trend continues it would boost economic activities and enhance purchasing power of the common people. “The decreasing trend in the international oil prices, reduction in the interest rates by State Bank of Pakistan are some of the reasons that helped decrease inflation domestically,” Former Finance Minister and newly elected Chairman Lahore Stock Exchange, Dr. Salman Shah told APP. He was of the view that if the trend of declining inflation continues, it will benefit the people, boost investment and economic activities in the country. Shah observed that the inflation could go further come down if the oil prices in the international market go down. Meanwhile, commenting on single digit inflation, Director Pakistan Institution of Development Economics (PIDE) Dr. Abdul Qayyum said that the inflation has come after holy month of Ra-
mazan as the prices went up in the month. He was of the view that increase in oil prices at international market may affect the inflation in the country adding that if the prices of oil go down, if would help further reduction in inflation domestically. On the other hand, business community expressed mixed reaction over decreasing of Consumer Price Index (CPI) in August to single digit. President Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry called for taking further measures for the socio-economic welfare of the common man in the country. However, the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Yassir Sakhi Butt was of the view that the inflation rate declined apparently but claimed that it would have no positive impact if the trend discontinues. He said that international oil prices would have strong impact on the over all inflation in the country. Zaheer Ahmed a stock market analyst said that decrease in the inflation to single degit to benefit overall economy and investments in the country. “This will also benefit the private sector business in the country”, he said.
Mobile, telecommunication imports increase in July ISLAMABAD: The Telecommunication imports during the first month of the ongoing fiscal year (2012-13) increased by 12.98 percent and 16.24 percent as compared to the imports of July 2011 and June 2012 respectively. The overall telecommunication imports during July 2012 were recorded at US$112.378 million against the imports of US$99.470 million in July 2011 and US$96.680 million in June 2012, according to the figures of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Among the telecommunication products, the imports of mobile phones increased by 6.90 percent in July 2012 as compared to the imports of the same month of last year. Mobile imports during July 2012 were recorded at US$52.661 million against the imports of US$49.261 million during July 2011, the PBS data revealed. However, as compared to the imports of US$56.176 million recorded during June 2012, the mobile imports during July 2012 witnessed decrease of 6.26 percent. The imports of other telecommunication apparatus during July 2012 increased by 18.94 percent and 47.43 percent when compared to the imports of July 2011 and June 2012, according to the data. The imports of other telecommunication apparatus stood at US$59.717 million in July against the imports of 50.209 million in July 2011 and US$40.504 million in June 2012. It is pertinent to mention here that the overall imports in July, 2012 were recorded at $ 3,662 million as compared to $ 3,979 million in June 2012, showing a decrease of 7.97% and 0.73% as compared to $ 3,689 million in July, 2011. Main commodities of imports during July, 2012 were Petroleum products(Rs 93,245 million), Petroleum crude (Rs 34,285 million), Palm oil (Rs 19,917 million), Power generating machinery (Rs 9,461 million), Plastic materials (Rs 9,313 million), Iron & steel (Rs 8,150 million), Raw cotton (Rs 6,624 million), Iron and steel scrap (Rs 5,796 million), Other apparatus (Telecom) (Rs 5,636 million) and Electrical machinery & apparatus (Rs 5,507 million). APP
Oil refineries stop supply to cash-strapped PSO ISLAMABAD: Following Pakistan State Oil’s (PSO) failure to clear its liabilities of Rs 188 billion, national and international oil refineries have stopped supplying fuel to the state oil agency. Sources said PSO’s liabilities towards national and international oil refineries had crossed Rs 188 billion and the cash-strapped oil agency had failed to clear its dues. They said PSO had to pay Rs 97 billion to local refineries and Rs 91 billion to international refineries, who had stopped fuel supply that could lead to the suspension of fuel supply cycle across the country. The sources further said more than 85 percent of the oil was imported and in case of suspension in the fuel supply, business activities in the country would be severely affected. They said the demand of oil in the country was 21 million tons currently and local production of crude oil was just 15 percent of the supply. Non-payment of dues from power sector has resulted into financial constraints for PSO and situation has become alarming. The sources added that the power sector was the main defaulter of the PSO. ONLINE
PASDEC OPTIMISTIC ABOUT MARBLE g
Says Pakistan can exploit marble, granite resources to boost economy ISLAMABAD APP
Chief Executive Officer of Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC) Ihsanullah khan said on Wednesday that Pakistan could exploit marble and granite resources to boost its economy. Pakistan is blessed with huge reserves of natural stone like marble and granite in multiple colours, shades and veinages, he said speaking at the inaugural ceremony of All Pakistan Marble Industries Association (APMIA) Head Office here. PASDEC has now introduced mechanized quarrying through modern ma-
chinery to develop the marble and granite sector. He appreciated APMIA’s efforts in supporting PASDEC at a time when it was needed. He said that APMIA is the true representative body of marble and granite stakeholders that is growing by the day. Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC), not a profit organization, is dedicated to make Pakistan globally competitive and socially responsible player of the international dimensional stone industry. The PASDEC is focused on achieving one goal, extraction of `’Square Blocks.’’ This strategy would have a trickle down
effects through the value chain of the industry, achieving tremendous transformational impact, he added. He said that PASDEC has established 29 prototype projects of marble and granite in a short span fulfilling its due commitment to the sector. “We established three Model Quarries at khuzdar (Balochistan), Buner (kPk) and Chitral (kPk) and 10 Quarry Up-gradations in Balochistan, khyber Pakhtunkhawa, FATA, Sindh and Punjab. The Quarrying projects are producing Square Blocks of marble.” The mechanized quarrying practices decrease the natural stone wastage ratio
from 85% to 40% (mine to processing). It also discourages blasting practices of extraction of natural stone which is not only dangerous to human life but is adding to environmental degradation.” khan said that PASDEC has also established two warehouses at Gaddani and Risalpur for storage of raw stone and finished products of marble and granite. While two machinery pool projects established at Gaddani and Risalpur are serving mine owners and lease holders to acquire modern quarrying machinery on nominal rental charges. The PASDEC, he said will establish Marble City at Mohmand Agency (FATA), Risalpur and Loralai to facilitate
processing with trained workforce and latest processing machinery and infrastructure. Two Common Facility Training Centers (CFTCs) will also be established. He said that by the efforts of APMIA and PASDEC the marble export quantum is increasing at 35% annually. He hoped that $500 million export target will be achieved in near future. Sikandar Hayat khan Jogezai Chairmain of APMIA and ex-chairmen Shahid- ur-Rehman, Abdusami and Saleem Mughal also present on the occasion. They expressed their views on APMIA and their confidence on PASDEC and landed its performance.
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Business 02 Dollar gains as ECB meeting looms
Major Gainers COMPANY UniLever PakXD Mithchells Fruit Island Textile National Foods Pak Gum &
NEW YORK AFP
The US dollar strengthened Tuesday despite the release of glum manufacturing data as traders geared up for the possibility of more easing this week by the European Central Bank. The euro came off its Monday highs, which were driven by ECB chief Mario Draghi’s signal that it would buy short-term debt from struggling eurozone countries, but trading remain tenuous ahead of the ECB’s Thursday policy meeting. At 2100 GMT, the euro was at $1.2564, down from $1.2593 late Monday. The greenback also rose to 78.40 yen from 78.26 yen, while the euro slipped slightly to 98.51 yen. “The euro received an early boost after ECB President Draghi reportedly told the EU lawmakers he would be comfortable buying threeyear government bonds,” said Vassili Serebriakov of Wells Fargo Bank. “However, the euro has struggled to sustain those initial gains against the backdrop of weaker global equity markets and with Moody’s lowering its EU rating outlook to negative.” Sebastien Galy of Societe Generale said that, Europe aside, the dollar’s strength was underpinned by much broader worries in the global economy. “Markets are more worried about China than Europe... The US dollar is rising against Asia,” he said. The British pound slipped to $1.5869 from $1.5886; the dollar edged higher to 0.9558 Swiss francs from 0.9537 francs.
OPEN 8501.50 343.00 268.50 258.15 215.55
HIGH 8800.00 357.00 281.92 271.05 226.32
LOW 8800.00 355.00 255.08 258.15 215.55
CLOSE CHANGE 8800.00 298.50 357.00 14.00 281.75 13.25 271.05 12.90 226.23 10.68
TURNOVER 20 200 2,100 6,100 9,800
1134.50 337.75 1350.00 248.00 139.79
1045.00 325.10 1340.00 234.99 133.57
1050.50 325.66 1340.00 237.65 133.59
-49.49 -14.95 -10.00 -7.35 -7.00
6,800 8,800 150 330,600 14,600
2.95 51.94 14.29 19.50 9.29
2.68 49.46 13.75 18.38 8.70
2.78 49.73 14.16 18.61 9.11
-0.07 -1.78 0.08 -0.42 0.46
14,723,500 10,366,500 9,406,000 8,136,000 7,593,500
Major Losers Bata (Pak) Limited Exide (PAK) Colgate Palmolive National Refinery Atlas Honda Ltd
1099.99 340.61 1350.00 245.00 140.59
Volume Leaders
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WorldCall Telecom D.G.K.Cement Jah.Sidd. Co. P.T.C.L.A Byco Petroleum
ISE sheds 28.85 points ISLAMABAD
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APP
SLAMABAD Stock Exchange on Wednesday witnessed a bearish trend as the index was down by 28.85 points to close at 3106.54 as compared to the previous day’s trading. Stock Analyst M.M.Hassan told APP that the profit taking by the major investors in the local stock market led the bearish trend. Besides, the major positions were also taken, when the index went down and many of them off-loaded when it went up, he added. It happened because the consecutive buying by the jobbers was seemed since
many days, he said, adding, but there is not any negative sentiment in the future for capital market. Total volume of shares traded was 20,000 which was down by 277,000 as compared a day earlier’s closing. Of 125 companies’ shares traded, the price of 37 was increased while the price of 88 witnessed a decline. The price of top gainer Unilever Pakistan was increased by Rs 298.50 while the price of top loser National Refinery decreased by Rs 7.35. PTCL, Maple Leaf Cement,D.G.khan Cement and Fatima Fertilizer remained volume leaders on Wednesday, with volume of 9,000, 5,000, 500 and 500 shares respectively.
2.85 51.51 14.08 19.03 8.65
Interbank Rates US Dollar UK Pound Japanese Yen Euro
94.6938 150.2412 1.2068 118.6135
Dollar East BUY US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal Australian Dollar
SELL
94.60 118.38 149.45 1.1948 94.59 12.00 25.63 25.08 95.37
95.10 119.55 150.89 1.2062 96.00 12.18 25.85 25.30 97.74
CORPORATE CORNER PTCL VSS Scheme achieves remarkable success ISLAMABAD: PTCL’s (VSS) Voluntary Severance Scheme which was introduced on 26 July 2012 and concluded recently on 31 August 2012 has been a tremendous success amongst the employees. The VSS was offered as voluntary scheme that gave the employees a golden opportunity to opt for this offer and gain financial benefits. A great majority of the employees voluntarily opted for this scheme. Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP) HR, Mazhar Hussian stated that the scheme achieved its desired objectives. The scheme provided a unique window of opportunity to the employees by offering a them the option to choose better future for themselves and their families. To remain competitive in the telecom sector, it is imperative to keep costs to the minimum while providing the best possible services to the customers. Which changing time and highly competitive telecom sector environment, PTCL has transform as IT service provider which this change pool of employees whose skills set, age and education are not aligned with the company’ current and future goals.
PTCL organizes ‘Service uplifting’ training by Ron Kaufman
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) recently held a one-day service leadership workshop on “Building an Uplifting Service Culture at PTCL”, at Serena Hotel, Islamabad. The training session was delivered by world-renowned trainer and leading educator Ron kaufman who is an expert in building an uplifting service culture.
‘Service Leadership Workshop’ was attended by PTCL’s senior and middle management from all over Pakistan which provided them an interactive and engaging opportunity to review their current service standards and ascertain strategies for future, leading to an action-oriented and empowering culture which delights the customer with consistent and quality services.
Samsung team shares Joys of Eid with children at SOS
LAHORE: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., continued with its tradition of promoting the spirit of humanity and charity on the occasion of Eid ul Fitr - 2012. A team from Samsung Electronics visited the SOS village in Lahore, to celebrate the festival of Eid with the resident children. While the children shared their preparations for Eid and experiences in Ramazan, the smiling faces excited with guests from Samsung left all hearts touched. Samsung has been consistently providing humanitarian and financial support for numerous welfare organizations including SOS villages. The management and residents of the SOS Children’s Village – Lahore thanked Samsung for this noble gesture. The General Manager, Samsung Pakistan Mr. John Park said; “The sacred month of Ramadan inspires charity and compassion. We took this opportunity to share the happiness associated with the Eid-ul-Fitr with the children at SOS village. To make lives better is our objective, and such activities are a way of doing so.”
Hashoo Foundation, US State Department’s Bureau sign contract LAHORE: U.S Department of State has extended its contract through the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (BPRM) to Hashoo Foundation to improve employment opportunities for Afghan refugees, especially women, by training them in employable voca-
tional skills applicable in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Under the project, titled ‘Skills Training and Income Generation for Urban Afghan Refugees’ Hashoo Foundation will train 300 Afghan refugees in Rawalpindi and 550 in Peshawar over a period of 12 months. The majority of the Afghan refugees living in Pakistan are unskilled, with little to no formal education. They are not allowed to receive skill trainings from Government owned technical institutions and are unable to afford private sector training institutes. As a result, these refugees have no way to acquire any professional skills and are forced to find labor work on daily basis on very low wage rates. 81 % of the respondents of the program are facing the problem of food insecurity.
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister and Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Farzana Raja meeting Mr George Turkingtion, Head of the Department for International Development UK (DFID) in Pakistan and his delegates here at BISP Secretariat.
50m Coca-Cola fans on Facebook invited to make the world a happier place ATLANTA: If you could rally 50 million of your friends to make the world a happier place, what kind of results do you think you could achieve? Today CocaCola announced plans to find out as the 50 millionth Facebook user “Liked” the brand’s page. By harnessing the collective input of its fan base on Facebook, Coca-Cola will be a catalyst in identifying simple ways to make the world a happier place. “Throughout its history Coca-Cola has always had a role in bringing simple moments of happiness to people around the world every day,” said Joe Tripodi, chief marketing and commercial leadership officer, The Coca-Cola Company. “Today we have an engaged global community more than 50 million strong connected through Facebook.
7TH edition of Expo Pakistan
LAHORE: Anwar Khan, head of consumers sales, with Wateen Telecom’s sales team at the prize distribution for the recovery competition.
KARACHI: Over 600 foreign dignitaries from more than 50 countries representing different sectors will participate in the Expo Pakistan 2012 at the karachi Expo Centre. The event is scheduled from 4th -7th October, 2012 at karachi Expo Centre. The event will not only showcase the national potential, before buyers from across the world, but also to manage the business image of the Country.
IMC’s 19th Annual Kaizen 6th SME Conference 2012 Convention urges need for specialized bankers
KARACHI: The 6th Pakistan SME Conference 2012 organized by SHAMROCk Conferences International was held on 5th September, 2012, at the Marriott Hotel in karachi. The conference Speakers presented broad-based solutions for meeting the current challenges and discussed the contributions and potential of SMEs for nation-building. The need for specialized SME bankers was also stressed upon. The forum was supported by the State Bank of Pakistan, SME Business Support Fund (BSF), Union of Small & Medium Enterprises (UNISAME), IFCWorld Bank along with the Small & Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA). A special panel discussion highlighted the “Public Sector Development Program and Sub Sector Opportunities” available for strengthening SMEs in Pakistan. A number of commercial banks also supported the annual conference, now a benchmark for the SME sector.
Picture shows, Saqib Mansoor, Manager Human Resources TPS addressing at the Workshop on ‘Interview preparation’ organized by COMMECS Institute of Business and Emerging Sciences, recently.
KARACHI: Auto industry, specially Indus Motor Company (IMC), has done commendable job to improve its business processes through kaizen initiatives and activities and this practice should spread to other industries paving the way for accelerated economic development of our country. This was stated by Pir Haider Ali Shah (MNA), Parliamentary Secretary for Industries at 19th Annual kaizen Convention recently organized by Indus Motor Company (IMC) at a local hotel in karachi.
OGDCL completes hat-trick of land mark discoveries of hydrocarbons in KP KARACHI: Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has discovered a new hydrocarbon bearing horizon from its appraisal well Nashpa-3, located in District karak, kPk Province. The structure of well Nashpa # 3 was delineated, evaluated, drilled and tested utilizing indigenous expertise. It is joint venture of OGDCL being operator with Pakistan Petroleum Limited and Government Holdings Private Limited (GHPL). Initially well has produced 3015 barrel per day of crude oil and 14.35 MMCFD gas through 32/64” choke from Lumshiwal & Hangu formations and 150 barrels per day of crude oil and 0.6 MMCFD gas through 32/64” choke from Samanasuk formation.
Thursday, 6 September, 2012