profitepaper pakistantoday 10th may, 2012

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Digging out the public sector from oblivion

Pakistan faces 30pc less mango production this season Mango exports to start by 25th Country’s eyes $50 million worth of exports this year US, Japanese markets likely to remain untapped despite last year’s initiatives australian delegation to inspect Pakistani mango this month

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ISLAMABAD APP

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fRUiTLESS fanTaSiES, STanZa 7, LinE 4

Mango MiSERy Can’t only blame the govt for the mango, Cuz it takes two, and sometimes more, to tango KARACHI

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GHULAM ABBAS

akistan, which is going to start the exports of mango of this season by May 25, has been estimated to face 30 percent reduction in production due to the impacts of climatic change in the country. the country is likely to produced only 1.2 million tones of mango against the production of 1.7 million tones recorded during the previous season. Last year 0.134 million tones of mango were exported against the target of 0.170 million tones out of the total production of 1.7 million tones generating revenue of at least $ 38 million. this was informed by Waheed ahmed Co Chairman, all Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, importers and Merchant association (PFVa) while talking to Pakistan today on Wednesday. He said that this year the target was fixed at 0.15 million tones with the estimated revenue generation of $ 50 million to the country. the reduction in production, he said, was mainly because of the climatic change which hit the mango trees in

many parts of the country including, Hyderabad, tando allahyar, Mirpurkhas and Mityari of sindh and Multan, Rahim Yar khan, shuja abad, Muzaffar Garh and khane-e-wal of Punjab province.

Waheed informed that, despite successful initiatives taken by PFVa in collaboration with trade Development authority of Pakistan (tDaP) to introduce the country’s honey mangoes in the Us and Japanese markets, the exports of the fruit to the foreign country was unlikely to be started this year because of the lack of VHt plant facility in the country. though Japan had last year approved the mango tested through the existing small VHt facility in the country but it was not viable to use for commercial level of trade because of its functionality and capacity. thus the exports to tokyo were at least still a distant dream, he added.

Besides, the test and quality approval of mango in Usa, in the absence of the quarantine facility in the country, was also not favorable for exports as no exporter could risk sending entire consignment to the foreign country before quality approval while bearing

EU’S high fivE Pak-EU 5-year engagement plan important landmark in partnership: Zardari ISLAMABAD

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REsiDEnt asif ali Zardari has said that Pak-EU 5-year Engagement Plan and the upcoming strategic Dialogue were the important landmarks in PakEU partnership which he said was moving steadily forward along an

upward trajectory since 2008.addressing a gathering of EU diplomas, Ministers, Parliamentarians to commemorate 50th anniversary of Pak-EU relations being held at aiwane-sadr this evening, the President said that Pakistan attaches great importance to its excellent relations with the European Union which were “based on shared democratic values,

huge freight cost, he said. thus the country’s honey mangoes were failed to make their debut in Japan, Usa and Russia due to lack of funds for installing the VHt and radiation plant needed to qualify the value added markets of the foreign countries. the proposal of Commercial Processing Plant and Common Facility Center has already been sent to the Ministry of Commerce but the ministry was yet to take any step for resolving the quality issue of the highly demanded fruit of the country.

Beside the two important foreign markets, the country was also losing the already established and tapped market in iran because of the sanctions imposed by Us and UnO as the commercial banks here were reluctant to get involve in the financial transactions. the lukewarm response by the Pakistani officials towards a genuine issue raised by the exporters regarding trade with the brotherly country iran may also spell severe financial repercussion for the fruits’ export of the country. in view of the emerging critical situation, exporters were apprehensive about the future of their exports as iran is regarded as a valuable market in principles of mutual respect, trust and cooperation.” He said that the 50 years long association reflects the commitment the two sides have made to strengthen the mutual relations and cooperative partnership. the President said that European Union was a key partner in peace and development of Pakistan. He said that it was an important ally in the campaign against terrorism, the biggest trading partner, and a major source of direct investment. the EU, the President said, has supported democracy and helped Pakistan in difficult times. We greatly value and thank the European Union and its member states for their support and assistance to Pakistan, the President said.the President, on this occasion, also appreciated the contributions made by EU ambassador in Pakistan Lars-Gunner Wigemark

terms of prompt payment for the imported fruits. the existing exports or smuggling via land routes to tehran would also not benefit the country in terms of revenue, Waheed added. He further informed that a delegation of quarantine department of australia was also due to visit Pakistan this month to inspect the mango farms and processing units in the country. the opening of australian border for Pakistani mango, which is expected this year, would be an important development for the country’s fruits. it is worth mentioning here that mangoes, in the country, are also cultivated in Balochistan and n.W.F.P, the fruit is mainly grown in sindh and southern Punjab. Mirpur khas and Multan are noted for their huge mango gardens. Hyderabad, nawabshah, naushahroferoz, khairpur (Mir’s), Rahim Yar khan, Bhawalpur, Muzafargarh, sheikhupura are important mango growing areas in the country. Mango production in khanewal, sahiwal, Vehari, Okara, Faisalabad, Jhang, toba tek singh and sargodha etc is also considerable.

Varieties of mangoes are various. their number is infinite. But, only a select few have commercial significance. some of the principal varieties of Pakistan are described here.

Out of the five kinds high quality mango sindhri is the best of all varieties grown in Pakistan. the others were Chaunsa, Dasehri, Langra and sonaro. among a total of 75 mango export countries in the world Mexico, Philippines and Pakistan lead the list.

and Pak ambassador in Brussels, the current Foreign secretary Jalil abbas Jilani for their efforts to further strengthen the equation. the President said that Pakistan was working with the EU to build a mutually beneficial strategic partnership.He said that during the last 50 years the EU has passed through momentous changes and has emerged bigger and stronger.

Despite economic difficulties, it has stayed the course and emerged as an important global player, the President continued. He said that Pakistan too has faced many challenges and braved many storms in the course of its history. We are passing through a crucial phase now, he said. the President said that Pakistan was again on the frontline in the campaign against terrorism. this struggle, he said, was exacting massive human and

PSDP likely to be increased by 11.51 percent at Rs.825 billion in 2012-13

HE annual Plan Coordination Committee (aPCC) in its meeting to be held here on May 10 (thursday) is likely to earmark Rs.825 billion in the Public sector Development Programme (PsDP) 2012-13 for various ongoing and new development schemes at federal as well as provincial level, showing an increase of 11.51 percent over the PsDP of the outgoing fiscal year.

Out of the total PsDP 2012-13, the aPCC is likely to be recommended Rs. 350 billion as federal PsDP while Rs. 475 billion are likely to be approved for provincial PsDP, official sources told aPP. as compared to the PsDP of the last year, the PsDP this year has been increased by 11.51 percent, including federal PsDP by 17 percent and provincial PsDP by 9.47 percent, an official in the Planning Commission said. He said PsDP for the year 2012-13 would be presented before the annual Plan Coordination Committee (aPCC) during its meeting scheduled to be held here on thursday under the joint chairmanship of Minister for Finance, Dr. abdul Hafeez shaikh and Deputy Chairman Planning Commission of Pakistan, Dr. nadeem-ul-Haq. the Planning Commission official added that in the first part of the meeting the economic outlook during the current financial year would be presented to the participants in detail. in the second part of the meeting, he added that the allocations recommended by the priority committee of the government would be discussed to be chaired by the Deputy Chairman Commission Dr.nadeem ul Haq. the aPCC would recommend the PsDP-2012-13 for the approval of national Economic Council (nEC) to be chaired by the Prime Minister syed Yusuf Raza Gilani.

economic costs.the President said that besides the great toll of the ongoing war against terrorism, the economic difficulties have been further compounded by back-to-back natural calamities, rising international oil prices, the energy shortage and the climate changes. But, he continued, positive developments were also taking place simultaneously. He said that Pakistan has undergone a silent revolution which has revived the spirit of Pakistan. a democratic and progressive Pakistan has been emerging in line with the vision of the founding father, Quaid-e azam Muhammad ali Jinnah, shaheed Zulfikar ali Bhutto and shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, the President said. He said that our Constitution guarantees equal rights to all citizens irrespective of faith, cast or gender.

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iMPaCT of inCREMEnTaL TaXES on BanKS’ T-BiLLS EaRningS

heavy thunder and hailstorms ahead… government rolls up sleeves to risk investment climate for mere Rs9 billion to Rs 17 billion tax revenue

WaLKing on SUnShinE

Make hay while the sun shines Researchers, businessmen agree to introduce solar system in industrial sector g Pakistan has potential to generate 2.3million MW solar energy: Dr nasim g KaTi forms body to coordinate with hamdard University

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ISMAIL DILAWAR

HE economic observers foresee further deterioration in the country’s already depressed investment climate as the fundsstarved federal government is planning to impose incremental taxes on the banks’ earnings. the federal government, which this year (FY12) is bracing for a fiscal deficit of over seven percent due to rigid current expenditures and low tax buoyancy, is in a dire need for additional avenues of revenue and is, therefore, expected to impose incremental taxes, ranging from five to 50 percent, on the ever-profitable banking sector. the banks, both traditional and islamic, have long been under fire for pocketing huge sums on account of their heavy lending to the cashstrapped federal and provincial government through investment in the risk-free and highly-weighted sovereign guarantees including the Market treasury Bills, Pakistan investment Bonds and ijara sukuk. according to central bank data, during July-april 27 the scheduled banks invested over Rs 603 billion in the government securities. this amount was Rs 324.401 billion or 116.5 percent more than Rs 278.38 billion they had invested during corresponding period in FY11. “the banks’ allocation of funds towards the government papers only propelled, naturally, because of the sustained arbitrage of high yield on government paper verses low-cost and relatively immune deposit base,” viewed khurram schehzad, head of research at investCap. the federal government, however, seems to have decided to retrieve some of the mammoth incomes the banks have made through investing in the government papers. a 15 percent incremental tax is, therefore, widely being expected on the banks’ t-bills returns that make up a significant portion of the banks’ balance sheets. the analysts, however, fear that the levy would impact the two sides, the government and the banks, marginally with the overall economy to bear the brunt. “such inadequate measures against market economy and sector efficiency would only hurt further the already depressed investment climate in the country,” warned schehzad. the analyst said while allowing for such “anti-freemarket” measures, one should look at the

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government’s own conflict of interest to first, inviting financial institutions to fund its burgeoning fiscal deficit on one hand, causing yields to stretch beyond sustainable level for extended periods hampering economic growth, and then trying and hammering down funding institutions for getting attracted to such high return, on the other.

He said the financial impact of the proposed by 15 to 50 percent taxes would range from three to 10 percent depending on the size of the bank and the volume of its investment in the sovereign guarantees.

“We have to make a number of assumptions to calculate only a proximity of the actual impact that the banks may have on their bottom lines in case of an expected 15 percent incremental tax on t-bills’ returns,” schehzad said. in this regard, he assumed that the incremental tax would reduce the banks’ earnings on average by seven percent. While the exsLR investments and returns on t-bills, which makes more sense with incremental tax on ex-sLR earnings from t-bills, the banks’ earnings only get affected by a marginal three percent on average. the banks having larger contribution from t-bills earnings to their Government investment issues were expected to be affected the most. the mid-tier and lower-tier, the analyst said, would see their earnings decline by 9.1 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively. “We expect any extra tax on t-bills’ returns would yield a marginal Rs 8.7 billion for the government or total Rs 16.8 billion along with a potential five percent incremental corporate tax if imposed on the banks’ earnings in addition to 15 percent incremental tax on t-bills.”

Opposed to the idea of incremental tax, the analyst said the resource-constrained government should take more appropriate action with lasting impacts including improving depositor/investor’s awareness on investment avenues, policies supporting competition amongst banks to cause material improvement in deposit rates, rigorous capital requirement, narrower cap on investment into government papers and the promotion of a regular bond/tFC market. Last but not the least, the analyst said, the secondary market/central bank borrowing should be one part of the source of funding for the government to bridge the fiscal gap instead of being the only source for that matter.

akistan has a potential to generate over 2.324 million mega watts electricity per annum through solar system and industrialists should come into manufacturing in this sector for domestic as well as industrial use in order to overcome prevailing energy crisis in Pakistan. this was stated by Vice Chancellor Hamdard University Dr nasim a. khan while giving a presentation on “solar Power in Pakistan” organized by korangi association of trade and industry in collaboration with the Engineering Review here Wednesday. Dr nasim said solar and wind powers were the real sources of energy and rest of the sources were alternative. He said Hamdard University was ready to provide technology of solar power to the industrialists free of charge so that country could be able to benefit from cheapest sources of energy. He said though solar panels were expensive at present, but the commercial manufacturing would make them cheaper and viable for all consumers. He further

PBC’S PESSiMiSM

‘agriculture sector lacks efficiency, competitiveness’ LAHORE STAFF REPORT

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EsPitE having immense potential, the agriculture sector of Pakistan lacks efficiency and global competitiveness, causing dent to self sufficiency in production of various farm produces, said asad Umar, Chairman Pakistan Business Council while speaking to members of agricultural Journalists’ association (aJa). in his presentation on ‘agriculture – a mainstay of Pakistan’s economy’ asad Umar, who has recently assumed responsibility in Pakistan tehrik insaf as senior Vice President after opting early retirement from top slot of Engro Corp, said production of various farm products has been as low as 90 per cent if compared with global benchmark. sugarcane yield is 40 per cent lower if compared with global benchmarks, wheat yield is 20 per cent lower, non-basmati Rice yield is 40 per cent lower, cotton yield is 20 per cent lower and milk yield per animal is 90 per cent lower, he said. the low output also adversely affects capability of farmers to earn

LUCRaTivE nUMBERS

Wheat procurement is going rather well LAHORE STAFF REPORT

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UnJaB Food Department till date has bought over 200,000 metric tons of wheat from the growers while distributed 1.077 million tons gunny bags to the growers in all the districts of the province. this was revealed by the special assistant to the Chief Minister on Food Mansha Ullah Butt and secretary Food Punjab irfan ali while briefing the newsmen regarding on going wheat procurement drive here on Wednesday. they hoped that the food department would meet the procurement target of wheat procurement by May 30, 2012. secretary Food Punjab irfan ali claimed that this year wheat procurement was more transparent and farmer friendly as compared to the past. He said that issuance of gunny bags from the procurement centers was more than the arrival of wheat which was a clear proof that the growers were facing no hardships in getting gunny bags. He said that he had visited the procurement centers of 12 districts of the province to monitor the wheat procurement drive and found revenue department officials in irregularities posted at narang Mandi. He said that DCO on the complaint immediately took the record in custody and after checking suspended the officials concerned. similarly, he said that two food inspectors from sahiwal (Pakpattan), patwari from Okara, food supervisor from khanewal and a food inspector from Vehari were suspended from the services on complaints. He said that monitoring teams had been constituted in each division to monitor the wheat procurement in their respective areas to ensure transparency. He also said that small growers who brought wheat in 50 bags or less are paid immediately while those bringing more than 50 bags of wheat were

emphasized on manufacturing of all components of solar system locally in order to make them viable for the local as well export market. He informed that countries like the Usa, Germany, australia, Brazil, Uk, Japan, india, China and thailand were now generating electricity in bulk through solar system. He disclosed that Japan was generating electricity at the cost of only two cents per kilo watt hour (kWH). He said Pakistan needed to add 2000 MW electricity to the national grid annually and this could only be possible through solar and wind power. He said the Uk, which had less than half of the population than Pakistan, was generating 70000 MW in 1970 whereas Pakistan was generating merely 22000MW at present.

Chairman kati Ehtesham Uddin announced to extend all-out support to the University for the promotion of solar powered technology and offered to coordinate with Dr nasim and industrialists to manufacture solar panels for domestic and industrial use. President all karachi industrial alliance Mian Zahid Hussain said solar and wind power was need of the hour and future belonged to the two cheapest sources of energy.

being paid in next two days. irfan ali stated that bank booths had been set up at 19 big procurement centers to facilitate the growers and making payments without any delay during the drive. Food secretary further claimed that wheat procurement policy of the Punjab government is bringing stability in the price of wheat in the domestic market while prospects of exports are also brightening which would further stabilize the market and ensure prosperity to the growers of the province. Meanwhile, Punjab agriculture Minister said in a press statement that PassCO was exploiting the farmers whereas Punjab Government has facilitated wheat procurement process by establishing 374 procurement centres in Punjab. He was chairing a consultative meeting on wheat procurement with representatives of farmer organizations here at agriculture House, Lahore on Wednesday. Chief Minister’s advisor for Food Mr. Mansha Ullah Butt was also present.

Meeting was attended by President of Mutehida kissan Mahaz Mr. ayub khan Mayo, President kissan Board sardar Zafar Hussain, General secretary kissan Board Ch. akhtar Farooq Mayo, Director Farmers associates Pakistan Mr. Hamid Malhi and representatives of anjuman-i-Mazareen, Punjab. Director General agri.

(Ext.) Dr. anjum ali, Director agricultural information, Punjab Mr. Muhammad Rafiq akhtar, Deputy secretary (Food) Mr. abid Rasheed, additional Director (Food) Dr. altaf. Mansha Ullah Butt told the meeting that 1.1 million bags of wheat have been purchased and 9 million empty bags (bardana) have been provided to farmers. the target of 3.5 million ton wheat procurement will be achieved and any sort of corruption, inefficiency and exploitation will not be tolerated. For this purpose a revenue officer has been deputed as Centre Coordinators have been appointed at each procurement centre by DCO.

more, he added. Pakistan, which has been dubbed as a ‘great bread basket’ is struggling due to these factors and is now increasingly becoming an importer of a large number of agri-commodities. at the same time, Umar said, Pakistan agriculture sector also faces huge post-harvest losses of 40-80 per cent if compared with global benchmark. this double blow—low output and high losses, diminishes income of growers further, he maintained. similar is the case with agriculture credit facilities, farm mechanization and availability of water, he said and adding these structural problems needs to be address. as against 20-25 tractors per sq km of arable land for global benchmarks, availability of tractor for Pakistani farmer has been about 10 times lower from this level. Much to the dismay of farmers, he said, agricultural Credit disbursed to farmers in Pakistan declined from UsD 3.4 billion in 2007/08 to UsD 3.1 billion in 2010/11. During the same period, indian agricultural Credit increased from UsD 63.3 billion to UsD 103.4 billion, he said. gricultural Credit in Pakistan is 8 per cent of agriGDP while in india, it is 31 per cent of agri-GDP.

nope, the load-shedding protest queue won’t get any shorter…

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

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HE Lahore Chamber of Commerce and industry Wednesday threatened the government to close down businesses if the government fails to control over 14 hours daily load shedding immediately by making payments to the iPPs. in a statement issued here, the LCCi President irfan Qaiser sheikh said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & industry was being forced by all the trade and industrial associations to give a call for indefinite strike as the energy shortage have crippled their businesses. He said that situation has turned so pathetic that neither the industrial units are working nor traders are doing any business because of the electricity shortage. irfan Qaiser sheikh said that law & order situation was also getting out of hands due to unemployment because of electricity shortage. the LCCi President said that the government could easily overcome the circular debt issue if the electricity distribution is transferred to provinces. He said that the transfer of electricity distribution to provinces would not only help recover outstanding dues but it would also streamline the electricity supply as more money would be available to the government for power generation. He said that the province that would not be able to recover dues would definitely be getting lesser electricity.

Piaf’S PoKE LAHORE: Pakistan industrial & traders association Front (PiaF) has urged the government to exempt industrial estate from electricity load shedding as daily 5 to six hours continuous power cuts have curtailed productions to the maximum. in a press statement, Chairman Lahore township industrial association iftikhar Bashir, former Chairman Malik tahir Javed, iqbal Baig Chughtai, former Chairman of Quaid-e-azam industrial Board Mian nauman kabir, former Chairman of PaPaM Malik Mohammad aslam, former Chairman of PMa and LCCi former EC member amjad ali Jawa and Baber Mahmood said that load shedding in the industrial estate is causing irreparable loss to the economy besides increasing poverty and number of unemployed people in the country. they said that government silence over power crisis is putting a question mark on its ability to run the country. they said that due to wrong government policies and mismanaged affairs, the industry had almost collapsed and industrialists were left with no other option but to close down their operations. they said had right steps been taken well in time to enhance the power generation, the situation would have been far better. STAFF REPORT

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Major Gainers

WELL PLayED!

Lower the barriers, fellas! Bulls hit a century… indian officials urges Pakistani bourse to keep minimum barriers to attract strategic investors

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FFiCiaLs of the indian stock exchanges have recommended elimination of all constraints to make the demutualisation experience successful. the official shared their own experiences of demutualisation at a luncheon hosted by the Lahore stock Exchange (LsE) for the visiting dignitaries of indian capital market. the delegation comprised of MCX- stock Exchange india CEO Joseph Massey, south asian Federation of Exchanges (saFE) and Delhi stock Exchange (DsE) Chairman Dr Dalbir singh and other DsE directors, including Justice Vinod kumar, Mahendra nath, Vijay kumar and anuj Chowdhry. the delegation held discussions with the Board of Directors and members of the committee overseeing demutualisation at LsE. LsE MD/CEO aftab ahmed Ch, while welcoming the delegation said: “timing of this visit cannot be any better as the exchanges in Pakistan are in the process of demutualisation. We can learn a great deal from the experiences of Delhi stock Exchange and MCX in a post-demutualisation environment”. He said that the visit of indian business

community would play an important role to increase trade and cross border activity in the backdrop of granting india MFn status and positive measures being taken at both sides in these regards. the indian business community is visiting Pakistan to participate in a two-day conference of indo-Pak businessmen and look for opportunities to increase trade and finance between the two countries. speaking at the occasion, Joseph Massey of MCX-sX said that although Pakistan’s capital market was underdeveloped, this could be a blessing in disguise as it offered the strategic investors a huge upside potential. However, in order to turn this opportunity in exchanges favour, the exchanges must show an ability and willingness to grow. the exchange must try to fully project its potential in its business plan. Without these it will be very difficult to attract strategic investors, let alone contemplate sale at favourable valuation. Commenting on restriction proposed to be placed on issuance of trading rights post-demutualisation, he said that restriction of any sort that can hamper exchange’s business especially its revenue streams will not be viewed favourably by any investor and therefore Exchanges must try to avoid this.

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KSE 100-share index skyrockets 99.63 points KARACHI

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STAFF REPORT

n Wednesday, the bulls kept dominating karachi stocks market with the benchmark, ksE 100share index skyrocket 99.63 points. ahsan Mehanti, Director at arif Habib investments Limited, said that the Pakistan stocks closed higher amid trading in narrow range as investors speculate on favorable federal budget announcements for corporate sector. the day saw the index closing up by 0.69 percent at 14,613.59 points against 14,513.96 points of tuesday. the trading volumes at the ready-counter were recorded higher at 318.885 million shares against 226.218 million shares of the previous day. the trading value was up to Rs 9.991 billion compared to Rs 9.628 billion of the previous session. the intraday high and low, respectively, stood at 14643.88 and 14513.96 points. He added that the investor interest in blue-chip stocks in oversold fertilizer, cement, telecom sectors witnessed despite major fall in global stocks and commodities on uncertain future of Euro zone debt crises. the market capitalization grew modestly and increased to Rs 3.732 tril-

lion from Rs 3.705 trillion a day earlier. Of the total 387 traded scrips, 199 gained, 129 lost and 59 finished as unchanged. the free-float ksE-30 index also gained 73.08 points to close at 12,746.43 points against the previous 12,673.35 points. the ksE all-share index closed with a gained of 74.67 points to 10,251.17 points as against 10,176.50 points. azeem stated that Positive outlook for urea sales, higher cotton yields data and expected double digit rise in PsDP allocations in federal budget played a catalyst role in bullish sentiments at ksE. P.t.C.L.a was the day’s volume leader counting its traded shares at 47.264 million with the opening and closing rates standing at Rs 16.05 and Rs 16.20, followed by Lotte Pakistan Pta, D.G.k. Cement, Jahangir siddiqui Company and Bank al-Habib with turnover of 38.610 million, 25.254 million, 22.052 million and 16.474 million shares respectively.

On the future market, the turnover recovered remarkably by over 4 million shares to 23.241 million against 19.214 million shares of tuesday. the Unilever Food and Rafhan Maize sPOt, up Rs 148.95 and Rs 145.00, led highest price gainers while, siemens Pakistan and indus Dyeing, down Rs 33.40 and Rs 21.81 respectively, led the losers.

KARACHI: Being one of the most active, happening and aware brand - Glow by Warid continues supporting young leaders. this time, it was the Media Fest event of kinnaird College for women which was presented by Glow. it was aimed at helping Media students unleash their talent and expose their inner journalistic skills. kMs (kinnaird Media society), the college’s Mass Communication department, organized this festival in which over 550 kC students participated in four competitions.

Glow by Warid always recognizes the potential and provides platform and means to the youngsters of our nation to show their talents. the kMs President appreciated the role of Glow for supporting them in conducting their first Media Fest successfully.

aBL to launch mobile banking services

LAHORE: allied Bank Limited, one of the largest banks in Pakistan inked a technology support agreement for the deployment of mobile banking services with sybase, an saP Company, the global leader in mobile commerce services and abacus Consulting, the leading consulting, technology and outsourcing firm in the region. the deal was closed at the Head Office of the Bank today. khalid a. sherwani, President/CEO, Jalees ahmed, Executive Director - strategic Planning, Zia ijaz, Group Chief - Commercial & Retail Banking &

Open

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Change

Turnover

Unilever Food Rafhan MaizeSPOT Nestle Pakistan Ltd. Colgate Palmolive Sanofi-AventisXD

2990.06 2902.00 4122.31 861.00 168.58

3139.56 3047.10 4320.00 875.00 176.75

3000.00 2950.00 4150.00 850.00 168.58

3139.01 3047.00 4199.75 875.00 176.70

148.95 175 145.00 442 77.44 2,102 14.00 180 8.12 1,606

Major Losers Siemens Pakistan Indus Dyeing UniLever PakSPOT Island Textile Shezan Inter.

718.97 438.10 7341.25 228.73 172.94

702.00 416.32 7400.00 217.50 168.01

683.10 416.20 7100.00 217.30 165.00

15.90 10.06 46.55 17.46 29.40

16.20 9.13 44.70 16.25 27.74

685.57 416.29 7326.43 217.30 165.69

-33.40 1,345 -21.81 69 -14.82 315 -11.43 1 -7.25 3,900

Volume Leaders P.T.C.L.A 16.05 Lotte PakPTA D.G.K.Cement Jah.Sidd. Co. Bank AL-Habib

16.90 9.12 45.84 16.46 28.00

0.15 47,264,734 9.94 0.82 38,610,901 46.22 0.38 25,254,141 17.46 1.00 22,052,868 29.24 1.24 16,474,965

Interbank Rates Us Dollar Uk Pound Japanese Yen Euro

90.8170 146.2971 1.1401 117.8351

Dollar East US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal Australian Dollar

Buy

Sell

91.10 117.58 146.45 1.1358 90.38 11.58 24.78 24.28 91.02

91.80 118.40 147.43 1.1433 91.49 11.75 24.92 24.41 93.09

RELigioUS REaLM

BRIEF CORNER glow supports young leaders

Company

Mujahid ali, Group Chief - information technology from allied Bank, asad ali khan, President & abbas ali khan, senior Partner from abacusConsulting and Hasan Jamal, Country Head - Pakistan from saP were present on the occasion along with other officials. Pakistan happens to be one of the fastest developing markets in the world for mCommerce and these services will create opportunities of unprecedented scale for bank customers. allied Bank’s decision to deploy mCommerce solution will enable it to offer mobile phone based financial and non-financial services to its customers. On the occasion, sherwani commented “allied Bank, being one of the largest banks in Pakistan, has been capitalizing on technology to provide fast and cost efficient services to its customers. the imminent implementation of mCommerce solution would further enhance allied Bank’s capacity to extend its services to wide range of banking customers and help in extending financial inclusion to the hitherto untapped market segments”. asad a khan of abacusConsulting commented “We are pleased to be a part of this goal in transforming the financial ecosystem in Pakistan in partnership with allied Bank.

intel powers partner growth with compute continuum ISLAMABAD: intel this week hosts hundreds of asia Pacific channel partners at its annual intel solutions summit, held this year in Bali, indonesia. the summit, held over three days, will provide intel’s partner community with the tools to deliver solutions to businesses and consumers across the region. the intel technology Partner program saw a massive increase across asia Pacific during the past year, with 7,000 new organizations added. at the summit keynote, kamil Hasan, director of intel’s Reseller Channel Organization in asia Pacific, will outline intel’s focus areas for 2012 and beyond: “Partners across asia Pacific are seeing new possibilities in the compute continuum, and opportunities to deliver parts of a smarter, more secure, and always-connected computing experience that spans a range of device segments – including laptops, digital signage, allin-one devices, and servers – even the data centers to which they connect,” said Mr. Hasan. “in the last year alone, 7,000 more partners joined intel’s technology Provider program to learn how they can grow their businesses in the evolving world of technology.” the intel technology Partner program is designed to help train, support and position channel partners for sustained growth, by both supporting their

current business models and helping them identify and capture new opportunities in the market. at the event, intel will create value among its ecosystem by facilitating new relationships and managing access between mutually beneficial organizations. khawer Mehmood, , Managing Director, Optimum technology Pakistan, who is attending the summit said “in 2010, a combination of increasing competition and decreasing profit signified a need for our business to change focus on selling computers and look for other business growth solutions. intel helped us identify the vast potential in the digital signage segment in Pakistan and opened doors for us to access major partners in the market overseas”. innovation is a key area of discussion at the summit this year as many partners look to expand their business into new market segments. intel is providing building block ingredients for desktop, mobile and server CPUs, motherboards and systems so that channel partners can deliver new products and solutions to market.

Partners participating in the intel technology Provider program are already experiencing success across embedded, all-in-one, Ultrabook and software channels. “the demand of the compute market continues to grow and evolve, and we will strengthen our position across all channel segments and focus on working collaboratively with partners to grow and evolve the channel” says naveed siraj, Country Manager. “intel Pakistan looks forward to working with our local partner network to bring new innovations to market in Country.”

KARACHI: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and Sitara Mall recently announced the winner of their joint promotion “Next Stop UAE” from Faisalabad at the Sitara Mall.

The grand prize of the Etihad Airways-Sitara Mall lucky draw was a Return Ticket to Abu Dhabi on Etihad Airways. Shown here is (L-R) Mr. Atif Shehzad, Sales Executive, Etihad Airways, Mr. Haseeb Ahmed, CEO, Sitara Mall, Shaikh Zeeshan Afaq, RM Gerry’ International, Mr. Faizan Alam Awan (the winner). PRESS RELEASE

islamic countries urged to enhance mutual trade ties ISLAMABAD: Muslim nations need to further promote and strengthen economic ties and cooperation for exploiting the existing potential and ensuring maximum possible trade exchange among them. shahid Zaman shinwari, acting President islamabad Chamber of Commerce and industry (iCCi), has made these remarks during a meeting. He said that islamic countries own major production of oil and other valuable natural resources but the trade volume of these countries with Europe and america is far greater than themselves. He said that Muslim countries should focus on the promotion of trade among themselves because their existing trade volume accounts for only 7.8 percent of the world export and 6.7 percent of the world import. thus, the level of economic and commercial cooperation among Muslim countries should be increased on sound footings, he maintained. shinwari was of the view that multi-lateral trade among the Muslim countries could lift up their economies. He cited the examples of iran, Malaysia and turkey, which are industrializing at a much better rate. therefore, these countries should provide expertise in establishing basic industries like iron and steel and other metallurgical products in other Muslim countries which provides a strong reason for having close trade relations among these countries, he added. NNI

Refinery margins to improve as int’l oil prices take a plunge KARACHI: the lag reflection of decline in international crude oil on domestic prices bodes well for the refinery sector at least for shortterm, said the analysts. the Gross Refinery Margins (GRMs), a vital gauge of refinery sector profitability which showed signs of improvement in april, is expected to further boost in May on account of recent decline in crude oil prices, they said. “We estimate domestic GRMs in May to improve to $2.5 per barrel up from $1.5 recorded last month, while fare much better from average $1 per barrel recorded in the preceding quarter,” said nauman khan of topline Research. similarly, the analyst said, also had improved the lube margins which had jumped above $40 per barrel in May, provided lube prices to remain same, which averaged around $30 per barrel in the third quarter of FY12. “though falling crude oil prices may lead to inventory losses for few refineries which depend heavily on imports, higher GRMs wil more than compensate this risk we believe. Being wary on the enduring nature of GRMs improvement,” khan said. the analyst said the international crude oil prices (arab Light) in recent times on account of bearish sentiment emerging in the crude market fell from 2012 highest level of $126 per barrel to $111 per barrel. Only in May so far, the prices had average at $115 down 4 percent as compared to april. “this sharp decline in the crude oil prices is expected to bode well for the domestic refineries, whose product prices are based on preceding month product prices, under the prevalent pricing mechanism,” he added. subsequently, he said the May GRMs was estimated to stand around $2.5 per barrel as against $1.5 per barrel in april. khan said according to his estimates the atRL GRMs would improve to $4-4.5 per barrel during May as against $2-2.5 per barrel in april and were up considerably from average $2.5 estimated in 3Q. STAFF REPORT