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BUSINESS Friday, 7 June, 2013
‘PAkistAn key ecOnOmic cOrridOr fOr chinA’ KUNMING INP
Vice Premier Ma Kai on Thursday said China attached great importance on expanding cooperation with Pakistan and other South Asian countries, so as to meet the common aspirations of their people for a better future. “Pakistan serves as economic corridor for China and its other neighboring countries and it has also a key role in the region for economic integration and connectivity,” he said while addressing the opening session of the first China-South Asia Expo, that was attended by a number of political and economic leaders from the regional countries. Pakistan was represented at the Expo by Senator Mushahid Hussain, chairman Pakistan-China Institute and Pakistan Ambassador in Beijing Masood Khalid. About 170 stalls were set up at the expo, displaying the variety of products from Pakistan. Ma Kai referred to recent visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Pakistan and said it had opened new avenues of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Some new initiatives were taken to deepen their socio-economic interaction. The expo, he said, provided an important platform for upgrading economic interaction between the two countries. “We welcome businessmen from the South Asia countries to promote their business in China.”
PALm OiL imPOrts fALL 10.11 Percent ISLAMABAD APP
Palm oil imports decreased by 10.11 percent during the first ten months of the current fiscal year against the corresponding period of last year. The total palm oil imports into the country were recorded at $1.700 billion during July-April (2012-13) against the imports of $1.891 million in July-April (2011-12), according to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). On the other hand, on year-on-year basis, the palm oil imports into the country decreased by 9.51 percent in April 2013 when compared to the imports of April 2012. Palm oil imports during April 2013 stood at $156.797 million against the imports of $173.280 million in April 2012, the PBS data revealed. On month-on-month basis, the palm oil imports however witnessed positive growth of 18.90 percent in April 2013 when compared to the imports of $131.878 million in March 2013. Meanwhile, the soyabean imports into the country during the first ten months of the current fiscal were recorded at $58.681 million against the imports of $42.051 million, showing increase of 39.55 percent. The imports of soyabean oil in April 2013 increased by 9746.39 percent and 295.16 percent during when compared to the imports of April 2012 and March 2013 respectively, the PBS data revealed. The soyabean imports into the country during April 2013 stood at $9.551 million against the imports of 0.097 million in April 2012 and $2.417 million in March 2013. The total food imports into the country decreased by 12.83 percent during the first ten months of the current fiscal year against the corresponding period of last year. The food imports into the country during July-April (201213) were recorded at $3.632 billion against the imports of $4.166 billion in July-April (2011-12). It is pertinent to mention here that the total food and non-food the imports into the country decreased from $37.042 billion last year to $36.665 billion during the current fiscal year, showing negative growth of 1.02 percent, the data revealed.
korea says $1.6b bilateral trade with Pakistan ‘below potential’ KARACHI STAFF REPORT
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HE economists want Pakistani manufacturers, exporters and businessmen to look towards the rising economies of Asia, as South Korea Thursday termed the existing volume of over $ 1.6 billion bilateral trade with Pakistan “far below (the) potential”. “I am pleased to note that trade volume has increased by almost a billion dollars in the past decade and was more than $ 1.6 billion in 2012,” Korean Ambassador in Pakistan Choon-Joo Choi told the Korea-Pakistan Business Forum 2013 held here at a local hotel Thursday. Jointly organized by the PakistanKorea Business Council of FPCCI and the Consulate of Korea, the well-attended event was themed as “Missing Trade Links in Our Emerging Markets”. The event marked the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two friendly countries. The Korean envoy, who is famous for his focus on finding new avenues for augmenting the Pak-Korean trade, said trade was something that carried win-win results for the stakeholders. “But… even
this figure ($1.6bn) is far from potential,” the ambassador told the gathering that saw many of Korean and local businessmen showing up. This, he said, represented an excellent opportunity for the business community to tap into a lucrative market. About the new PML-N led government, Ambassador Choi said in past his country had an excellent working relationship with PM Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. “We are hopeful that this trend would continue,” he said recalling that Pakistan’s first M2 Motorway was built by a Korean firm, Daewoo. “Thanks to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s support,” to Daewoo that enable the latter make a project that today was one of Pakistan’s globally-acclaimed projects. The Korean envoy sees ample opportunity for the two nations to further augment cooperation in the fields of trade and
investment that, Dr Choong-Jae Cho of Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) earlier said, stood at $89 million as of March 2013. Former Governor State Bank of Pakistan and Dean and Director of IBA Dr Ishrat Hussain called for the diversification of Pakistan’s products in terms of manufacturing and exports to keep pace with the rapidly moving structure of the world economy. Calling upon Pakistan’s producers, exporters and businessmen to look towards the emerging “dream” economies of Asia like Korea and China, he said Asia and not the “declining” economies of US, Europe and even the deflation-hit Japan would be providing impetus to the global economy in future. “If we are able to capture even a portion of the $ 3 trillion global trade, the lifestyle of 190 million Pakistanis would change,” he viewed.
Textile output to improve as energy crises top of government’s priorities
Liquid foreign reserves stand at $11,457.1 million ISLAMABAD: The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country as on May 31 were $11, 457.1 million. According a statement issued by the State Bank of Pakistan, foreign reserves held by the SBP were at $6,395.2 million and held by other banks $5,061.9 million. 30 Malaysian exhibitors to attend Expo Pakistan Noraslan Hadi Abdul Kadir, Consul Trade, Consulate General of Malaysia, Trade Section (MATRADE) has met with Secretary TDAP and discussed participation of Malaysian exhibitors and buyers on upcoming Expo Pakistan 2013. The Consul General appreciated the efforts of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and informed that Expo Pakistan has emerged as an international exhibition. He also confirmed that 30 exhibitors from Malaysia will also participate. Abdul Kabir Kazi Secretary TDAP, also briefed the Consul about arrangements made for this international exhibition. APP
KARACHI STAFF REPORT
The country’s textile sector having enjoyed the government’s sympathy for the longest time has emerged as a leading exporter and one of the major employers in the country. The sector’s importance in any federal budget therefore cannot be ignored, said analysts at InvestCap Research. They said FBR had replaced the zero-rating regime for the textile industry with a 2% value added tax for the textile value chain, both for registered and unregistered entities. The refunds, under the scheme, would be available against exports, however, refunds to the unregistered entities would not be allowed. “Such alteration is expected to facilitate the registered textile companies more as compared to the unregistered segment,” viewed Abdul Azeem, an analyst at InvestCap Research. Being a major exporter and key employer, the government had been giving distinctive attention to this sector, he added. During last couple of years, the analyst said, the power shortage had been a major dampener for the profitability of the sector, specifically in Punjab which is the key manufacturer of textile items in the country. Therefore, the new government has
He also lamented the fact that Pakistan still was exporting commodities that it used to export in 1990s. Dr Ishrat proposed that instead of focusing low-value goods, Pakistan should go for high-techintensive exports. “The concept of vertical production has been replaced by a global supply chain,” the former SBP governor said. “Please wake up and pluck yourself into this supply chain.” The economist also viewed that Korea, where most of the population was above 60, could consume a young population of Pakistan where 50 percent are under the age of 30. “Why can’t we educate and train our human resource to cater to the pressing need of Korea,” he said. Another panelist, Tariq Ikram, former minister of state, said among other things the newly-elected PML-N led government would have to focus energy crises, security, management-related issues and exports. He dubbed Nawaz regime as “pro-industry”. Ikram said Pakistan and Korea needed to improve their visa issuing system besides dealing with the effective implementation of the bilateral trade agreements. Dr Muhammad Ather Elahi of IBA-Karachi in his presentation dwelt on means and ways through which the two countries could enhance the size of bilateral trade.
placed power sector reforms on top of its priority list. “We expect the production of textile sector to improve as the load-shedding in this sector reduces. This coupled with better production, stable cotton prices both internationally and locally is expected to make the sector more profitable,” said Azeem. Higher portfolio value is expected
to be beneficial for NML and NCL as they have significant investments in their associated companies, said the analyst. NML is trading at a PE multiple of 6.3x and offering a dividend yield of 5.6% on FY13 estimates. Similarly, NCL is trading at PE of 4.5x and offering a dividend yield of 7.2% on FY13 estimates.
Revised Code of Corporate Governance 2012: Awareness session with SECP on June 11 at ICAP KARACHI STAFF REPORT
The awareness session on “Revised Code of Corporate Governance” is scheduled for June 11 from 2pm to 5pm at the ICAP. Imtiaz Haider, Commissioner SECP, would be the chief guest and Ahmed Saeed, President ICAP, Abdul Rahim Suriya, Chairman CPD, Amar Naseer FCA Legal Director & Company Secretary Unilever Pakistan on Code of Corporate Governance, Ebrahim Sidat FCA, Past President ICAP and Adnan Mufti CPD Convener –Southern Regional Committee – ICAP
would be participating. In order to respond to the concerns and enable better understanding of the revised Code of Corporate Governance 2012, SECP had conducted awareness sessions at all three stock exchanges targeted towards CEOs, CFOs, company secretaries and internal auditors of the listed companies. Owing to the robust membership and the fact that ICAP members are actively involved in implementing revised code in their roles as CFOs, company secretaries, internal auditors, external auditors, board members and CEOS, SECP is now planning to conduct awareness sessions at ICAP Karachi.
Oil prices mixed in cautious Asian trade SINGAPORE: Oil prices were mixed in Asia on Thursday, with traders treading carefully ahead of Chinese trade and industrial production data as the regional powerhouse shows signs of slowing down, analysts said. New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light sweet crude for delivery in July added two cents to $93.76 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for July delivery dropped 18 cents to $102.86 in mid-morning trade. “Dealers are cautious ahead of the numbers due later in the week,” Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, told AFP. He said “oil futures will be weighed if there is a slowing trend” in China’s trade data for May, which will be released on Friday. The National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing will unveil figures for industrial production, retail sales and inflation on Saturday. Developments in China are closely watched as it is the world’s second biggest economy and largest energy consumer. The International Monetary Fund recently cut its 2013 growth forecast for the country to 7.75 percent from an earlier projection of 8.0 percent. APP
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sGc employs oracle solutions to up services, efficiency KARACHI STAFF REPORT
The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has successfully deployed Oracle WebLogic Server as its application server platform for its Oracle-based financial and customer care and billing applications. The new integrated system enables the utility company to enhance its customer services by allowing customers to access their gas accounts online and delivering 2,000 bills a day through the self-service Web portal. It also helps reduce the time to connect gas at a new customer’s premises by 80 percent—from an average of 100 days to a new average of 20 days. “Oracle WebLogic Server has changed the service experience of our 2.2 million customers by allowing them to access their gas bills online through the SSGC’s web portal,” said Irfan Zafar, Senior General Manager(IT), Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd. “It has not only improved our staff’s work efficiency with reduction in operational costs, the implementation has also enabled us to look beyond and introduce new innovation to enhance customer experience.” “We tried a couple of application servers but only Oracle WebLogic Server could efficiently support our smart grid project. We have cut the time taken to deliver services to new customers by 80% and enabled them to access their gas bills in real time,” said Kashif Qadeer, Deputy General Manager (IT), Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd. “Combined with Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing, Oracle WebLogic Server allows us to accurately reconcile our accounts with the greatest speed and accuracy.
Asian markets slip after more downbeat Us news HONG KONG
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SIAN markets sank Thursday following a sell-off on Wall Street, with dealers spooked by disappointing US jobs data. The dollar rebounded slightly after shedding around one percent against the yen in New York, while expectations the Federal Reserve will start to pull back on its monetary easing also pushed the US unit up further against its Australian counterpart. Tokyo fell 0.45 percent by the break after losing almost four percent on Wednesday due to disappointment at prime minister Shinzo Abe’s latest plan to boost Japan’s economy. Hong Kong was 0.83 percent lower, Sydney shed 0.70 percent and Shanghai eased 0.43 percent. Seoul and Jakarta were closed for public holidays.Regional investors took their bets off the table after payroll firm ADP reported that the US private sector added 135,000 jobs in May, less than the forecast 157,000. That came as the Fed’s closely watched Beige Book, a snapshot of US economic conditions based on a nationwide survey, said the economy continues to grow at a “modest to moderate” speed, suggesting steady but still slow expansion. Wednesday’s news added to previous data showing a widening of the US trade deficit and a surprise shrinkage of manufacturing activity. US dealers reacted to the news by running for the sidelines, sending the dollar tumbling to as low as 99 yen while equities also suffered. On Wall Street the Dow tumbled 1.43 percent to below 15,000 for the first time in a month, while the S&P 500 shed 1.38 percent and the Nasdaq was 1.27 percent lower. The jobs figures will focus minds more on Fri-
Major Gainers COMPANY Shezan Inter. Indus Dyeing XD MCB Bank Ltd.XD Bhanero Tex. Abbott Lab.
OPEN 685.00 546.75 287.44 296.00 300.00
HIGH 719.25 565.00 301.81 310.00 310.00
LOW 696.00 565.00 288.00 310.00 300.00
CLOSE 719.25 565.00 301.81 310.00 308.22
CHANGE 34.25 18.25 14.37 14.00 8.22
TURNOVER 7,600 100 1,670,000 200 318,600
662.93 1927.00 1674.00 6400.00 285.00
662.93 1790.00 1600.00 6355.00 285.00
662.93 1858.50 1600.00 6400.00 285.00
-34.89 -22.53 -20.00 -14.00 -10.05
700 400 200 80 100
5.75 16.05 5.75 8.86 23.93
4.85 14.87 5.35 8.29 22.45
4.96 14.90 5.52 8.76 23.42
-0.77 -0.97 0.18 0.44 0.59
60,554,500 47,019,000 25,437,500 25,331,500 19,324,500
Major Losers Island Textile Colgate Palmolive Wyeth Pak Ltd Nestle Pak. Fazal Textile
697.82 1881.03 1620.00 6414.00 295.05
Volume Leaders B.O.Punjab(R) B.O.Punjab Pace (Pak) Ltd. Lotte Chemical Maple Leaf Cement
5.73 15.87 5.34 8.32 22.83
Interbank Rates
day’s non-farm payrolls data, which will provide a better clue to the next move from the Fed, with many economists tipping an end to its huge bondbuying, or quantitative easing, scheme. Adding to the downbeat sentiment, the Eurostat statistics agency said the eurozone economy shrank 0.2 percent quarter on quarter in JanuaryMarch, while it also contracted 1.1 percent compared with a year earlier. Separate data showed that eurozone business activity continued to deteriorate in May but at a slower pace. In early Asian trade the dollar ticked up slightly, buying 99.12 yen, compared with 99.06 yen in New York late Wednesday, while the euro sat at $1.3079 and 129.92 yen, against $1.3091 and 129.65 yen. The Australian dollar, which last month fell below parity with the greenback for the first time in a year, continued its downtrend, sitting at US$0.9494, compared with US$0.9506. “It may take a minimum of several weeks for the markets to settle down to an acceptable level and that assumes favourable external factors, such as a stable dollar-yen and a reliable US economic recovery,” said Naoki Fujiwara, fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management.
USD GBP JPY EURO
PKR 98.4876 PKR 152.2126 PKR 0.9933 PKR 129.2256
Forex BUY US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal
99.40 129.41 152.40 0.9926 94.73 12.51 26.80 26.30
SELL 99.65 129.67 152.66 1.0030 96.42 12.74 27.05 26.55
sindh invites korea to invest in energy sector KARACHI: Sindh Board of Investment Chairman Muhammad Zubair Motiwala has said Korea had been invited to invest in the energy sector of the province, particularly Thar Coal project. He said this during a meeting with Choongjoo Choi, ambassador of Korea in Pakistan, who visited the Sindh Board of Investment on Thursday. The meeting was aimed at discussing various initiatives of bilateral interest between the province of Sindh and Republic of Korea. The SBI chairman appreciated Korean ambassador’s efforts in boosting business ties with Pakistan. STAFF REPORT
CORPORATE CORNER state department and Pakistan embassy in Washington promoting entrepreneurship Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Dan Feldman and Pakistani Chargé d’Affaires to the United States Dr Asad M Khan welcomed entrepreneurs from the National Information Communications & Technology Research & Development Fund Entrepreneurial Delegation. A program entitled “Impact Through Entrepreneurship – Partnerships for Pakistan” was held at the embassy of Pakistan in Washington on Wednesday. The event was organized by the Department of State in partnership with the Embassy of Pakistan, MIT Enterprise Forum of Pakistan, and the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) initiative, a partnership led by the Department of State and CRDF Global. The program featured a panel discussion on growth strategies with leading American entrepreneurs, after which the Pakistani entrepreneurs pitched their ventures to investors in the audience. The United States and Pakistan share a commitment to bolstering entrepreneurship and providing economic opportunities for the people of Pakistan and will continue to work together to promote this critical issue. PR
PtcL kicks-off Leadership excellence Program
Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) has organized an exclusive two day ‘Leadership Conference’ for the company’s senior management. Themed ‘Speaker Series’ the
conference kicks-off a high-impact top leadership excellence program for senior executive vice presidents (SEVP), executive vice presidents (EVP) and general managers (GM) stretched over a period of two years. Through prudently-selected and targeted development plans, the program aims at establishing a strong distinctive leadership brand for PTCL which further sharpens the company’s leadership capabilities in line with the strategic business vision of the company. PR
samsung introduces the GALAXy s4 mini: A Powerful, compact smartphone Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd, a global leader in mobile technology and digital solutions, today announced Samsung GALAXY S4 mini, a powerful yet compact version of Samsung’s bestselling smartphone, GALAXY S4. The GALAXY S4 mini delivers the superior performance, intuitive ease-of-use and sleek design of the GALAXY S4 in a highly portable, chic and compact design, making it an ideal companion for everyday life. “We appreciate such unprecedented demands for the GALAXY S4 that we aimed to provide users with life companion for a fuller, richer and simpler life. And now, we want to give people more choices with GALAXY S4 mini, similar look & feel of GALAXY S4 for more compact and practical usages ,” said JK Shin, CEO and President of IT & Mobile Communication Division at Samsung Electronics. “The new GALAXY S4 mini provides consumers with a new way to enjoy the flagship GALAXY S4 experience.” The GALAXY S4 mini will be available in two colors, White Frost and Black Mist. Commercial availability of the GALAXY S4 mini supporting either 4G LTE, or 3G HSPA+ or 3G Dual SIM, will be determined by market. PR
Pakistan-Japan Business malaysia can help Pakistan forum board meeting access AseAn markets The chairman of Pakistan Japan Business Forum (PJBF), Sohail P Ahmed, and the Board of Directors of PJBF, during their board meeting, recognized the improvement in the economy of Japan in recent months due to steps taken by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. They praised the efforts of the economy managers of Japan and hoped that the government of Pakistan will also take notice of the steps taken to improve the health of Pakistan’s economy. Sohail said that there was a big potential here for Japan for improvement in business relations with Pakistan, as Pakistan could provide not only a market of 180 million people but also lower costs of skilled labour, and an aspiring community of enterprising businessmen. PJBF Board has therefore approved a plan to take a delegation of SME businessmen later in autumn this year to Japan. Members of the forum are being contacted in this regard. He further said that PJBF is working towards holding a Joint Dialogue with their counterparts in Japan, Japan-Pakistan Business Cooperation Committee (JPBCC), in Pakistan early next year. He thanked Marubeni and Sumitomo Corporation, both being members of the Board, for coordinating the plan which expects a high powered delegation of business houses as well as concerned government officials to facilitate trade and investments between the two countries. PR
Malaysia is keen to enhance trade relations with Pakistan and invites Pakistani entrepreneurs to explore avenues for mutual benefit. This was said by the Malaysian Trade Commissioner accredited to Mumbai, Mr Noraslan Hadi Abdul Kadir, at a dinner reception hosted to interact with the business community of Karachi. Kadir said Malaysia wanted to expand trade relations with Pakistan and was taking proactive measures in this respect. He added that 30 Malaysian firms had expressed their interest to participate in the Expo Pakistan Karachi Exhibition scheduled to be held in September. He added that a Showcase Malaysia show had also been arranged in conjunction with the exhibition. Malaysian Consul General Mr Abu Bakar Mamat in his address said Malaysia has an ambitious programme offering a new economic model to transform the country into a high income, sustainable and equitable economy. PR
Pifd displays thesis of Anum Basit The annual thesis exhibition of a student of Pakistan Institute of Fashion & Design, Anum Basit, was highly appreciated by the guest. The exhibition was held in PIFD Johar Town, Lahore to display the work of graduation student 2013. On this occasion ambassadors of various countries and people concerned with fashion designing visited the exhibition. The designs were displayed very creatively by the students. The guests were extremely pleased to see the designs created by Anum and appreciated them very much. PR
The Embassy of the Republic of Korea organised a Pak - Korea Business Forum on the Occasion of the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relation between two countries. Picture shows Ambassador Choong - Joo Choi, Consul General Chang - hee LEE, Tariq Ikram, Kalim Farooqui, and Sohail Nisar Churra with other guests.