Profit 21st December, 2011

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Wednesday, 21 December, 2011

Gilani directs railways to improve efficiency iSLaMaBaD JALALUDDIN RUMI

P

riME Minister syed Yusuf raza gilani has directed ministries of finance and railways to settle the issue of subsidy as railways is short of the rs20 billion worth subsidy that revenue division has refused to extend. Finance ministry is committed to extend rs27 billion while railways has demanded rs45 billion in terms of subsidy for current fiscal to run the cash strapped entity.

Prime Minister Wednesday during a briefing by secretary railways Arif Azim stressed upon getting railway locomotives repaired expeditiously to improve rail efficiency and transportation of goods in the country, so critical for convenience of the people and also to the economy. secretary railways informed the meeting that railway Management was pro-actively engaged in getting off-track locomotives repaired, and had already put back 21 locomotives in operation in the month of november. He said 19 locomotives in the current month and 15 locomotives in the month of

January would be repaired.

He further said Business Express Train and shalimar Express Train will also commence operations during third week of next month and these trains would provide rail traveling facilities of high standards to businessmen and the masses alike between Lahore and karachi.

He said these trains would operate on public-private partnership basis. Prime Minister would inaugurate their operations sometime during next month. secretary railways said these arrangements for the undisrupted supply of diesel had been worked out and as such rail service would improve considerably with far less chances of disruption in the service. The secretary further said ministry of finance had released rs600 million for making payments on account of electricity charges. general Manager operations saeed Akhtar said payment of electricity bills would lead to improvement of rail services besides ensuring its punctuality. He further said the service of cargo train between karachi and Lahore would also commence this month and the frequency of cargo trains will get momentum with every passing

month. secretary railways further informed that three trains namely rohri Express from rawalpindi to Multan, rawalpindi-Lahore rail car have been restored while sandal Express from sargodha to Multan via Jhang will be restored during next month. secretary further said that pension and the salaries have been underwritten by government of Pakistan as per the decision taken by Prime Minister in a meeting held on 3rd november, 2011.

PM also directed the ministry of finance to timely release the rs15 billion PsdP funds to railway for doubling of track, track rehabilitation, locomotive purchase and signaling purposes. Minister for finance, dr Abdul Hafeez sheikh, and minister for railways, Haji ghulam Ahmad Bilour, deputy chairman Planning commission, dr nadeem-ul-Haq, secretary Finance, secretary Economic Affairs division and other senior officials of the relevant ministries attended the meeting.

Later, a three members delegation led by chairman Pakistan cotton ginners Association (PcgA) called on Prime Minister and apprised the Prime Minister about the problems being faced by the

SanctionS on iran

Pakistan’s fruit exports halted Country to lose 3000 containers worth export market of Kinnow g SBP stops issuing E-form to exporters g

Karachi

P

GHULAM ABBAS

AkisTAni exports of fruits to iran have practically stopped following the United nation’s sanctions on the neighboring country. Under the sanction on the brotherly neighbour, state Bank of Pakistan (sBP) has also stopped issuing Eforms to the exporters of fruit causing huge losses to them. The exporters who were all set to export around 3000 containers of kinnow presently would be losing a lucrative market and revenue of at least $30 million, sources said.

The exporters who were waiting to export the huge available stock of kinnow to iran this year were shown a letter issued by sBP at various banks, in which the banks were barred from issuing the e-

form to them. This decision by the sBP has been taken following the Un sanctions on Tehran.

According to fruit exporters, this was a setback for them as they would not be able to export almost 3000 containers of kinnow this year to an already confirmed and valued market in the neighbouring country.

Talking to Profit, Waheed Ahmed co-chairman, Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, importers and Merchant Association (PFVA) said that the export of fruit to the neighboring country has practically stopped after the fresh move and has instead given rise to the illegal trade of fruit with iran.

After a complete halt of exports through legal ways, the smuggling/illegal export to iran via land routes would be increased that would cause huge losses in revenue to the national exchequer, he said.

ginners and cotton growers of the country in general and of southern Punjab in particular. Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Finance to look into the matter and resolve the issue at the Ecc level in consultation with other stakeholders aimed at stabilizing the prices of cotton in the country. ginners pointed out that the mill owners were using delaying tactics to procure cotton to the disadvantage of both ginners and growers.

The association, he said, would however approach the concerned authorities to take the issue seriously as the loss of a lucrative market would simultaneously affect the exporters, growers and transporters badly.

The county exports about 60,000 tonnes of kinnow annually to iran alone which is between 30 to 40 per cent of its total global kinnow trade, sources pointed out.

According to Waheed, the banks were showing an older notification issued by sBP which said that economic sanctions and embargoes sanctioned by Us prohibit trade and financial transaction with 10 countries including iran.” The branch managers and foreign exchange in charges are advised that in view of the risks involved, should not handle any type of transactions including the imports, exports, remittances and guarantees etc. expressed in Us dollars pertaining to the mentioned countries, or banks owned by these countries under Us sanctions”.

Though the notification bears the issuing date of december 2008, it was now being shown to the exporters when they demand the E form from banks. interestingly the same forms have been issued during the last two years despite the notification. However the banks were now implementing it this year, he said. He said that the Us and international community should compensate the country’s exporters, who indirectly have been

Pak exports grow by 7.6pc, textile exports decline by 1.3pc Karachi STAFF REPORT

ccording to latest trade figures, exports from Pakistan during July-november 2011-12 were $9.39 billion, while in the corresponding period of 2010-11, exports were 8.72 billion. This showed a growth of 7.6 per cent.

Textile sector remains the main stay of Pakistan’s exports, even though it has shown a decline of 1.3 per cent; its contribution to the total export was 53.5 per cent. Manufacturing sector was the second largest export sector, which registered a growth of 13.65 per cent and its contribution to the total exports was 18.9 per cent. Food group witnessed healthy growth of 22.7 per cent, and petroleum group showed 13.7 per cent growth. Analysis of the top 10 highest export value products during the period of

A

affected by the sanctions, through giving market access to other countries of the west.

According to sources, the fresh move, on the part of Us and Pakistan’s central banks, was another setback to the country’s exporters who were already facing banking issues. The unwillingness by Pakistani banks to accepting Letters of credit (Lc) of iranian banks was badly hurting Pakistani exports to the neighboring country. The local banks were earlier refusing to accept Lcs of even those iranian banks which did not fall under Un or United states sanctions.

Earlier, according to sources, the Un and the Us had imposed a ban on six major banks as part of a sanctions regime on iran for alleged illicit nuclear activity. However, Pakistani banks were point blank refusing to receive Lcs from even unsanctioned banks of the neighbouring country.

This constitutes a major hindrance to Pakistani exporters. despite repeated requests by both foreign and local exporters, the banking issue is not being resolved by the concerned authorities in islamabad. intriguingly, the sources claimed, this comes at a time, when Lcs of sanction-free banks of the host country are being accepted by Pakistan’s competitors in the region. As central banks of Pakistan’s rival countries are facilitating their exporters in terms of trade with iran, islamabad’s exports to iran are likely to suffer and lose potentially lucrative markets in iran, they pointed out.

July-november shows that the top five items were related to the textile group. cotton cloth, which earned nearly $1 billion in export, showed 6 per cent growth; knitwear, which crossed $900 million registered a decline of 2.8 per cent; bed wear, which is the third highest export, stood at approx $800 million and also showed a decline of 4.3 per cent. Export of readymade garments showed an increase of 3.5 per cent, while export of cotton yarn showed a decline of 13.6 per cent. other important items were chemicals and pharmaceutical, rice and other varieties, food items, Basmati rice and towels. Exports of these items were above $284 million. Among these five items, food items showed tremendous growth of 161 per cent, while chemicals and pharmaceutical showed 30 per cent growth, whereas, rest of other three products showed decline.

Under the present situation, iranian importers are either utilising other suppliers or import via dubai by opening Lcs from banks located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE); thus goods ultimately destined for iran are transited through dubai. on arrival, new documents are being prepared for these goods which are then being shipped in launches to small ports in iran, the sources added. The caution exhibited by the state Bank of Pakistan (sBP) which forbids local banks from accepting such Lcs have placed major exporters of Pakistan at a great disadvantage as they mostly refuse to ship goods directly to iran due to higher risk entailed, sources highlighted. The commercial attache of Pakistan in Tehran, in his report, had also underlined the issue, saying that due to the banking problems, there was a consistent decline in the country’s exports to iran specially for major items like cotton cloth, yarn and textile apparel.

According to the report though, the country’s embassy in Tehran had repeatedly requested bodies such as the Ministry of commerce and Trade development Authority of Pakistan (TdAP) to address the issue with sBP; but the problem remains unresolved. “if banking problems are not resolved on a priority basis, exports are destined to fall as iranian importers switch to other sources, where they can conduct business through Lcs,” the report warned.

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Wednesday, 21 December, 2011

debate

Oil calamity in the making i

iSMat SaBir

rAn says if the West blocks its oil exports the crude oil prices may be doubled and severely affect global economy. it is predicted that as decision is implemented the oil price would soar to above $250 a barrel. The British embassy stormed in Tehran and the international reaction came immediately condemning this action and demanding support for tougher action against Tehran. Washington and EU countries have been discussing measures to restrict oil exports. The United nations’ nuclear watchdog has issued a report in november 2011 saying that we have enough evidence that Tehran had worked on designing an atom bomb and imposition of sanctions on iran.

The Us senate also voted to penalise foreign financial institutions that would do business with iran’s central bank. iran is the world’s fifth largest exporter of oil. it exports 2.6 million barrels a day for which payment is required from the banks and they have to deal with central bank of iran. The European Union and UsA is considering imposing a ban on iranian oil imports, UsA has already imposed sanctions.

However, Washington and Brussels have not finalised the action against the oil trade or the central bank of iran, because of the possible repercussions on the global economy. They said imposing sanctions on oil and gas should be analysed thoroughly. rising tensions immediately resulted pushing up crude prices by 95 cents reached $109.94 a barrel.

After Britain’s embassy in Tehran ransacked, London announced unilateral sanctions on iran’s central bank and evacuated staff, closed the embassy and the biggest EU states withdrew their ambassadors. Earlier it was predicted by the West’s energy watchdog that oil prices could hit at the $150 a barrel mark, if unrest in Africa and the gulf cuts investment in output, besides defaults among eurozone members and banks. in 2011, $102pb was the average price which means the global economic recovery is slow. There is a possibility that production growth from the (Middle East and north Africa) MEnA region may not be at the estimated level. The required investment in the region is $100 billion per year, during 2011-15, and if this amount is not provided consumers could face a rise in the oil price to $150 per barrel. opec produces every third barrel in the world, presently, is facing political unrest across its members affecting oil market. it is expected that economic growth in 2012 in the MEnA region will be more than in 2011, mainly due to the infrastructure and industrial development in saudi Arabia, and a growth in iraq.

The average daily demand for oil in the world is estimated to be, 87.81 million barrels, i.e. 0.88 million more than in 2010, rising to 89.01 million barrels per day in 2012, oPEc estimates. However, in spite of the winter season, oE cd oil demand is expected a further contraction due to slow economic growth, particularly in the EU, the Vienna based

organisation said in its november monthly report. Moreover, the Us gasoline demand was also declining for the past four months, reflecting the slow-moving economy. oil consuming nations, hedge funds and big oil refineries are quietly preparing for a doomsday scenario, in case of an attack on iran, which would halt oil supplies from oPEc’s second largest producer. oil traders say the chance of military action is low, but the risks of such an event would impact world markets. With production of about 3.5 million barrels per day, iran supplies 2.5 per cent of the world’s oil.

Oil PrOduCtS PriCES raiSEd in PaKiStan The government has once again increased the prices of petroleum products saying that changes were done due to increase in international prices and exchange rate, said ogra. While the government has not reduced prices when a decline occurs in oil prices in the international market; it seems that an adjustment in petroleum levy is being covered. increase in the price of high speed diesel (Hsd) was rs4.67 to rs98.94 per litre and that of petrol by 48 paisa to rs87.89 per litre. The price of bio-fuel (E-10) has been increased by 48 paisa to rs85.39 per litre for the month of december.

The price of high octane blending component (HoBc) has been raised by six paisa to rs106.78 per litre, kerosene by rs3.48 to rs89.24 per litre and light diesel oil (Ldo) by rs4.79 to rs86.78 per litre. Ldo is used in certain pumps and machines, mainly in rural areas. The increase would put more burden on the consumers who are already overburdened. government has deregulated the prices of almost all petroleum products in June 2011 and allowed refineries and oil marketing

companies to announce exrefinery and exdepot prices every month, keeping in view the import parity price. However, prices are actually fixed by the Ministry of Petroleum and natural resources and notified by the oil and gas regulation Authority (ogra). ogra said government had decided to increase the prices of petroleum

Oil consuming nations, hedge funds and big oil refineries are quietly preparing for a doomsday scenario products because of changes in international prices and exchange rate. it was learnt that ogra had proposed to reduce prices of petroleum products but the petroleum ministry raised the prices. it said petroleum levy had been increased for petrol, HoBc and Hsd to alleviate budgetary constraints. it is to be noted that the petroleum levy on petrol has been increased from rs9.52 to rs9.94 per litre, on HoBc from rs6.13 to rs7.62 and on Hsd from rs4.44 to rs5.09 per litre.

However, they said the levy is still lower than the budget proposal of rs8 per litre for Hsd, rs14 for HoBc and rs10 for petrol.

FixEd SalES tax On POl The experts have suggested that fixed sale tax on petroleum products should be collected that would reduce inflationary effects and bring stability, irrespective of fluctuating oil prices in the international market. in Pakistan, to fill the demand and supply gap, from october 2007 to July 2011, the total petrol imports were

2,226k tonnes. The accumulated import bill of the country was over $13.4 billion. The Pak rupee was expected to depreciate to 90 rupees against Us dollar by the end of this financial year. However, it has already reached 89.79 rupees per dollar in december, 2011. This depreciation resulted in the fast deteriorating current accounts, during the first four months of FY12 (July-october), recorded a deficit of $1.5 billion as against $541 million of the period of last year.

Oil imPOrt Bill uP According to state Bank figures, during July-oct FY12, the import bill reached $13.4 billion, up 23 per cent or $2.521 billion against $10.879 billion in the same period of FY11. This expended the deficit of trade balance to $5.2 billion against $3.7 billion of the previous year.

The sBP said that the rupee depreciation was due to the high import payments. oil is a big segment in the import list. The growth in import of oil was in both value and quantity, which also shows that the consumption of oil in domestic market also rose because of furnace oil based power projects. of the total oil imports bill, the import of crude oil was up by 26.39 per cent to $1.696 billion as against $1.341 billion last year. This also indicated a rising demand of oil in the domestic market. Later on the oil sales in the country recorded a decline of 4 per cent mainly due to lower consumption of High speed diesel (Hsd) and furnace oil (Fo) during ten months of the current fiscal year, which together contributes 85 per cent of overall oil consumption in Pakistan. The dip in oil sales is mainly attributed to the devastating floods that reduced trade activity by eight per cent decline in diesel sales while temporary closure of few big iPPs reduced Fo consumption by three per cent.

According to Economic survey, merchandise imports increased to $ 32.3 billion in July-April 2010-11 as against $ 28.1 billion in the same period of last year, thereby showing an increase of 14.7 per cent. The overall import bill was higher by $ 4.1 billion, reflecting the impact of higher global crude oil and commodity prices, besides pakrupee depreciation. import of petroleum group grew by 8.4 per cent during July-April 2010-11 mainly reflecting the impact of spike in international oil prices as per unit values of petroleum crude increased by 23.6 per cent. in addition to that, quantity of import of crude oil also increased by 10.6 per cent during the period under review. The increase in petroleum import bill is evident from international monthly average prices of oil which surged from $76 per barrel in July 2010 to $123 per barrel in April 2011 reflecting an increase of 61.2 per cent during the period. The impact of this phenomenal increase in international oil prices will be more visible in the coming months in import bill of petroleum group. The quantity was support also expected to increase beyond February 2011. The huge injection of money in the rural areas mainly because of rise in prices of cotton and sugarcane has led to higher domestic demand to import motor vehicle which would consume more petrol. one can see that gasoline price has been increased rs33.81 per litre in, July 2011, to rs87.89 on 1 dec, 2011, showing an increase of rs56.08 per litre. The sale price of light diesel oil was rs16.13 per litre on 1 July, 2001 rose to rs86.78 per litre in 2011, depicting an increase of rs70.65 i.e., about 4.5 times in 10 years.

Therefore, inflation has always remained in two digits that made common men’s life difficult.

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Wednesday, 21 December, 2011

EDITORIAL

Time for hard but necessary decisions

Rupee under pressure

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oT much is pleasant on the economic front. The rupee touching 90 against the dollar on Monday reflects an out of control current account. And since there is little likelihood of the government’s fiscal or trade position improving anytime soon, we should begin preparing for a sustained decline in the local currency, even touching 100 per dollar in the third quarter of the ongoing fiscal.

The timing of the widening rupee-dollar exchange could not have been worse, underscoring the need for sound economic footing to prepare for unforeseen exogenous shocks.

The sovereign debt dilemma in Europe has pushed international investors to the safe haven of the Us dollar. otherwise, the dollar has largely hovered at its lowest levels of all time. That we are at our worst against the greenback in the present environment speaks volumes of incompetence in islamabad. it bears noting that across our eastern border, new delhi is struggling with similar problems with regard to a weakening local currency. Yet it would be quite an achieve-

ment to spot a government as heavily present in money market borrowing as ours. its inability to function without daily dose of debt lands it in a league of its own, compromising any chance of stimulating growth because of crowding out of crucial private sector investment. With funds deliberately channeled towards non productive expenditure, it is little surprise that monetary policy toggling has had little impact on growth and employment. Unfortunately, our miniscule export mix has also ruled out leveraging currency weakening for enhanced trade earning.

Expect further distressing news to follow the downward revision of the growth target. Expect also that deficits will bloat out of proportion. And expect continued rupee weakness. Trying to convince the public (as usual) that the downside owes to factors beyond its control will be particularly difficult as people go to the polls not long after the next budget presentation.

With half the fiscal remaining, there is still time for the government to at least posture in the right direction.

Shaukat Tarin

W

iTH privatisation of sick public sector enterprises (PsEs) off the table and the trade gap widening, the government’s fiscal space is going to come under increased pressure again. Those in charge need to be reminded that the government has no business doing business.

Far stronger economies, like Britain and France, that once tilted towards overriding central control have embraced market wisdom that privatisation increases efficiency. such steps should serve as important lessons for developing economies like ours. Yet we continue on the same old path, sidestepping tough-but-necessary decisions like turning sick and hemorrhaging state owned entities to market forces.

The trend is a reflection of popular politics in our part of the world. These white elephants have long served as ideal avenues to absorb political appointees, an exercise of monumental importance to the political hierarchy. But considering the present state of our economy – mired in chronic stagflation with the growth target revised downward again – kicking the privatisation can down the road means inviting obvious trouble. it is pertinent to note entities that were in private hands two-to-three decades ago, and measure their efficiency in government hands. kEsc is the prime example. once a blue-chip, it is now struggling to stay afloat, that too after a good rs150-175 billion in bailouts. PiA ranked among the best airlines in the world in the ‘60s. People prided themselves for associating with the national carrier. Airlines it helped setup – singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Emirates – now rank among the best, while PiA struggles with regular flights. railways, once the transport of choice, is in a ridiculous state of disarray.

The best precedent for successful privatisation comes from our banking sector reforms of the ‘90s. The initiative transformed the entire sector, more than 80 per cent of which is now consolidated in private hands. it turned those banks from loss making institutions to profitable entities. Yet the government remains oblivious of the ur-

The government has no business doing business

Drawbacks of National Youth Policy This is with regards to the feature, ‘national Youth Policy and its grey areas’ published yesterday. The writer has done remarkable research and analysis.

However, it would have been better if the feature were followed by interviews of the students and youth (working as well as non-working) in order to see their side of the picture as well and to know what they think and want from the government. it is pertinent to note here that the government of our country concentrates more on imparting technical education among youth and only produces paper MBAs, etc. For the youth to play a productive role in the success of this country, it has to add to the industrial production as well, which over a long period of time would help us become a self sufficient country rather than a country that relies on imports only. china, singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia are great examples to follow as to how youth can form part of the mainstream. Even india is quite ahead of us and now Bangladesh has also surpassed us.

rana SaqiB FAISALABAD

Flying with cockroaches

O

Ali Rizvi

Ur nation is afflicted with a severe crisis. it is one that threatens the very existence of those that inhabit this land of the pure, ironic when we call it ‘pure’. A few weeks back i read an interesting news report. Apparently the PiA has hired a Phd for the important task of killing all forms of pests including rats, cockroaches, lizards which are seen frequenting these planes. Whether, they had a pun intended here, i do not know, but i did hear the sniggering sounds of lizards,

cockroaches and rats. They too laughed at the irony of it. can the decline of national public sector institutions be attributed to cockroaches, lizards and rats, in the presence of their human infestations wreaking greater havoc to these organisations? i came across an advertisement of the PiA from the 1960’s. Had i not read PiA on the advert with my own eyes, i could have sworn that it was any international airline company like perhaps Pan Am. it showed a smartly dressed air hostess pointing towards PiA destinations that were painted like a graffiti on the wall behind. What stood out about the advertisement was the way the national flag carrier, and Pakistan saw itself back then. For many Pakistani’s, becoming part of the national flag carrier was a dream come true.

That dream, was conveniently trampled upon, crushed, violated and polluted by the cockroaches that have over the years infested the echelons of power.

At that time, PiA was the trendsetter

in the airline industry. it was a time, when PiA upheld the institutional ethics that make institutions what they are. While talking to an uncle of mine, who had witnessed the meteoric rise of PiA back then, he said that a pilot back in the day, refused to wait for khan sabur, a minister from East Pakistan, who could not arrive the airport on time, owing to a closed railway crossing. The minister, naturally was furious but the PiA, said that the airline would not inconvenience the passengers for the sake of providing protocol to a minister.

Back in the day PiA was an institution, with a spine, a spine that was reflected by the people that were at the helm of the organisation.

Unfortunately that cannot be said about the national flag carrier anymore.

The time, where gifted, competent and talented leadership was managing the affairs of the PiA like an airline should be run, are long gone. The rot, that set in was swift and unforgiving as it nosedived into the

ShahaB JaFry Business Editor

Kunwar KhuldunE Shahid Sub-Editor

BaBur SaGhir Creative Head

ali riZvi News Editor

mahEEn SyEd Sub-Editor

hammad raZa Layout Designer

gent need to reform loss making entities. i have often advocated the need to privatise both loss and profit making entities. There is enough empirical proof to back fears that if the latter are left in the government’s hands much longer, they too will be run into the ground. And at the risk of repetition, i must mention that there is a prudent manner in which to undertake the privatisation initiative. There must be a competent, independent Board of directors, which will chose a proficient chief executive and management team mandated with stabilising all public organisations to prepare for strategic privatisation. However, for the process to benefit the people of Pakistan, it is important not to undertake it lock, stock and barrel, rather do it in a strategic manner. it is much better to offer 26 per cent of companies for privatisation while retaining management control instead of plunging 51 per cent.

As regards the balance of payments (BoP) situation, it is worth noting that practically all our crises – whether the slump of the ‘90s or the downturn of ’08 – have been BoP problems. The problem is that whenever our fiscal mismanagement drains foreign reserves, we obviously cannot print dollars, hence the need for repeated bailouts.

Yet the external side has been stable for the past two years, with strong remittances bolstering the reserves position. However, of late, there are signs of dark clouds gathering over the external front again. remittances have started peaking. Exports are dropping, not the least because the international commodity price hike that bid up cotton has subsided. And imports are rising, predominantly because of high oil and input prices.

The external situation would not have been ominous if iMF pipelines were still open or the international market was conducive to Pakistan. But since iMF has linked grants to performance, which Pakistan has failed to live up to, we can expect bottlenecks from other bilateral and multilateral donors also, since they use the iMF nod as a go-ahead signal for indulging economies like ours. now, with multilateral donations questionable, relations with the Us rocky, $1.2 billion repayment beginning in Feb, and receivables from Etisalat and bond issue also uncertain, reserves are likely to come under pressure very soon. This means the rupee, already hovering around its lowest-ever level against the dollar, will be pressured further to the downside.

Time has come for the government to take prudent steps to improve export earnings and ease its fiscal burden. We need to enhance trade earnings, reduce reliance on imports and ensure public companies bleeding billions every year are handed over to the efficient private sector.

Failing this, our position will become increasingly worse.

The time for action is now.

The writer is a former finance minister

The nation’s dreams have been crushed, trampled upon by those that vowed to generate them

depths of corruption, nepotism, inefficiency, cronyism, rank inefficiency and the lower end of mediocrity.

When one looks at the statistics, one is pleasantly surprised that PiA is still functional. After all, it has been subjected to an ‘all you can eat’ frenzy of incompetent people that have been stuffed unmercifully down the throat of the national flag carrier for political motives. PiA has the distinction of being one of the most overstaffed air line, with an employee to plane ratio almost touching 1:400.

Maybe, we should hire another Phd for the cockroaches and rats that scurry the corridors of power to explain to them the law of diminishing marginal returns.

Therefore in such a setting, the cabinet committee meeting in Peshawar decided to shelf the privatisation plan for PiA, rail-

ways and other national institutions. We’re glad that they did, for we do believe in their superhuman ability to perform miracles on public sector enterprises, even if those ‘miracles’ have the tendency to miserably backfire. What PiA needs is competent leadership, one that works to improve institutional efficiency and invests in able and capable human resource. A PiA bailout plan has also been finalised, with rs20 billion worth of injections to be made in different phases. But without hiring another Phd to clear the rat and cockroach infestation in our public sector institutions, such bailout packages will be like giving ‘vodka to a drunk’.

The writer is News Editor, Profit.

For comments and queries: ali.rizvi7957@gmail.com

For comments, queries and contributions, write to: munEEB EJaZ Layout Designer

Email: profit@pakistantoday.com.pk Ph: 042-36298305-10 Fax: 042-36298302 website: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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Wednesday, 21 December, 2011

The prohibition of deceptive marketing is one of the four important pillars enshrined in the competition law of Pakistan

newS

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CCP, Chairperson, ms rahat Kaunain hassan

ADB to finance Diamer Basha Dam as senior lender LahOrE

A

STAFF REPORT

national defence University (ndU) delegation comprising participants of national security Workshop visited WAPdA House to interact with WAPdA and PEPco/nTdc authorities about matters pertaining to water and power sectors. The delegation, headed by Major general Zia-uddin najam, comprised of federal as well as provincial legislators and senior officers of civil organisations and armed forces. speaking on the occasion, WAPdA Member (Water) syed raghib Abbas shah said Asian development Bank (AdB) has agreed to finance diamer Basha dam Project as senior lender. This is yet another significant develop-

ment towards implementation of the project. For the $12 billion project, the process to acquire land is in progress, while 12 contracts for construction of WAPdA offices, colonies, contractors’ camps, roads, infrastructure etc in the project area have already been awarded. on completion, diamer Basha dam Project, with water storage capacity of 8.1 million acre feet and power generation capacity of 4500 MW, will go a long way in meeting the water and power needs of the country, he added.

The member said that WAPdA is successfully implementing several projects in water and hydropower sectors despite financial constraints. These projects, ranging from medium-sized to mega ones, will supplement water supplies for agriculture and increase the ratio of low-cost hydel electricity in the na-

tional grid, he further said. referring to the strategically important 969 MW-neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project, he apprised the delegation that 27 per cent work on the project is complete, while the overall completion of the project is scheduled in 2016. Besides underconstruction projects, 1410 MWTarbela 4thExtension, 4320 MW-dasu, 7100 MW-Bunji, 740 MW-Munda multipurpose, 84 MW-kurram Tangi multipurpose projects are also being implemented, he added.

PEPco/nTdc Managing director rasul khan Mahsud informed the delegation about the generation expansion plan and measures being taken to reduce line losses improve recovery position and introduce smart-metering system. WAPdA general Manager (north) rashid Ali khan Bangash, briefing the del-

egation, said that per capita availability of water has gone down from 5260 cubic meter in 1951 to 1011 cubit meter in 2011 due to increase in population and decrease in water storage capacity because of the natural phenomenon of sedimentation.

He said additional 20 million acres of land could be brought under irrigated agriculture if water is provided by constructing new dams.

PEPco/nTdc general Manager (coordination and Monitoring) Ziaur-rehman briefed the delegation about the power generation capacity, supply and demand position during the last decade and the financial issues being confronted by PEPco/nTdc. WAPdA Member (Finance) syed nazakat Ali shah, WAPdA secretary Muhammad imtiaz Tajwar and other senior officers of WAPdA and PEPco/nTdc also attended the briefing.

LCCI, International One week for CNG Finance Corp join hands dealers to ensure safety LahOrE

iSLaMaBaD

STAFF REPORT

STAFF REPORT

AHorE chamber of commerce and industry and the international Finance corporation, a member of the World Bank group, Tuesday joined hands to establish first of its kind Business Mediation centre at Lahore chamber of commerce and industry. on behalf of Lahore chamber of commerce and industry, Lcci President irfan Qaiser sheikh inked cooperation Agreement (cA) while iFc was represented by Manager investment Magdi Amin. While Lcci senior Vice President kashif Younis Meher, Vice President saeeda nazar, Project officer iFc Barrister isfandyar Ali khan and Project Analyst iFc reshma Aftab were also present in the signing ceremony. speaking on the occasion, Lcci President irfan Qaiser sheikh said that cooperation agreement between Lcci and iFc will help improve investment climate in the country by offering alternative avenues for swift dispute resolution through mediation between contracting parties. it will reduce the cost of doing business as contracting parties will be able to avoid expensive and lengthy court procedures to resolve their disputes. Although Pakistan fares relatively well on many business and investment climate indicators when compared with economies regional and globally, the country still has to make substantial progress in ensuring an overall enabling economic environment. Lcci-iFc initiative will go a long way in improving the quality of business environment in the country.

Mechanisms of alternative disputes resolution especially through mediation are being favoured all over the world for being less costly and efficient in terms of time taken to settle violations of contractual obligations.

nE week deadline has been given by ministry of petroleum and natural resources to the dealers of compressed natural gas (cng) stations to ensure safety of cng cylinders. The announcement has come following a ban that is scheduled to be imposed on use of cng in public sector transport in case of failing to meet deadline. Ministry of petroleum would issue directions to concerned departments and communicate provinces to facilitate conducting test of cng cylinders to ensure safety of the people. secretary Petroleum ijaz chaudhry issued these directions while presiding over a high level meeting to review the safety measures in cng fitted public services vehicles. The meeting was attended by ghyas Abdullah Paracha, central chairman All Pakistan cng Association (APcngA) and oil and gas regulatory Authority (ogrA) officials. during the meeting, secretary petroleum expressed concerns over incidents of cng cylinder blasts. He said ministry had already taken serious notice of these cng incidents. cng association, being an important stakeholder should work hand in hand with government to facilitate the implementation of cng safety measures. The regulatory ogrA has already proposed a ban on public transport vehicles including wagons, buses and coasters due to lost of lives in incidents and shortage of gas. representatives of cng association agreed to conduct mass awareness campaign in print media informing cng consumers to conduct safety testing of their cng kits and cylinders.

L

o

INDEX GAINS 255PTS

Rumour mills fan bullish surge in KSE Karachi STAFF REPORT

k

sE-100 index advanced 2.3 per cent to close at 11,338 points level, gaining 255 points over market rumours that the ksE board is sending proposals and is formally meeting FBr officials to convince them that individual investors be exempted from the capital gains Tax (cgT) and instead be taxed under the Presumptive Tax regime.

Almost all major blue chip companies ended the day in ‘green’ in the face of major offshore selling reported in banking and fertiliser stocks. Engro jumped to its upper circuit breaker as foreign selling subsided and over rumors of urea price increase in the coming days, followed by FFBL hitting its upper circuit breaker. oil advance was led by PoL and ogdc gaining 1.3 per cent & 3.6 per cent respectively after MoL announced a discovery of 1,296

bbls of oil per day and 30 mmscf of gas per day in Manzalai-9. McB was by far the best performer among banks jumping 2.5% over expectations of better earnings and payout with full year results.

The trading session was expected to follow its usual lackluster spell but strong rumours gripped the local stock market about removal of cgT. Furthermore the cgT would be replacing the old

cVT which does not require much documentation. The rumour energised traders and punters aggressively stormed the market which pushed the benchmark upwards by 255 points. irrespective of fundamental issues, most of the stocks were enjoying the high tide and the index sharply recovered.

Engro kissed the rs90 mark and rebounded aggressively to close the day at rs96.56. “our economic man-

agement is still under the influence of iMF, hence we may not expect the removal of cgT in the near term if tax collection is well below the targets,” said Bilal Asif, Head of research at HMFs. “if the rumour turned out to be correct, we can expect volumes to greatly improve which may improve the performance of the benchmark,” he added. The ksE 30 index closed at 10409.25 levels with the gain of 248.07 points, while All share index closed at 7841.33 levels after gaining 167.24 points. Total 150 scrips advanced 79 declined and 83 remain unchanged out of total 312 scrips traded.

workers protest against 17pc GSt on tractors industry LAHORE: Millat Tractors Workers Union (MTWU) has threatened to hold long march towards islamabad if government does not take back the 17 per cent gsT imposed on tractor industry. Addressing a protest-rally at sheikhupura road on Monday, MTWU President Haji Maqsood ur rehman said tractor industry is providing employment to thousands of workers but the government is not taking this industry seriously and has imposed 17 per cent general sales tax (gsT) on it causing serious financial losses to the sector. “There has been 61 per cent reduction in the sales of tractors during the last nine months since imposition of gsT,” he said adding last year Millat Tractors sold 23,000 tractors but this year sales dropped to 12,000 tractors and it is all because of gsT imposition. “The prices of tractors skyrocketed because of unjust decision of imposing 17 per cent gsT and tractors have come out of reach of farmers while high mark-ups by banks are adding fuel to the fire,” he lamented. He said Al ghazi Tractors has closed its plant and thousands of workers went unemployed but even then the government did not take any action. He said Millat Tractors is also facing problems because of gsT and its employees are under tremendous pressure. “if Millat Tractors is closed then five million workers and their families would miss the earnings and the menace of unemployment would haunt the government,” he said adding there is no demand of tractors in the market due to high prices. He claimed that Millat Tractors administration has given us ultimatum of closing its factory due to financial constrains and now we are at losing end and have no other option but to hold strikes and rallies. STAFF REPORT

tdaP to support multan chamber of commerce KARACHI: Trade development Authority of Pakistan (TdAP) will extend support to Multan chamber of commerce in its efforts to promote local crafts and artifacts of Multan. While talking to the President and office bearers of the Multan chamber, Mr Tariq Puri, chief Executive TdAP, stressed upon exporters to raise value-addition to their products so these could be competitive in international markets and also fetch a better price. Earlier, he had a meeting with south Punjab Women chamber of commerce where he highlighted efforts of TdAP in promoting women entrepreneurs. He pointed out that TdAP was working on establishment of a training institute and common Facility center (cFc) which would help skills of women in making products which have greater demand in the international market. Earlier in the evening, Mr Tariq Puri addressed the gathering of All Pakistan Bedsheets and Upholstery Association (APBUMA) and highlighted initiatives undertaken by TdAP for making inroads into regional markets, especially into china and other south and East Asian countries. STAFF REPORT

halal Food accreditation programme to launch from January isLAMABAd: The government has announced to launch Halal Food Accreditation programme form January next year in order to boost export and local sale. This was decided in the first sectoral committee meeting headed by director general Pakistan national Accreditation council (PnAc) Anjum Bashir on Tuesday. As sectoral committee give go ahead prerequisite to launch Halal Food accreditation scheme; the dg told participants that Halal food accreditation scheme would be launched form next month and in first phase only food sector will be accredited. The $4 trillion Halal food market is fast growing with more consumer awareness not only in food sector but also in non-food products, like pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, healthcare, toiletries and other non-consumables.

Anjum Bashir said this, adding that Pakistan being an islamic country needs to take advantage of this opportunity and once recognised Halal certified goods/services chain starts; it will help local sale and export. representative of the private sector, scholars, Ulema and other stakeholders appreciated the efforts of PnAc in this regard. STAFF REPORT

Clarification LAHORE: With reference to a quote published yesterday, citing syed Qaiser shareef on page 8 of Profit, it was wrongfully published that he is currently serving as the country Manager of P&g Pakistan whereas he retired in december 2010. The current country Manager for P&g Pakistan is Faisal subzwari.

The error is regretted.

PRO 21-12-2011_Layout 1 12/21/2011 12:24 AM Page 5

Wednesday, 21 December, 2011

Right now, our most vibrant sector is the energy sector – we have so many forms of alternate energy: hydel, geothermal, wind, solar

newS

Boi Chairman, Salim mandviwalla

Saudi Prince Alwaleed buys DUBai rincE Alwaleed bin Talal, the saudi billionaire and an investor in some of the world's top companies, has bought a stake in microblogging site Twitter for $300 million, gaining another foothold in the global media industry. Alwaleed, a nephew of saudi Arabia's king who was estimated

by Forbes magazine this year to have a fortune of over $19 billion, already owns a 7 per cent stake in news corp and plans to start a cable news channel. Twitter was a key means of communication for protesters in the Arab spring revolts this year, violence that threatened saudi Arabia until the kingdom unveiled a populist $130 billion social spending package.

The Twitter stake, bought jointly

by Alwaleed and his kingdom Holding co investment firm, resulted from "months of negotiations," kingdom said. The investment was a secondary market transaction, meaning that Alwaleed and kingdom Holding bought the Twitter shares from existing shareholders, rather than making a direct investment, according to a person familiar with the matter. The financing took place at around the same time as

P

a $400 million venture-capital investment in Twitter that closed in september, but was part of a separately arranged transaction, another person familiar with the matter said.

Twitter chief executive dick costolo acknowledged the company was valued at $8 billion in the secondary markets in october, according to media reports, which would peg the size of Alwaleed's investment at just under 4 per cent. kingdom's executive director Ahmed Halawani told reuters that "substantial capital gain" was the motivation behind the investment, adding that there were no moves to ask for a board seat or influence strategy at Twitter. Twitter, which allows people to send 140character messages, or Tweets, to groups of followers, is one of the internet's most popular social networking services, along with Facebook and Zynga inc.

Bernhard Warner, co-founder of analysis and advisory firm social Media influence, said: "The Arab world, of course, knows full well the value of Twitter. in the past year, it has been a force in politics, in regime change, so there is not a single person in that region in a position of influence who is not following the increasing power of Twitter. "(Alwaleed) must see

apple scores limited victory in smartphone patent war taiPEi

TWITTER STAkE REUTERS

05

REUTERS

A

Twitter as something that is going to be a really powerful broadcast channel," he said, adding the saudi got into the internet boom belatedly, with mixed results, and appeared to be "kind of late" to the game again. investors in saudi Arabia were more bullish, sending in kingdom shares up 5.7 per cent to 8.30 riyals at the close. "one of the few sectors to record significant revenue gains in the last three years has been technology, which is why kingdom would see Twitter as a good addition to its diversified portfolio," said Hesham Tuffaha, head of asset management at Bakheet investment group in riyadh.

INVESTOR BACKS IPO Halawani gave his backing to a potential initial public share offering from Twitter, saying the investor would be interested in participating. Markets are eagerly anticipating a Twitter float, but the company said in september it was in no hurry to go public. it now counts more than 100 million active users who log onto the service at least once a month. Facebook, the world's largest social network has more than 750 million active users. internet search giant google inc

recently launched a social networking service dubbed google+ which some observers say could attract users away from Twitter.

The shares of online games developer Zynga ended at a 5 per cent discount to their issue price on their trading debut on Friday and analysts said any valuation for Twitter could be misleading. "You could put any number of zeroes behind a valuation of a private company. Before it goes public it is almost meaningless," said Warner. "This is a very small group of investors which has put money into this thing. That will be diluted and diluted and diluted again until it goes public. And that is when we will see what the value is.

These are kind of magic numbers at the moment." kingdom owns a near-30 per cent stake in saudi research and Marketing group, which runs a range of media titles. "our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact," Alwaleed said.

Alwaleed paid $500 million for shares in last year's general Motors co iPo. in August this year, he unveiled plans to build the world's tallest tower in Jeddah.

PPLE inc scored a narrow victory against Taiwan's HTc corp in a patent lawsuit over smartphone technology that will set the stage for further battles between rival makers in the fiercely competitive market. in a case seen as a proxy for a larger fight between google inc's Android operating system and Apple's ios, the U.s. international Trade commission ruled that HTc infringed on one of four patents Apple had disputed and imposed a sales ban on some of the Taiwan maker's phones. While the ruling is unlikely to hurt HTc as much as initially feared because it will have time to work around the offending technology and has until April before the ban becomes effective, it offers Apple ammunition to pursue other makers it believes infringe on its technology. "This is one skirmish in one battle, which is forming a much larger war and each side has got some ammunition left," said david Wilson, a London-based partner at the intellectual property group with Herbert smith LLP. The patent in question, '647, relates to technology that helps users clicking on phone numbers and other types of data in a document, such as an email, to either dial directly or click on the data to bring up more information. As it is widely used in almost all smartphones, industry experts foresee similar rulings should Apple bring other cases.Apple's battle with samsung Electronics co Ltd, which also uses Android software and is a supplier as well as competitor, has been especially bitter, with some 30 legal cases in 10 countries.

ANDROID DOMINATES ASIA Apple's founder, the late steve Jobs, was quoted in his biography as saying that he was going to "destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. i'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this." But the Android system dominates the Asia-Pacific ex-Japan smartphone market with a 53 percent share this year versus 15 percent for Apple's ios, according to technology research company idc, and Android is not likely to lose much ground.

CORPORATE CORNER international women leaders Summit to be organised

continuation of the President's summit on Entrepreneurship hosted by Us President obama last year in Washington, dc, as promised by him in his famous speech in cairo. PRESS RELEASE

Companies get honoured with Corporate Philanthropy awards

living in such remote areas will benefit the most.

Through online facility, nBP customers holding an account at any online branch can deposit and withdraw cash from any of the 1,000 online branches through inter Branch Transaction (iBT); debit/ATM card can be issued to all customers of online branches; centralised account opening, know Your customer (kYc) and better control and compliance. PRESS RELEASE

Sony’s latest vaiO line-up to offer comprehensive entertainment KARACHI: As part of the 4th WiBcon (Women in Business conference series) for professional women, an "international Women Leaders summit" is being organised in karachi. This was announced by Mr Aamir niazi, director Pakistan society for Training and development (PsTd). PsTd is a non profit and non governmental organisation, committed to the promotion of professional Human resource development through organising training programmes and conferences. The vision for this conference is to make women draw inspiration from global and Pakistani leaders and overcome the stereotypical barriers which restrict their growth and success. PRESS RELEASE

t u dawood speaks at Pm's Summit for Entrepreneurship ISTANBUL: Tara Uzra dawood, President dawood global Foundation LAdiEsFUnd ®, had the pleasure of recently being invited as a guest of Turkish Prime Minister, recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his ministry to speak on women entrepreneurship at the Prime Minister's summit on Entrepreneurship. This summit was in

KARACHI: governor state Bank of Pakistan, Mr Yaseen Anwar, gave away the 5th PcP corporate Philanthropy Awards to companies that were actively engaged in contributing to social development in the country. The award distribution ceremony was organised by Pakistan centre for Philanthropy (PcP).

Attendees included leading businessmen, senior government officials, civil society representatives, donors and media persons. The award winners for 2010 were as follows: Awardees ranked top 5 for the year 2010 for the highest volume of donations are (1) Pakistan Petroleum Limited (2) Habib Bank Limited (3) Fauji Fertiliser company Limited (4) Engro corporation Limited and (5) Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim. PRESS RELEASE

LAHORE: sony, the leading consumer brand, unveiled a new series of its world-renowned sony VAio range in a grand ceremony at the Avari Hotel. The new VAio c series is available in seven dynamic and vivid colours, with two limited editions in pink and black featuring design patterns for those who seek to be noticed. The range is designed to brighten up the everyday Pc experience, while providing powerful computing performance. PRESS RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE

PtCl re-launches vfone azadi offer ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication company Limited (PTcL) has re-launched its Vfone Azadi offer for its potential Vfone subscribers in Pakistan. The re-launched Vfone Azadi now offers a free balance equal to the set price. on acquiring a Vfone telephone set, customers can now get an instant free balance of rs3,600 for 1900 MHz and rs4,000 for 450 MHz, which can be used for calling on-net (VV, V-PsTn Local & nWd) for internet and for both on-net and off-net sMs. “The re-launch of Vfone Azadi offer establishes PTcL as a customer-oriented organisation,” said senior Executive Vice President commercial, naveed saeed. PRESS RELEASE

wi-tribe celebrates Qatar national day

national Bank of Pakistan meets 1,000 online branches target KARACHI: in a major achievement, national Bank of Pakistan has converted its 1,000 branches online out of its countrywide network of 1,270 branches. in a short span of eight months, nBP's iT division was able to meet this uphill task set by bank's management at the beginning of the year.

With majority of branches going online people

development and a hub of educational and cultural advancement. Having won the bid for the 2022 FiFA World cup, one of many recent milestones, Qatar shows immense promise for future expansion and development in the gcc region.”

KARACHI: Wi-tribe, celebrated Qatar’s national day, by recognising the tremendous progress and achievements under the leadership of His Highness Amir Hamad bin khalifa Al-Thani. cEo wi-tribe, Mustafa Peracha said, “on behalf of witribe Pakistan, i congratulate the people of Qatar and Qtel on your national day. Qatar has risen to become a leader in scientific and technological

ISLAMABAD: Chief Guest Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, President AJK Sardar M Yaqoob, Ambassador of Qatar Sayar Abdul Rahman AlMawdah, Federal Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Aziz Saleh bin Ibrahim Al-Ghadeer, Ambassador of Oman Muhammad Saeed Muhammad Al-Lawati, Ambassador of UAE Essa Abdullah Al Basha AlNoaimi, Ambassador of Bahrain Muhammad Abdul Qader cutting the cake during a ceremony to celebrate the anniversary on the accession of Sheikh Jassim bin Mohamed bin Thani. PRESS RELEASE

PRO 21-12-2011_Layout 1 12/21/2011 12:25 AM Page 6

Wednesday, 21 December, 2011

06 MarketS

top 10 Sectors

49% 09% 10% 04% 04%

Chemicals

01% 03% 01% 02% 17%

Real Estate Investment

Construction & Materials Electricity Banks

Fixed Line Telecommunication

Oil & Gas

Financial Services

Personal Goods

Equity Investment Instruments

STOCK MARKET HIGHLIGHTS Index 11338.04 2852.12 2630.51

kSE-100 LSE-25 ISE-10

Change +255.01 +117.66 +71.48

Volume 57,359,689 1,237,845 23,330

Market Value 3,067,789,987 35,116,042 467,945

top 5 perForMerS Sector wiSe

Major Gainers Company Nestle PakistanXD Siemens Pak Wyeth Pak Limited UniLever Pak Ltd. Service Industries

Open 2329.29 743.33 685.00 5387.25 184.19

High 2445.75 780.00 718.47 5424.00 192.00

Low 2299.99 744.00 652.00 5260.00 177.00

Close 2445.75 780.00 717.59 5399.96 191.90

Change 116.46 36.67 32.59 12.71 7.71

Turnover 784 99 547 371 5,375

1707.69 207.56 73.20 46.24 43.20

1700.00 207.95 70.50 44.50 41.10

1700.00 204.00 69.54 43.93 41.10

1700.00 204.00 69.95 43.93 41.10

-7.69 -3.56 -3.25 -2.31 -2.10

1 506 8,860 3,760 500

Volume Leaders WorldCall Jah.Sidd. Co. Engro Corp Lotte PakPTA Fauji Fert BinXD

0.84 4.27 91.97 9.07 45.87

0.89 4.40 96.56 9.70 48.16

0.80 4.08 90.40 8.89 45.52

0.81 4.19 96.56 9.52 48.03

-0.03 -0.08 4.59 0.45 2.16

11,991,914 10,908,414 6,305,791 6,193,720 3,660,218

Bullion Market Gold 24k Gold 22k Silver (Tezabi) Silver (Thobi)

Per Tola (PkR) 54,131.00 51,608.00 990.00 1025.00

Per 10 Gm (PkR) 46,458.00 44,245.00 849.00 880.00

Per Ounce US$ 1,606.00 – 35.05 –

hiGh

lOw CurrEnt

426.00 112.24 20.92 6.69 86.97

417.90 107.60 19.90 6.37 84.00

ChanGE

vOlumE

Oil and Gas Attock Petroleum Attock Refinery Burshane LPG Byco Petroleum Mari Gas Co.

422.83 107.92 20.92 6.40 84.96

Arif Habib Co SD Clariant Pakistan Dawood Hercules Descon Chemical Descon Oxychem

26.69 151.00 29.70 1.55 3.77

1.11 3.60 0.00 0.14 1.06

34,538 1,429,930 400 401,192 59,570

19.00 1.18 8.75 27.20 9.30

27.99 153.00 31.18 1.50 3.97

26.31 150.26 29.25 1.45 3.60

27.81 152.00 31.18 1.45 3.89

1.12 1.00 1.48 -0.10 0.12

1,649,979 35,859 88,174 2,500 98,635

2.24 52.57 1.90 13.99 6.55

19.09 1.24 9.00 28.56 9.99

18.25 1.10 8.74 27.99 9.05

19.01 1.19 8.84 28.56 9.99

0.01 0.01 0.09 1.36 0.69

14,342 22,927 600 25,605 7,138

27.99 3.94 40.00 7.00 19.35

Ados Pakistan AL-Ghazi TractSPOT Ghandhara Ind. Hinopak Motor Millat Tractors Ltd.

89.8042 139.0798 1.1524 117.0149

4.56 191.37 6.91 68.23 372.10

2.30 52.05 1.77 14.15 6.99

2.10 51.00 1.76 13.99 6.56

2.25 51.97 1.77 13.99 6.97

0.01 -0.60 -0.13 0.00 0.42

163,078 22,155 550 23 7,661

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

International Oil Price WTI Crude Oil

Sell 90.60 117.66 140.25 1.1532 88.17 11.64 24.59 24.06 91.07

Brent Crude Oil

Agriautos Industries Atlas Battery Ltd. Atlas Engineering Atlas Honda Ltd. Dewan Motors

57.00 165.02 58.00 121.50 1.88

28.05 4.45 41.70 7.79 19.35

27.40 4.00 40.00 6.62 18.35

27.83 4.04 40.00 6.99 19.35

-0.16 0.10 0.00 -0.01 0.00

12,997 31,928 2 3,681 99

4.99 194.50 6.91 70.60 380.00

4.25 183.49 6.32 68.23 369.50

58.00 166.90 58.00 124.99 1.94

57.00 165.00 58.00 121.50 1.60

110.49 111.43 150.02 150.00

4.56 189.77 6.91 70.05 378.21

$103.64

57.00 166.15 58.00 121.50 1.91

109.00 111.18 145.05 145.58

Adam Sugar AL-Noor Suger Mills Baba Farid Colony Sugar Mills Engro Foods Ltd.

16.00 55.32 39.83 1.75 22.90

16.70 55.20 39.83 1.75 23.95

Diamond Ind. Hala Enterprise Pak Elektron Ltd. Singer Pakistan Tariq Glass Ind.

8.20 6.01 4.06 14.07 8.30

9.18 6.90 4.38 15.06 8.50

Ali Asghar Textile Amtex Limited Artistic Denim Mills Azam Textile Azgard Nine

0.26 1.20 20.84 1.11 3.10

0.50 1.20 21.50 1.11 3.55

AHCL-DEC ANL-DEC ATRL-DEC BAFL-DEC DGkC-DEC

26.84 3.15 108.24 10.60 18.17

28.00 3.50 112.70 11.60 19.17

Abbott Laboratories Ferozsons (Lab) Ltd. GlaxoSmithkline Pak. Highnoon (Lab) IBL HealthCare

100.80 71.08 65.04 28.00 12.70

100.50 74.62 65.50 29.40 13.65

0.00 -1.60 0.00 1.82 6.11

5 4,907 203 550 19,778

0.00 1.13 0.00 0.00 0.03

220 2,420 955 110 4,346

0.69 -4.44

1,170 203

P.T.C.L.A Pak Datacom Ltd Telecard Limited Wateen Telecom Ltd WorldCall Telecom

10.10 34.00 0.79 1.75 0.84

16.70 55.20 39.83 1.75 23.22

0.70 -0.12 0.00 0.00 0.32

2,992 1 24 1 83,504

9.18 6.90 3.94 13.07 8.31

9.18 6.90 3.94 15.06 8.39

0.98 0.89 -0.12 0.99 0.09

1 50 389,302 501 11,224

0.50 1.10 20.79 1.11 3.02

0.50 1.18 21.50 1.11 3.46

0.24 -0.02 0.66 0.00 0.36

500 21,583 9,695 1 2,798,308

26.49 3.19 108.00 11.60 18.00

27.96 3.40 111.88 11.60 19.09

1.12 0.25 3.64 1.00 0.92

141,500 698,000 438,500 500 808,500

99.00 74.62 65.27 29.23 13.61

-1.80 3.54 0.23 1.23 0.91

5,010 1,185 6,376 3,999 6,232

99.00 73.00 64.75 28.85 12.70

10.30 35.50 0.80 1.94 0.89

10.05 34.00 0.72 1.72 0.80

10.28 34.38 0.75 1.84 0.81

0.18 0.38 -0.04 0.09 -0.03

620,154 2,900 80,610 20,561 11,991,914

0.35 35.44 0.63 1.51 16.95

0.40 35.75 0.79 1.54 16.50

0.28 35.31 0.52 1.51 16.13

0.35 35.52 0.63 1.51 16.50

0.00 0.08 0.00 0.00 -0.45

367 1,410,334 200,211 234,288 509

54.96 10.09 4.80 11.34 28.34

57.70 10.30 4.99 11.58 28.99

54.10 9.90 4.70 11.29 28.20

56.83 10.29 4.81 11.51 28.30

1.87 0.20 0.01 0.17 -0.04

13,185 75,194 849,245 1,285,816 86,677

Banks Allied Bank Ltd Askari Bank B.O.Punjab Bank Al-Falah Bank AL-Habib

OPEn

hiGh

lOw CurrEnt

ChanGE

vOlumE

Non Life Insurance 16.49 52.59 37.84 1.70 22.90

Electricity Genertech Hub Power Co. Japan Power k.E.S.C. kohinoor Energy

SymBOl

Adamjee Ins Atlas Insurance Central Ins Co. Century Insurance EFU General Ins

40.06 36.00 50.00 6.78 35.00

42.06 37.00 50.22 6.98 36.25

38.82 36.00 50.00 6.78 35.00

42.06 36.00 50.00 6.78 35.06

2.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.06

90,656 1 2 100 5,371

13.50 1.40 65.53

14.50 1.40 65.53

0.00 0.00 0.00

2 1 157

0.35 14.90 14.43 2.55 1.00

0.02 0.47 0.41 0.04 -0.02

9,568 7,184 16,224 11,363 1,001

Life Insurance American Life East West Life Assur EFU Life Assur

14.50 1.40 65.53

14.50 2.34 68.80

Financial Services AMZ Ventures A Arif Habib Investmen Arif Habib Ltd. F. Nat.Equities IGI Inv.Bank

0.33 14.43 14.02 2.51 1.02

0.39 14.97 14.48 2.73 1.00

0.26 13.43 14.01 2.51 0.97

Equity Investment Instruments 1st.Fid.Leasing Mod Allied Rental Mod Asian Stocks Fund B.R.R.Guardian Cres. Stand.Mod

1.60 22.50 4.50 2.35 0.53

1.60 22.45 4.50 2.01 0.69

1.55 21.50 3.50 2.01 0.42

1.60 22.45 3.50 2.01 0.48

0.00 -0.05 -1.00 -0.34 -0.05

3,000 100 500 1,220 2,562

12.50 31.00 35.00 33.30 13.00 61.01 1.13 63.55 6.00 3.35 14.06 8.20 23.25 55.05 133.00 28.58 15.75 7.00 1.71 16.00 18.01 62.97 1.20 8.98

13.25 31.13 35.60 33.30 13.00 64.09 1.15 63.55 6.25 3.50 14.76 8.20 23.75 57.92 140.00 30.08 15.75 8.58 1.80 16.45 18.89 65.97 1.35 9.10

0.45 -0.24 -1.15 0.00 0.00 0.39 -0.02 0.00 -0.28 0.18 0.70 -0.05 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.18 0.59 -0.03 0.45 0.52 3.00 0.08 0.00

3,001 1,103 7,000 20 108 6,004 551,759 120 4,000 10,507 502 2,080 141 73 1 1 1,999 2,315 19,781 17,320 25,899 1,190 435,421 321,620

Miscellaneous Century Paper Pak Paper Prod.

Security Paper Pakistan Cables P.N.S.C. Pak.Int.Con. SD TRG Pakistan Ltd. Murree Brewery Shakarganj Food Pak Elektron Ltd. Singer Pakistan Tariq Glass Ind. Grays of Cambridge Pak Tobacco Co. Philip Morris Pak. Shifa Int.Hospitals Hum Network Ltd. Media Times Ltd P.I.A.C.(A) Sui North Gas Sui South Gas EFU Life Assur Pace (Pak) Ltd. Netsol Technologies

12.80 31.37 36.75 33.30 13.00 63.70 1.17 63.55 6.53 3.32 14.06 8.25 23.75 57.92 140.00 30.08 15.93 7.99 1.83 16.00 18.37 62.97 1.27 9.10

13.25 31.31 35.75 34.96 13.87 66.51 1.18 65.00 6.50 3.50 14.78 8.43 23.95 58.00 140.00 30.08 16.00 8.99 1.87 16.60 18.89 66.05 1.37 9.30

Mutual FundS Fund

$95.30

vOlumE

Fixed Line Telecommunication

Beverages Murree Brewery Co. Shezan Int’l

ChanGE

Pharma and Bio Tech

Automobile and Parts Buy 89.60 116.30 138.75 1.1442 85.89 11.39 24.40 23.91 88.48

lOw CurrEnt

Future Contracts

General Industrials Cherat Packaging ECOPACk Ltd Ghani Glass Ltd MACPAC Films Merit Pack

hiGh

Personal Goods

Construction and Materials Al-Abbas Cement Attock Cement Bal.Glass Berger Paints Cherat Cement

OPEn

Household Goods

Industrial metals and Mining Crescent Steel Dost Steels Ltd. Huffaz Seamless Pipe Int. Ind.Ltd. Inter.Steel Ltd.

SymBOl

Food Producers 423.94 111.52 20.92 6.54 86.02

Industrial Engineering

Interbank Rates US Dollar Uk Pound Japanese Yen Euro

OPEn

Chemicals

Major Losers Unilever Pak Foods Indus Motor Co. Sitara Chemical Mirpurkhas Sugar Nadeem Textile

SymBOl

Alfalah GHP Cash Fund Askari Islamic Asset Allocation Fund Askari Islamic Income Fund Askari Sovereign Cash Fund Atlas Income Fund Atlas Islamic Income Fund Atlas Money Market Fund Atlas Stock Market Fund Crosby Dragon Fund

Offer 501.2900 114.7196 103.6501 100.6900 519.3500 519.0900 516.9700 453.1500 82.9800

repurchase 501.2900 111.8516 102.6136 100.6900 514.2100 513.9500 516.9700 444.2600 81.3500

nav 501.2900 111.8516 102.6136 100.6900 514.2100 513.9500 516.9700 444.2600 81.3500

Fund

Offer

repurchase

HBL Money Market Fund HBL Multi Asset Fund HBL Stock Fund IGI Income Fund IGI Stock Fund JS Principal Secure Fund I JS Principal Secure Fund II kASB Cash Fund

100.2768 87.0103 97.6745 101.8987 112.3545 121.5000 104.1200 0.0000

100.2768 85.3042 95.2922 100.8898 109.6141 111.5200 96.5000 0.0000

nav 100.2768 85.3042 95.2922 100.8898 109.6141 117.3900 101.5800 100.1087

PRO 21-12-2011_Layout 1 12/21/2011 12:25 AM Page 7

Wednesday, 21 December, 2011

07

We’re touching and improving the lives of more consumers in more parts of the world more completely

newS

P&G Chairman, President and CEO, Bob mcdonald

Employees demand govt to save PIA Asia’s largest food group to F invest in Pakistan LahOrE

STAFF REPORT

iSLaMaBaD

T

STAFF REPORT

HE largest food group in Asia and major Thai conglomerate, “charoen Pokphand”, is likely to invest in food technology, fisheries and gems sectors in Pakistan. Pichate satirachaval, Thailand Trade representative (TTr), along with Thai ambassador in Pakistan, Marut Jitpatima and Pakistan’s ambassador in Thailand sohail Mahmood, met chairman Board of investment (Boi) saleem H Mandviwalla, at Boi head quarter on Tuesday.

The head of the delegation apprised that investment from cP group, the largest food group in Asia has recently visited Pakistan to do land survey and prepare for feasibility study for feed mill, breeder farm, and hatchery and broiler farm. They are now finalising their investment, once all the land sites are identified and tax facilitation is granted. Thai Urethane, a Thai company, has recently started a power plant in Pakistan with the investment of $10 million. Pakistan and Thailand have enjoyed cordial relationship for a long time. This year was the 60th year of establishment of the diplomatic relationship between the two countries, chairman Boi said. He suggested EXiM Bank Thailand can facilitate bilateral trade and investment between both countries with the opening of bank branch in Pakistan.

He further said Thailand can support us in the processing of foods to increase the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. The export of fruits can be in-

creased by increasing the shelf life of fruits because 35 per cent of them are wasted due to unavailability of advanced technology in Pakistan. cooperation in the halal sector has recently been facilitated between University of Agriculture, Faisalabad and Halal science center, Thailand. in addition, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Asian institute of Technology (AiT) and University of Veterinary and Animal sciences (UVAs), Lahore has also been finalised to cooperate in food technology. Bilateral trade between the two countries in 2010 was recorded $916 million, and this year, the total trade is approaching $1 billion. Trade over last two years has already increased by about 25 per cent. The main products that Pakistan exported to Thailand in 2010 were yarn and fibres, fresh aquatic animals and textile. Thailand’s main exports to Pakistan in 2010 included motor cars, parts and accessories, sugar, chemical products and polymers of ethylene, propylene, etc; in primary forms, respectively.

EdErAL government should take stringent measures to save the national flag carrier from total devastation otherwise Pakistan international Airline (PiA) employees would have no other option but to approach supreme court of Pakistan. it was stated by leaders of Joint Action committee of PiA Employees (JAcPiAE) in a statement issued here Tuesday.

JAcPiAE leaders alleged that some 20 high-ranking officials at the helm of PiA’s top management were responsible for the total devastation of the national flag carrier. Mismanagement, ill-planning, corruption and nepotism had mounted the PiA losses to rs116 billion and half of its fleet had been grounded, they added.

JAcPiAE is an association of PiA Employees with representation from Pakistan Airline Pilots Association (PALPA), society of Aircraft Engineers of Pakistan (sAEP), Aircraft Technologists Association of Pakistan (ATAP), Flight Engineers national Association (FEnA), Alliance of Friends (ssA), Peoples Unity, PiAcE Union and Air League.

JAcPiAE convenor and PALPA President captain suhail Baluch and deputy convenor and sAEP President shaukat Jamshed demanded that government should take corrective measures immediately by appointing competent administration or employees would have to approach the supreme judiciary to take notice of prevailing corruption, incompetence and poor administration afflicting the national airline as these vested elements had been pushing PiA to destruction under the nose of higher authorities.

They said PiA could not bear further mismanagement at the hands of a few people in top management who were involved in corruption and conspiracies against the airline and its workers. They said PiA Md claimed that he would take 90 days to turn around PiA but unfortunately, he miserably failed to honour his words. since his appointment he

has only proved his incompetence by appointing corrupt and inefficient cronies at key positions who had brought the airline to verge of collapse, they maintained.

JAcPiAE leaders said the nosedive of PiA was blamed often on overstaffing whereas the airline spends only 16 per cent of its budget on the salary of its employees and therefore it is not true that overstaffing is the main issue afflicting the national airline.

They said PiA was capable of enhancing the number of employees without hurting its finances if the bottlenecks and disastrous measures of the inefficient management were eliminated.

They said employee to aircraft ratio was high only because PiA did not add aircraft to its fleet as per requirement.

Moreover, the network and departments it maintained needed employees as other carriers outsource the services reducing the number of employees, while PiA using this important asset could earn more if proper utilisation of staff was carried out.

Before start of hajj operation the PiA Md had said the forthcoming Hajj would be a loss to PiA as the operations and engineering departments were not at all prepared in fact the responsible people of both the departments were talking that this hajj operation would be the worst hajj operation ever, whereas hajj operation had always been the most profitable operation of PiA since its inception.

The worst post hajj operation of PiA’s history ended with a mere 15 per cent punctuality as around 41 out of 270 post hajj flights arrived on time. on the other hand, a fast dilapidating fleet would only add to the misery of the passengers as well, the national flag carrier would have at least 16 engines completing their life cycle in next three months whereas currently half of its fleet remains grounded due to shortage of 13 engines on 18 idle aircrafts. it is pertinent to mention that PiA has taken three engines on lease paying more than $300 per hour per engine, while its own engines are overhauled and ready for installation at singapore and Amman but the management continues to ignore this fact to acquire more and more items on lease for kickbacks.

They said that it was strange that with the national carrier already hav-

ing five Boeing 747 300 series aircrafts out of which two remain grounded for months pending repairs and shortage of engines, the management planned this grounding and late delivery of engines to justify a dubious deal with Hellinic Airways worth millions of dollars to acquire two more Boeing 747 200 series planes instead of repairing the existing 300 series. captain suhail Baluch said administration should get its 6-7 grounded aircrafts ready for operation after necessary repairs in order to lessen the financial burden, but leasing of the aircrafts with crew would further increase its problems both financially and administratively.

The airline paid approximately $10-12 million to Hellinic airways for two aircrafts on lease while it could have had at least 8-10 engines overhauled and rest of the rectifications made with the same amount. They criticised the decision of the management to award maintenance and spare parts contract to Transworld Aviation FZE, a dubai based Us firm, which lacks qualifications and expertise to carry out the assigned task.

They said Transworld Aviation FZE had no experience of dealing with commercial airlines. They revealed that since mid-october to december PiA placed more than 1,800 orders to Transworld for supplies and the company responded on only less than 400 orders. They added that original equipment manufacturers (oEMs) of the aircrafts refused to deliver supplies to Transworld and that various oEMs did not employ the services of Transworld for this task. owing to the refusal of the oEMs, Transworld had informed PiA of its inability to supply against the airline’s orders.

They said PiA is returning back to its old procedure for supplies of parts and maintenance of the aircrafts. PiA had already obtained maintenance, repairing and overhauling (Mro) license from European Aviation safety Agency (EAsA), which is called Joint Aviation regulation 145, (JAr145) after spending billions of rupees and later appointed a dMd on huge package of around rs100,000 daily, while the same department or the person is yet to deliver any good to the national flag carrier.

Planning Commission urged to Politicians eyeing top positions in trade bodies develop mechanism for mdGs Karachi

WAQAR HAMzA

iSLaMaBaD JALALUDDIN RUMI

n

ATionAL Assembly special committee on Millennium development goals (Mgds) expressed dissatisfaction over new economic growth model based on inclusive growth developed by Planning commission of Pakistan (Pc) terming it trap that focuses only economic growth. special committee meeting Mdg chaired by shahnaz Wazir Ali expressed its concern over proposed closure of centre for research on Poverty reduction and income distribution (crPrid) and turning it in to inclusive growth center

by Planning commission. committee members were surprised to know that Planning commission of Pakistan has no mechanism for monitoring, tracking, evaluating and data development on Mdgs. committee directed to Pc to give a comprehensive presentation of institutional mechanism developed in Pc for monitoring, evaluating and data collection and maintenance for policy formulation.

Bushra gohar criticised the Pcs approach for not maintaining separate Mdgs data of FATA, AJ&k and gilgit-Baltistan and including this in provincial data of

khyber Pakthunkhwa province. The committee took serious notice of absence of deputy chairman Planning commission in the meeting and directed Pc officials to make sure his presence in next meeting. Members of the committee were not satisfied with the presentation given by Pc officials on Mdgs on reducing child Mortality and improving Maternal Health. dr nafisa shah MnA submitted her note against the new growth model and said to meet the Mdgs Pakistan need direct interventions on social sector and human development for poverty reduction in the country and new growth model would not help achieve these key objectives. The committee members were amazed to know that presentation on Mdgs prepared by Pc is based on data developed on data and figures compiled

by UndP and there is no data available with Planning commission for tracking of Mdgs in Pakistan. Hamayun saifullah khan was critical on gdP growth of the country and was of the view that with 03 percent gdP growth country would not be able to reduce its poverty and poverty would increase with this growth rate. He said three per cent gdP growth would only cover population growth and in real terms there would be no growth.

A

new trend has emerged in the business scenario of the country as politicians have been eyeing the top positions of trade bodies, and blocking the true representations of traders who pay heavy taxes to get their issues addressed through their representation in their own bodies.

Latest example is the contesting of the brother of chief Minister Balochistan senator nawabzada Mir Haji Lashkari raisani for the post of President of Federation of Pakistan chambers of commerce and industry (FPcci) that is being vacated by another senator of Jamiat Ulema-e-islam Haji ghulam Ali. nominations for the position of the President are to be made on 22nd december and on rotation basis this time a person from Balochistan is to be made the President of FPcci for the year 2012. on the basis of his seniority, Fazal Qadir sherani is the strongest candidate for the said position, but his selection is being challenged by two other candidates from Balochistan, Lashkari raisani and Mr Farooq, sources informed Profit. cM Balochistan’s brother Lashkari raisani is mulling over taking this position from the platform of newly formed gwadar chamber of commerce and industries, which was recently

given license by Balochistan High court on a constitutional petition under article 199 of the constitution filed by the said chamber against director general Trade organisation Ministry of commerce, sources added. This court verdict will let open other abandoned chambers of commerce in Balochistan namely Pashene and Makran. it is to be noted that the new tenure of Presidency for the year 2012 at the federation is dedicated to Balochistan province for one year on rotation basis, and since the beginning Balochistan has never had an unopposed candidate as there has always been a brawl within Balochistan chamber or tussle of local leadership, sources added. sources further told that it is not only limited to Balochistan but all important trade bodies and associations in the country are hostages of powerful businessmen groups and being run in very unlawful manner for an entire decade, while the worst case scenario is at FPcci (where a group of Tariq saeed has all matters in hand) which was supposed to have true representation of all sectors come under its domain.

This dominance of some specific groups in almost all the trade bodies and associations in the country (siraj kasim Teli’s Businessmen group dominates the largest chamber of the country, karachi chamber of commerce and industries, is another example) is conducive in selection of their office bearers rather

than their election, source reasoned. And since last few years, politicians of the country are trying to get elected from different chambers of commerce and become Presidents of them, and due to this very reason industrialists and traders have low representations there in those bodies; therefore, particularly the corporate sector is shying away from FPcci and they resolve their issues directly with the government, sources added. one of the examples of this declining trend of low representation of corporate sector at FPcci is the establishment of Pakistan Business council (PBc) comprise of heads of all blue chips and that council is superseding the mandate of FPcci. sources demand that ministry of commerce should take notice of this trend and must not let trade bodies and associations be ruled by powerful businessmen groups, while the ministry should also take notice of politicians getting selected at the top positions of those trade bodies. it is pertinent to mention that FPcci is the topmost private sector body representing 139 trade/professional associations. it has three regional federation offices in Lahore, Peshawar and islamabad; in addition there are 46 regional chambers of commerce and industry. FPcci is reaching out to over 500,000 business units. Elections for the position of President for the year 2012 will be held on 29th december.