Profit 7th February, 2012 by Profit Epaper

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HBFC transforms losses into profit in three years Page 03

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Tuesday, 07 February, 2012

CCP to focus on public procurement, concession agreements ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

ompetition Commission of pakistan (CCp) will maintain its focus on public procurement, concession agreements, and will expand the office of Fair trade role to curb deceptive marketing, restricting associations to their mandate, and improving the legal framework to promote the competition perspective. this was informed at the quarterly meeting of Competition Consultative Group (CCG) held on monday. Addressing the meeting, CCp Chairperson Rahat Kaunain Hassan said the commission roadmap emphasizes its focus on certain areas, given their relatively greater impact on the economy these areas include public procurement, concession agreements, expanding the office of Fair trade (oFt)’s role to curb deceptive marketing, restricting associations to their mandate, and improving the legal framework to promote the competition perspective.

public procurement is one of the key area where the commission has detected violations of competition law in the form of bid rigging by certain undertakings. She said that the commission has successfully unveiled cartelization in the power, poultry, edible oil and ghee, and jute sectors, where the significance of competition issues in public procurement have been highlighted. the most recent action in this regard investigation and legal proceedings initiated against pakistan electric power equipment manufacturers Association (pemA) for cartelization power sector. She informed the meeting that the commission has been active in initiating actions against non-compliant undertakings and conducting search and inspections. “there were eight search and inspections during the period under review compared to four in the preceding three years (20072010). the commission has become more confident in undertaking these inspections and identifying relevant information to gather quickly. most recently, the commission carried out search and inspection of

All pakistan Cement manufacturers Association and the Kohat Cement office. She said that search and inspections have also been conducted by the Commission in pakistan Ship’s Agents Association, pakistan Vanaspati manufacturers Association, pakistan edible oil and Refiners Association, pakistan electric power equipment manufacturers Association, FiCo High-tech (pvt.) Limited, pak elektron Limited, and 1Link guarantee Limited. She also gave an overview of the recent orders issued by the Commission. the commission has examined about 318 potentially competition-reducing agreements and issued exemptions on grounds of economic merit, with and without conditions, under the gateway provision of law. in last fiscal year alone, 66 exemptions were granted. Similarly, during FY 20102011, 67 cases of acquisition of shares, 14 cases of mergers between the undertakings and 3 joint venture cases were reviewed by the commission and noC given to the applicant undertakings. three cases were also subjected to a second-phase review.

Speaking about the oFt, she said enforcement of Section 10 has resulted in a 100 percent rate of compliance by undertakings. An online complaint cell has been established within CCp to take consumer complaints related to deceptive marketing and other anti-competitive practices. About the steps to create awareness of the competition law among the undertakings, the she said the commission has developed a Voluntary Competition Compliance Code to promote voluntary compliance of the law; published a booklet on ‘protection from Anti-Competitive practices: A Guide for Consumers and Businesses’; organized an international conference in December 2011; held 13 meetings of Competition Consultative Group to solicit feedback from key stakeholders; and issued policy notes to highlight and enhance competition to government and other regulatory bodies. Responding to a question, the Chairperson made it clear that CCp keeps an unbiased approach while conducting enquiries and where violations are not proved, the commission stops further proceedings

‘Pakistan will not succumb to int’l pressure on IP pipeline’ ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

inance Minister Dr. abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Monday said that Pakistan will not succumb to any international pressure and will continue with iran-Pak gas pipeline project and import of electricity from neighboring iran. addressing the inaugural session of the Pakistan-iran bilateral economic meeting, he said Pakistan will also invest to improve the rail and air travel with iran to enhance business linkages. iranian Vice President for international affairs, ali Saeedlou headed the iranian delegation at the meeting. a planned joint press

conference after the conclusion of the talks was cancelled due the Supreme court decision which suspended membership of 28 MPs including the Finance Minister who is Senator for being elected when election commission was incomplete under the 18th amendment. addressing the meeting, Finance Minister termed iran an important neighbor of Pakistan and urged that both the countries need to expand their bilateral trade. He said work on iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project would be expedited to complete the project as soon as possible to overcome energy shortages in the country. He said the yearly bilateral trade between the two counties was just $1.5 billion

which could be enhanced to $ 5 billion. He stressed enhancing cooperation in horticulture, livestock, energy, and telecom sectors. He said that there was need to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers and provide incentives to private sector for trade development. He said the communication links between Quetta and Taftan would also be improved to facilitate trade and movement of the people. Speaking on the occasion, iranian Vice President ali Saeedlou noted that Pakistan and iran have great potential to enhance their cooperation in trade and economy. He said iran would help development of Pakistan and added that work on gas pipeline project would be expedited. He also announced $ 100 million

support for the flood victims. important on going projects, like the gas pipeline, electricity import projects, trade in meat, rice and textile, banking cooperation and currency swap arrangement, up-gradation of Quetta-Taftan Railway line, civil aviation and opening of new border post at GadbReemdan and Pakistan’s cultural center in Tehran were also discussed in the meeting. Both sides will also discuss establishment of new consulate at Bandar abbas, project proposals for iranian Development assistance, agreement on international Road Transportation of Passengers and Good, cooperation in iT and Telecommunication, cooperation in industry.

against the concerned undertakings. She said the business community should not take the surprise search and inspections and issuing show cause notices by CCp as adverse actions as by doing so, CCp does not intend to target specific business interests. CCG is a forum provided by CCp to solicit feedback and suggestions on competition related issues and policies from public and private sector representatives, legal community, academia, media and the government. the meeting was presided over by the Chairperson CCp and attended by representatives of State Bank of pakistan, oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (oGRA), pakistan telecommunication Authority (ptA), engineering Development Board, intellectual property organization, Ceo of Competitiveness Support Fund, Consumer Association of pakistan, daily Business Recorder, Friedrich-nauman-Stiftung, institute of Chartered Accountants of pakistan, Unilever pakistan Limited, indus motors Company Limited, pakistan Business Council, overseas investors Chamber of Commerce and industry, iCi pakistan, besides members of CCp.

LPG prices rise again LAHORE STAFF REPORT

tAte owned LpG producers, oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (oGDCL) and pakistan petroleum Ltd (ppL), has increased LpG price by a whopping Rs20,000 per ton as per their notification issued on monday. pak Arab Refinery Ltd (pARCo) has also followed the suit by swelling its LpG price by Rs20,000. the new price of Rs113,000 per ton is inclusive of the petroleum Levy of Rs11,486 and is the highest ever price for LpG in the country. “State owned LpG producers account for 65 per cent of the country’s production. the government is the largest and most immediate beneficiary of this hike” said Belal Jabbar, the spokesman for the LpG Association of pakistan (LpGAp). Last month under pressure from the ministry of petroleum and natural Resources, state owned producers had reduced their price by Rs10,000 per ton before adding the levy of Rs11,486. the minister for petroleum had stated that the levy would be absorbed by the producers and not passed on to the consumers. this forced reduction in price had however resulted in a loss of Rs192 million to the public sector LpG producers while generating revenue of Rs220 million for the government. in a bid to offset the loss, both oGDCL and ppL have decided to shift the burden of the petroleum levy on to the consumers. “promises made by the minister have proved hollow. the imposition of the petroleum Levy fits in with the agenda of the ministry of petroleum which is keen to increase the price of local product and equate it with of imports. this, despite the fact that local production meets 80 per cent of the country’s requirement” said Belal. the impact of this latest price will increase the price of domestic and commercial cylinders from Rs1,650 to Rs1,885 and Rs6,356 to Rs7,265 respectively. Retail prices are expected to top Rs160 per kilogram. “it is now evident that the petroleum Levy has been implemented to facilitate imports over local production and to benefit certain people that are close to the top decision makers,” said Belal. pakistan is the only country where a tax has been imposed on local production to facilitate imports. “the levy is pure discrimination against local production and will be challenged in the courts,” said LpGAp spokesman.

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Tuesday, 07 February, 2012

news

SBP relaxes Murabaha transactions rules

Conventional farming leading to low citrus yield

KARACHI

FAISALABAD

STAFF REPORT

He central bank monday amended and relaxed the regulations requiringislamic banks to obtain invoices in the name of respective bank in murabaha transactions. Considering the practical difficulties in obtaining invoices, particularly, in transactions like purchase of phutti, raw hides, milk, sugarcane etc. the instructions on obtaining invoices have been reviewed and amended, said an SBp circular issued monday. it said that the invoice issued by the supplier shall be in the name of Bank- Account Client e.g. “1st islamic Bank – ABC Company”. in case where obtaining invoice in the name of iBi is not possible, the invoice in the name of client may also be acceptable, subject to specific approval of the Shariah Advisor, for all such transactions. in transaction where obtaining formal invoice either in the name of bank or the client is not possible, then the document or combination of documents like truck Receipts, Delivery note, Goods Received notes, physical inspection Report, Kachi parchi, inward Gate pass etc having particulars (i.e. names of buyer and seller, date of purchase/delivery, description of goods, quantity and purchase amount, etc) may be accepted in lieu of invoice with the approval of Shariah Advisor. the Shariah Advisor while approving any transactions as mentioned in para (i), (ii) above, shall document the reasons, industry norms etc. due to which obtaining invoice and/or making payment directly to the supplier is not possible. He shall also review and approve the process flows etc to be adopted by the client/iBi to execute such transactions. the Shariah Advisors shall also, either on their own or through suitably trained staff of the iBis, make onsite verifications of such transactions on sample basis. the payment for murabaha transactions shall either be made directly to supplier or credited in an escrow account by the iBis.

FARAKH SHEHZAD

AKiStAn’S position as the world’s top ranked citrus producing country has downgraded from world no.10 to 13 in the past 5 years due to a number of factors including plant diseases, low productivity, and traditional way of farming. the production will further narrow down if steps were not taken to fight the diseases like citrus greening and others. this was stated by speakers at one-day Citrus nurserymen training workshop organized by the institute of

Horticulture Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad in collaboration with the pakistan Agriculture and meat Company (pAmCo) and ASLp. iHS Director prof Dr Amjad Ali Aulak, addressing the inaugural session, said that pakistan was producing 30 major fruits and among them, citrus was at the top while across the globe, it was at number second after grapes in term of its production. He stressed the need to adopt latest practices of the fruit, making it at par with the international standard in order to generating heavy foreign revenue. He said with the proper care, balanced use of fertilizer and coping with the

virus are the tools to attain the goal. He said as many as 30 viral diseases of citrus were playing havoc with it in our country. He called for step up efforts with applying latest methods to control the diseases. otherwise, drastic reduction would be seen in citrus. pAmCo representative Jawad Qadir said his company was working on the Halal meat, kitchen gardening and new zone for the fruit, He under the new zone project, the potohar is selected for olive production, Cholistan for grapes and Layyah and Bakhar for citrus. He said that the UAF was the partner of them in capacity building. He also

guided the farmers about the modern methods and ways to boost up their production .Associate prof Dr muhammad Jaffar Jaskani said that it is a matter of the concern that our per plant and life was low. He said that the issue can be overcome if we use the international practices. He added that average life of a citrus plant was forty to fifty years across the globe. He said with the increment in life and production of plant, we can excel in the field. He also highlighted the various citrus diseases and their solutions and latest practices and urged the participants to adopt them in a bid to increase production.

Car prices to jump up Risk of urea price fall LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Uto manufacturers have hinted at increase in prices of locally manufactured cars owing to unprecedented depreciation in pak rupee value against US dollar and Japanese yen and increase in petroleum and utility prices, profit learnt on monday. Auto industry sources indicated that petroleum products prices had witnessed an increase of nine to 16 per cent during the last six months (Jul-Dec 2011) that had badly affected the cost of production. A steep increase in energy cost, including utilities, had already increased auto vendors’ cost of manufacturing by 4.7 to five per cent and the recent increase of Rs5-6 per litre had in prices of petroleum products would add further fuel to the fire. they pointed out that depreciation in pakistani rupee value had increased the prices of complete knocked down (CKD) kits by three per cent during the recent quarter. Auto industry estimated that the pakistani rupee disparity against US dollar and Japanese yen had been hovering 2.5 to five per cent, re-

spectively, during the last three months. Similarly, they pointed out that the prices of raw materials, including plastic, paints and light engineering products, had also witnessed a steep increase. the cost of transportation was inevitable to go up for supplies of these raw materials to automobile makers, they maintained. in addition, the industry was forced to use expensive diesel for power generation in the absence of electricity and natural gas. Government had already announced a three per cent increase in electricity tariff in the past couple of months, which was also adding up to the woes of industry. Sources in the sector said that the automobile makers had already absorbed the increase in aggregated production cost through localisation; otherwise, the cost would have increased more on different brands of cars. evaluating the current scenario, they underscored that almost all car manufacturers were seriously considering to pass on some of the impact of rising cost of production to consumers in the prices of cars and light commercial vehicles.

KARACHI STAFF REPORT

wo developments, the analysts believe, may cause urea fertilizer prices of local producers to come down in coming the weeks. “though this fall in urea prices, if materialize, will be short lived due to higher than last year gas curtailment in 2012,” viewed Farhan mahmood of topline Research. the important question is why urea prices will come down when it is short in pakistan and government provides huge subsidy by selling imported urea at close to local prices, which are at discount of 25 per cent to global prices due to low cost gas. there is speculation that government may provide gas by Feb end or mar beginning to engro’s 1.3mn ton new plant. And if that happen engro may slash urea price by Rs100 per bag in line with what they did in nov 2011. though we believe there is lower probability of this happening due to winter season that will extend till march according to forecast thereby making difficult for Sui north to shift gas from domestic sector to engro. this is a very unique situation where government im-

ported urea is available at Rs100-150 per bag lower than branded urea of Fauji, engro etc. Besides adding to government subsidy and fiscal deficit, this is putting pressure on local producers to either restrict their sales or eventually reduce price also. we may see local producers in order to get rid of their inventory (if they have) may reduce price by Rs100 per bag for a few weeks time because this situation of imported being sold at this discount will not sustain. According to our sources in industry, approximately 200-250k tons urea is available with tCp (trading Corporation of pakistan) which is now being sold at discounted prices. in case this happen, as explained, we may see 1Q2012 earnings of local fertilizer producers to be lower than expected. However as we mentioned that this will be for few weeks and there will be no major impact on full year basis. we maintain our Buy stance on FFC and engro and Hold on FFBL. Both FFC and engro is on our top pick list of 2012 and these stocks have rallied by 22 per cent and 33 per cent respectively since the release of our Strategy note on December 19, 2011.

Inquiry team formed to fix responsibility ISLAMABAD AMER SIAL

iniStRY of petroleum has set up an inquiry committee under the Director General Special projects Saeed Ullah Shah to fix responsibility on officials of the oil and Gas Development Company Limited (oGDCL) who withheld sharing of internal inquiry reports on seven audit paras with the national Assembly Standing Committee on petroleum on February 01. An official source said that the committee will soon proceed with the inquiry to fix responsibility on officials and recommend disciplinary action against them. the committee was so perturbed

with the blatant refusal of oGDCL officers that it expelled the company’s senior management from the meeting. the committee has sought internal inquiry reports on seven audit paras for three fiscal years of 2003-04, 2004-05, and 200708. Acting mD oGDCL Basharat mirza had said that they did not prepare sets of the confidential reports but if the members insist they would be provided during the meeting. the members said there was no issue of confidentiality as these were audit irregularities. Additional Secretary ministry of petroleum naeem malik had said that there was no issue of confidentiality in the inquiry reports. He assured the committee that the ministry will hold an inquiry to ascertain

those responsible for hiding facts. the committee had directed holding of an inquiry and action within three days against the responsible. Details sought were on unnecessary purchase of chemical worth Rs 55.1 million and loss of Rs 5.6 million on account of its sale below cost price, loss of Rs 10.1 million due to negligence of enar petrotech Services in execution of the Kunnar LpG project, irregular hiring of a consultant in violation of board’s decision on Rs 280,000, appointment of 22 officers without observing codal formalities which caused loss of Rs 65.1 million, loss due to procurement of defective man portable drill 30 meter worth Rs 49.6 million, irregular appointment of executive director

human resource Rs 16.8 million, irregular appointment of parttime consultant and payment of remuneration of Rs 4.8 million. Later addressing a press conference, Chairman Sardar talib Hassan nakai said the oGDCL management deliberately tried to hide facts from the committee. He said that the parliament was supreme and officials were bound under the law to answer various queries of the members. He said the committee will complete its findings in the irregularities. He regretted that he had twice written letters to the prime minister seeking time to inform him about the sorry state of affairs in the state owned oil and gas sector but the premier had not even bothered to reply to him.

LCCI urges government to focus on regional trade promotion LAHORE: Lahore Chamber of Commerce and industry monday urged government to focus on promotion of regional trade for being more efficient in terms of cost and logistics. “the country needs to develop a strategy of engagement with regional countries to maximise mutual economic and commercial benefits.” in a statement issued here, the LCCi president irfan Qaiser Sheikh, Senior Vice president Kashif Younis meher and Vice president Saeeda nazar said that pakistan occupies a strategic location and can play a major role in transforming the region into a trade and manufacturing hub. the LCCi office-bearers said that the promotion of regional trade also offers very promising benefits to the industry as it would enable it to source raw materials from the region that reduces cost of production and creates opportunities to improve economy of scales by having easy access to neighbouring markets on the other hand. the LCCi office-bearers said that the growth in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region that houses 22 per cent of the world population has been projected to surpass 50 per cent of the world’s GDp by 2030 and that calls for immediate steps by the government to boost intra-regional trade. SAARC is the biggest trading block in the world with lowest level of trade. Contribution of South Asia in the global GDp is less than two per cent and its share in exports in only 1.5 per cent, which does not reflect true potential the region owns. pace of growth in SAARC region has been slower at five per cent as compared with other blocs like nAFtA, eU and ASeAn wherein intra-regional trade is estimated at 62 per cent, 58 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. STAFF REPORT

Karachi, Fujairah port authorities to enhance business plan KARACHI: “Karachi port trust and Fujairah port Authority will collaborate in enhancing their business plan in terms of attracting more business in the region”, this was discussed between His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin mohammed Al Sharqi, member of the Supreme Council of UAe and Ruler of Fujairah and H.e. mr. Jamil Ahmed Khan, Ambassador of pakistan to UAe, during a meeting at the Ruler’s palace. the meeting covered wide range of areas of mutual interest. the Ambassador proposed to the ruler of Fujairah, investment opportunities in the fields of agriculture and cattle farming in pakistan, on which His Highness Sheikh Hamad immediately issued instructions to his technical committee to start working on the project. present in the meeting was Chairman of Fujairah port and Civil Aviation Authority who invited the Chairman, Karachi port trust to jointly work on skill building and enhancement of Fujairah port for mutual benefit. STAFF REPORT

PPMA announces jobs for families of medicine’s victims ISLAMABAD: pakistan pharmaceuticals manufacturers Association (ppmA) has announced to provide jobs to two persons from each bereaved family that has become a victim of the fake medicine used in punjab institute of Cardiology (piC), Lahore. Chairman ppmA mohammad Asad said in a statement that to share grief with the bereaved families, the association has decided to provide jobs to two persons from each victim family. the jobs will be provided as per their qualification. STAFF REPORT

SBP launches new project on SME clusters survey KARACHI: State Bank of pakistan (SBp) monday launched a new project on clusters survey of 10 important Small and medium enterprise (Sme) Clusters in the country. the objective of this project survey is to provide credible information base on key Sme clusters/sub-sectors of economic importance, said a central bank’s statement. Funded by the Department for international Development (DFiD), UK, the project will develop key drivers of business of important Sme sub-sectors located in various cities across the country. the clusters selected for the survey include: Cotton Ginning, marble and marble products, plastic products, Hand-made Carpet manufacturing, Leather products, Dry-cleaning and Laundry services, Beauty parlors and Spa, Super markets and Retail shops, printing press and Gem & Jewelry. m/s Corporate Development partners (pvt) Limited will conduct the survey which is to be completed in four months. this is an important project as availability of reliable and comprehensive data on Smes play a critical role in the development of the sector, helping the relevant stakeholders in devising sector-specific effective business strategies. this project would specially help banks in targeting the selected Sme clusters through appropriate banking products and marketing/distribution strategies, thereby increasing their penetration in Sme sector. it may be pointed out that SBp, in collaboration with international Finance Corporation (iFC) and Lahore University of management Sciences, has recently completed similar projects on 11 other important Sme clusters. STAFF REPORT

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Tuesday, 07 February, 2012

news INTERVIEW: AZHAR A JAFFRI, CEO HBFC

HBFC transforms losses into profit in tHree years HBFC to fiancé public housing scheme g Company in profit despite inflation in 2011 g Company to construct buildings on its own lands g

KARACHI GHULAM ABBAS

oUSe Building Finance Company Limited (HBFCL), which was heading towards a bankruptcy till the end of 2008, has turned to a profit giving company in last three years through a reform introduced by the new management. HBFCL, the country’s leading housing finance institution which has been steadily reducing its losses over the past three years besides improving its financial position will show more profits during the financial year 2011 as compared to the profit of Rs 113 million achieved in 2010. this was said by Azhar A Jaffri, Chief executive officer of HBFC, in an exclusive interview with profit. He informed that though the financial report of the year 2011 was yet to be compiled by the company the profit during the fiscal year ended June 2011 was expected to cross the profit of 2010. in financial year 2007 and 2008, HBFC reported a loss of Rs 959 million and Rs 414 million respectively. in 2009 and under the new management, the loss was further reduced to Rs.109 million, followed by a profit of Rs.113 million in 2010. HBFCL has however announced an aftertax profit of Rs95.0 million for the first half of 2011. the improvement made during the last couple of years the outcome of a comprehensive transformation strategy that the company has been enacting f o r mak-

ing the institution an efficient, customer-focused and profitable entity.talking about the reforms brought since 2009 in the company, he said that the transformation and change of management, which introduced major reforms, was the basic reasons of improvements in every section of the organisation including Legal, Human Resources, Finance, Credit and Recoveries, Business Development, Customer Services, Strategy, marketing, Corporate Affairs and Risk management etc. to minimise the financial burden over the company, the new management has introduced a “Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS)” to its employees purely on their own will, under which hundreds of staff have obtained package reducing the number of staff from 1400 to 800. He said CBA Central Bargaining Agent also supported the entire process and a number of union members including chairman and general secretary also availed VSS offer. He said the key component of VSS strategy is to turn HBFCL into customerf o -

cused and profitable entity. the Ceo said that the company being the prime housing finance institution of the country, was providing affordable housing solutions to low and middle income groups of population by encouraging new constructions in small & medium housing (SmH) sector. the company was also supporting small builders besides introducing bulk housing finance. in reply to query, Jaffri said that the recovery of the company has however been affected badly by the current rate of inflation and the devastation of flood in the country last year. HBFC was facing Rs 300 to 400 million short falls in recovery. to question he said HBFC has now started constructing building on its own lands both in islamabad and Lahore which would increase the asset and income of the company. to another question he said, HBFC encouraged such builders who built houses for low income group. Being a housing financing institution, HBFC has made efforts to promote low income groups besides promotion for supply of the low cost housing. in reply to query that whether only builder and middle class were being facilitated by the company, he said, the average loan was ranges between Rs 0.5 million to Rs 0.8 million proving that the lower lass people. talking about new projects, he said, the company was also considering to finance the projects of building government offices as the issues was initially discussed with Federal minister of Housing and works Faisal Salih Hayat. Besides, a proposal has also forwarded to HBFC to finance a low cost housing project at Sehwan Sharif to be introduced by Sindh government, he said. He also informed that the company had made Rs 100 million contribution in prime minister’s Flood Relief Fund in 2010. it has also pledged to contribute Rs 25 million to send required food and medicines to the flood affectees.

Bulls topple 12,000 i barrier with 154 point surge

KCCI wants Muslim CORPORATE CORNER Trading Block PTCL trains 29 management trainees in KARACHI

technology and business skills

STAFF REPORT

ARACHi Chamber of Commerce & industry (KCCi) has asserted upon the need to build muslim trading Block to uplift the muslim economies. while exchanging views with the Ambassador-designate of pakistan to Republic of Yemen Dr. irfan Yusuf Shami, president KCCi mian Abrar Ahmad he emphasized upon the multilateral trade between the muslim countries. He highlighted the existing potential of economic and commercial cooperation of pakistan with the GCC & middle east countries. He focused that the regional trade is the key solution to sustain peace and prosperity in the region. He articulated that pakistan, due to its geo-strategic location, can act as a trading corridor between the middle east/GCC countries and Central Asian Republics and SAARC countries. He asserted that regional trade will uplift the economy of pakistan to new horizons. He was of the firm opinion that pakistan must not rely on aid and remittances. He voiced to enhance exports and trade. He was of the view that the aids received from USA and western world is never spent on boosting the economy and its trickle down effect was not passed to masses. He lamented that pakistan was never allowed economic independence and liberty by the developed countries which they allowed to other countries in the region. He identified the immense opportunities of exporting engineering products, arms and ammunitions, electrical and home appliances to Yemen and GCC countries. He also recalled that a large number of students used to visit pakistan to complete their studies, who now prefer to go to other countries due to negative travel advisory. He also requested the Ambassador to invite business delegation and exhibitors to participate in the Karachi Chamber’s myKarachi oasis of Harmony exhibition scheduled to be organized in July 2012. He also enlightened the Ambassador about the key role of Karachi Chamber in the socio-economic development of pakistan. Ambassador-designate of pakistan to Republic of Yemen Dr. irfan Yusuf Shami recognized the vibrant role of Karachi Chamber to promote trade and industry. He highlighted that pakYemen bilateral trade has continued to overwhelmingly be in pakistan’s favour as against only $ 1 million imports of petroleum, scrap, leather and hides from Yemen,pakistan’s export to Yemen increased from nearly US$ 100 million in 2009-2010 to US$ 164 million in 2010-2011. He articulated that pakistan’s major export items comprise rice, wheat, poultry, machinery, construction materials, footwear, tarpaulins & tents, pharmaceuticals & medical equipment, textile products & knitwear, chemical and electrical goods. He said that pak-Yemen trade graph was going up and during the years and high-level dignitaries of two countries had paid five visits to both sides. He said that the interaction of the business communities of two countries is imperative to back-up and strengthen the bilateral relations.

KARACHI STAFF REPORT

nVeStoR sentiment was sky high today as the week commenced with a spate of positive news. the recent wto waiver for pakistani textiles, among other goods, in european markets was lauded as it brightened the outlook for foreign exchange inflows as well as a boost to the subdued textile sector. Rumours of the imminent arrival of the SRo finalising the CGt amendments verbally agreed upon between Gop and investor community became the key trigger for the strong bull run witnessed today. the KSe-100 index spiraled 154 points to breach the 12k point barrier to finish the day at 12,136 points with a stellar share volume of 196mn shares. Volume leader JSCL continued on its hot streak while nBp established an upper circuit as its results announcement nears. market appears to be rejuvenated from over the weekend and we expect the trend to prevail as results continue to pour in, said Ali Hussain, Senior investment Analyst at HmFS. KSe 30 index closed at 11381.33 levels with the gain of 123.25 points, while All Share index closed at 8,426.35 levels after gaining 11.57 points. total 195 scrips advanced 79 declined and 79 remain unchanged out of total 353 scrips traded.

ISLAMABAD: pakistan telecommunication Company Limited (ptCL) has successfully trained 29 young engineers as management trainees and future leaders of tomorrow who posses sound knowledge of the telecom giant as well as the telecommunications industry of pakistan. A group of 29 young engineers selected from all over the country were trained as ptCL management trainees in an intensive six-week training program held at ptCL telecom Staff College in Haripur. the program was especially structured to cover diverse areas of ptCL’s technical operations and business knowledge, as well as its leading role in shaping the future of pakistan’s flagship sector. PRESS RELEASE

Emirates adds 5th US gateway with new service to Dallas/Fort Worth DUBAI: emirates, one of the fastest growing airlines in the world, launched its new Dallas/Fort worth service today. it is the fifth gateway for emirates in the United States, and the fourth new route to join the airline’s international network so far in 2012. emirates will serve Dallas/Fort worth daily with a Boeing 777 aircraft offering the highest standards of passenger comfort, including private suites in First Class, lie-flat beds in Business Class and generously-sized economy Class seats. eK221 leaves Dubai daily at 0245hrs, arriving at Dallas/Fort worth at 0905hrs. the return sector, eK 222, leaves Dallas/Fort worth at 1150hrs, arriving at Dubai international Airport at 1220hrs the following day. “the United Arab emirates is the single largest export market for American goods in the middle east and trade continues to grow sharply, up more than 20 per cent in 2011 compared to the previous 12 months,” said His excellency Yousef Al otaiba, the United Arab emirates Ambassador to the United States. “the U.S. is on target to surpass its pre-downturn 2008 record of $14.4 billion in total exports to the U.A.e. and this new emirates route will spur hundreds of millions more in local economic activity. it will also attract more U.A.e. investment to texas and more texas investment in the U.A.e.,” added His excellency mr Al otaiba. PRESS RELEASE

Samsung brings ‘Champ’ - a dual SIM phone LAHORE: Samsung electronics, a market leader and award-winning innovator in telecommunications and consumer electronics has now introduced the Champ Deluxe DUoS touch phone, to bring premium mobility to your palm. it has a large screen for; snapping photos, browsing through music collections or connecting socially via SnS or instant messaging. with its Dual Sim standby feature, both Sims are kept active at all times, without the need to reboot for switching Sims. this allows double coverage, double savings and double convenience. the Samsung Champ delivers the performance of two mobiles in one. PRESS RELEASE

Ufone MyTunes: Personalised ringtones ISLAMABAD: Ufone has once again positioned itself as a market leader in innovation and unique ideas by launching ‘mytunes’, one of the most promising value added service in the industry. For the first time in pakistan, Ufone users will have the exclusive option to listen to the songs of their choice once they call on any number. officially known as mytunes the caller gets to hear the tune that is being set, instead of listening to the conventional ring-tone, or caller tunes set by the person the caller is making a call to. Users can dial 666 and select mytunes from Urdu and english melodies. Daily subscription charges are Rs.1+tax. PRESS RELEASE

KARAcHI: c.G of Qatar hosted a reception to celebrate their National day at local hotel. Picture shows Mr,Kaleem Farooqui , M.D Technology Links, Mr,Tural Dzhavadov, council of Russia, Mr,Martin Lotzer council of Germany, Mr,Shehzad Dada,President Barclay Bank. PRESS RELEASE