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Wednesday, 23 January, 2013
Iran keen to do joint venture projects with Pakistan KARACHI
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STAFF REPORT
RAN Tuesday showed interest in embarking on joint venture projects with Pakistan in power, energy, shrimp farming and other sectors related to infrastructure development. “Iran and Pakistan are ideally located and they must exploit all means of business needed for the expansion of trade between the two countries,” said Mehdi Sobhni, Consul General of Iran in Karachi, while meeting Sindh Board of Investment (SBI) Chairman Muhammad Zubair Motiwala at his office here yesterday.
PTCL offers free balance for Vfone customers ISLAMABAD
The Iranian consul general expressed interest in the joint venture projects with Pakistan in various fields. Mehdi invited Pakistani delegation to visit Iranian business houses and chambers for further investment promotions. On the occasion, Motiwala said the visit of an investment delegation to Iran was much awaited and the SBI was planning to organise it in a month time.
He said Iran-Pakistan had been involved in cross border trade through long border since ages and it was high time that both Pakistan and Iran should further strengthen their brotherly relations to the highest peal. The SBI chairman gave detailed briefing to the participants and informed about special incentive packages being offered by the Government of Pak-
istan for foreign investors. “We have success stories of Lotte of Korea which is further expanding its business in Pakistan and UK is the biggest investor in Pakistan in various sectors which shows Pakistan is a safe destination for business investors,” he said. Motiwala also instilled on the world class 175 billion tonnes of coal reserves in Sindh province, which had been verified by RWE of Germany. Both sides affirmed to collaborate and cooperate with each other in different sectors of economy. Also present were Sattar Sultan Shahi, Commercial Consul of Iranian Consulate, and other officers of SBI.
StockS market cloSe at a three week high
ONLINE
KARACHI
Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) has launched an exciting offer for its Vfone customers, enabling them to avail free balance of Rs. 1000. The offer had been specially launched for customers, who have not recharged their account since Aug 10, 2012. Customers can avail this service by calling or sending a SMS at 7711. Valid for 15 days from the day of activation, the free balance of Rs 1000 can be utilised by customers for Vfone to Vfone and Vfone to PTCL calls, Internet and SMS services. PTCL Executive Vice President (EVP) Wireless Business Omar Khalid said at the occasion, “Serving the needs of our customers remains our top priority and we are striving to exceed their expectations. With PTCL Vfone, our customers enjoy on-the-go voice and data connectivity at most affordable rates”. PTCL Vfone has the country’s largest Wireless Local Loop (WLL) coverage and is available with both prepaid and postpaid options. Vfone enables customers to enjoy unlimited free calls from Vfone to Vfone and Vfone to PTCL landline through ‘Family & Unlimited packages’. Vfone also offers SMS facility to all networks for only Rs. 0.30 per SMS while internet charges are Rs. 2.00 per 15 minutes.
STAFF REPORT
The stock market closed at a three-week high yesterday, driven by optimism over upcoming company results, traders said. The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index ended 1.52 per cent, or 253.28 points, higher at 16,894.09. “Aggressive institutional buying helped equities to gain 1.5 per cent with improving volumes,” said Samar Iqbal, a dealer at Topline Securities. “(The) Reduction in political temperature coupled with likely announcements of December results compelled investors to buy quality stocks.” Fauji Fertilizer was up 1.72 per cent to 120.65 rupees per share, while Fauji Cement rose 1.37 per cent to 7.40 rupees. Another strong performer, National Bank, climbed 5 per cent to 51.26 rupees per share.
PIA suffered Rs 401m losses in Hajj operation 2012, Senate told ISLAMABAD APP
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has suffered financial losses to the tune of Rs 401 million in Hajj operation 2012, Minister for Defence Sardar Saleem Haider said Tuesday. Answering the question of Begum Najma Hameed in Upper House, he said PIA had demanded Rs 108,500 as Hajj fare but the Ministry of Religious Affairs had fixed much lesser fares that prompted the financial losses to the PIA. He said the financial health of PIA was on constant increase. A total of nine air crafts were being purchased on dry lease. Out of which four air crafts would arrive in April while remaining five planes would arrive by December this year, he said. PIA was on operational profit since last five years. Currently PIA has 38 air crafts out of which 25 planes were operational. PIA incurred losses up to Rs 141 billion from 2002 to 2012. New recruitments have been banned; transfers and posting were being done on merit. Responding to the question of Abdul Haseeb Khan, the minister said the corrupt officials of PIA were being punished. Haseeb said he must be told the names and action taken against the corrupt. On this the chairman referred the matter to Senate’s Standing Committee on Defence to probe the matter and allowed the interesting members to attend the meeting of the committee.
Pakistan to attend trade fair in China FAISALABAD APP
The South Asia trade fair 2013 will be held at Kunming city in China in June. A large number of textile exporters, traders from Faisalabad, Lahore and Karachi will participate in the trade fair. According to a spokesman for Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA), stalls of sports articles, surgical products, handmade carpets, leather products, shoes, rice, wood, marble, herbal, plastic and engineering and auto parts will be part of the trade fair. He said the fair would begin from June 6 and continue till June 10. Pakistan hopes to receive orders in a large number for its products during the fair, the spokesman added.
SBP moves to streamline LNG import to be completely disclosures of Islamic banks, IBBs transparent: Dr Asim Hussain KARACHI STAFF REPORT
The central bank Tuesday asked the banks offering Islamic banking and those conventional banks having Shariah-complaint branches to use specific nomenclatures while formulating their financial statements. The State Bank said the move was aimed at streamlining and standardising disclosures of the Islamic banks and/or the Islamic Banking Branches (IBBs). To achieve the goal, the regulator issued a circular Tuesday that required the concerned banks to rename in their balance sheet the head ‘financings’ and the related note as “Islamic Financing and Related Assets”. It said all financings, advances (against Murabaha etc.), inventories and any other related item(s) pertaining to Islamic modes of financing, presently being reported under ‘Other
Assets’ or any other head, shall be mentioned under the above head. “The break-up of ‘Islamic Financing and Related Assets’ into Islamic modes of financing and their respective subdivision into financings, advances, inventories and any other related item(s) shall be reported in the notes to financial statements,” the State bank said. The IBBs too have been asked to rename the heads on their balance sheets accordingly. The SBP said the disclosure for IBBs contained in Annexure-2 to BSD Circular No. 04, issued February 17, 2006, also stood amended as per above instructions. “All Islamic Banks/Islamic Banking Branches have been advised by SBP to comply with the above-mentioned instructions which have been made effective from December 31, 2012 while reporting their annual, half-yearly and quarterly financial statements,” the central bank said.
ISLAMABAD ONLINE
Dr. Asim Hussain Advisor to the Prime Minister on Petroleum and Natural Resources has said that LNG import and LPG Air mix projects need to be urgently completed to minimize the gap between gas supply and demand. He said this while chairing a meeting of ECC Committee on LNG import project here in Islamabad yesterday that was also attended by Petroleum Secretary, SSGCL MD, SNGPL MD, PSO MD, Member Energy Planning Commission of Pakistan, Senior officers of Finance Division and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources. He however, emphasised that the process should be completely transparent and as per PPRA Rules. SSGCL briefed the participants regarding
the bidding process of LNG import and informed that PGPL, ETPL and GEI submitted bids and the same were opened on 9th January, 2013 which was the opening date as per advertisement. It was informed that PGPL bid reached the SSGC after the cut-off time, while the bid security submitted by GEI was less than the required amount. After detailed discussions on this situation, it was decided that this issue would be taken up with ECC for advice on way forward, in order to ensure transparency and merit. Dr. Asim Hussain reiterated that the LNG import project would be completely transparent and PPRA rules would be followed in letter and spirit. He further said that the two projects i.e. LNG import and LPG Air mix were urgently required to be completed so that additional gas was injected into the system.
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Business 02
Wednesday, 23 January, 2013
Abacus receives SAP Excellence award LAHORE: AbacusConsulting has announced it is the recipient of a SAP Regional Partner Excellence Award 2013 in the category “Top Mobile Partner of the Year across the APJ region.” Award was presented by NYSE: SAP during the SAP® Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) Kick-Off Meeting (FKOM) 2013, held Jan. 14-16 in Singapore, to the top-performing SAP channel partners and SAP services partners in the APJ region for outstanding contributions that impact overall SAP sales and pipeline-generation goals. Abbas Ali Khan, Partner at AbacusConsulting, said on the occasion that “AbacusConsulting has a core focus on mobility as we believe that the mobile platform offers great new opportunities for the enterprise of today. We are helping our clients leverage the mobile platform and positioning their businesses for the future. Working with SAP on Mobility is extremely rewarding – they have the best capabilities on the mobile platform and they are equally excited about the role of mobile in the future. In 2012, we achieved a great deal within the Mobile Banking space and are thrilled that SAP has recognized us at the Asia Pacific level”. AbacusConsulting received the award during the SAP APJ FKOM 2013, an annual gathering of SAP executives, SAP field employees and partners. “A thriving partner ecosystem is central to SAP’s success, and partners like AbacusConsulting are key drivers for our customers’ success and for SAP’s market reach,” said Bronwyn Hastings, senior vice president, Ecosystem & Channels, SAP APJ. PR
FOOD EXPORTS POST AN INCREASE OF 4.82% ISLAMABAD
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APP
HE food exports of the country during first half of financial year 201213 increased by 4.82 percent as compared to same period of last year. The exports of overall food group were recorded at $2.054 million during July-December (2012-13) against the exports of $ 1.959 million during July-December (2011-12). According to data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the food exports from the country on month on month basis also increased by 14.34 percent and 18.01 percent during December 2012 when compared with December 2011 and November 2012 respectively. The food exports increased from $ 384.493 million in December 2011 and $ 374.465 million in November 2012 to $ 441.923 million in December 2012. The major food i t e m s which recorded increase in their exports during the first six months of current financial year over same period of last year include sugar (100%), meat and meat preparations (43.74%), fish and fish preparations (2.64%), vegetables (38.28%), spices
(25.07%), oil seeds, nuts and kernels (41.6%%) and all other food items (17.31%). Similarly the food items which recorded decrease in their exports include rice (12.33%), fruits (1.77%), pulses (56.68%), tobacco (40.91%) and wheat (61.49%). The overall exports from the country witn e s s e d growth of 7.58 percent during the period JulyDecember (2012-13) as compared to same period of last year. Exports from the country during July-Dec e m b e r (2012-13) were recorded at $ 12.0513 billion against the exports of $ 11.201 billion during the same period of last year.
Major Gainers OPEN COMPANY Nestle Pakistan Ltd. 4505.00 Bata (Pak) 1250.00 Indus Dyeing 649.99 MithchellsFruit 310.00 Fazal Textile 257.42
HIGH 4600.00 1285.00 682.48 325.50 270.29
LOW 4600.00 1284.00 654.00 324.95 270.29
CLOSE 4600.00 1285.00 669.41 325.50 270.29
CHANGE 95.00 35.00 19.42 15.50 12.87
TURNOVER 460 100 600 500 100
3800.00 3690.00 229.00 160.00 87.50
3800.00 3485.00 218.50 153.00 79.77
3800.00 3485.00 222.75 154.17 80.02
-200.00 -30.00 -7.25 -5.78 -3.95
80 60 400 5,900 20,000
7.48 15.88 16.37 17.05 51.26
7.30 15.34 16.00 16.05 48.98
7.39 15.69 16.22 16.86 51.26
0.09 0.39 0.30 0.61 2.44
14,243,000 12,065,500 11,936,500 9,851,500 9,664,000
Major Losers Unilever Food Rafhan Maize Prod. Sapphire Textile Pak Services Premier Suger Mills
4000.00 3515.00 230.00 159.95 83.97
Volume Leaders Fauji Cement Jah.Sidd. Co. Maple Leaf Cement P.T.C.L.A National Bank Pak
7.30 15.30 15.92 16.25 48.82
Interbank Rates US Dollar UK Pound Japanese Yen Euro
97.7123 154.5515 1.1023 129.9671
Dollar East BUY US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal Australian Dollar
98.60 129.94 154.86 1.0949 97.88 12.45 26.65 26.15 102.71
SELL 99.30 132.15 157.44 1.1125 100.15 12.74 27.05 26.49 105.91
CORPORATE CORNER Pring wins 2012 Red Herring Top 100 Asia Award
ment, 45 hotels representing 11,000 rooms in 28 countries, with 19 hotels in Asia, 13 in The Americas and 13 in Europe, Middle East and North Africa. In addition, the Group operates, or has under development, 14 Residences at Mandarin Oriental connected to its properties. Etihad Guest members can now earn 500 miles for each eligible stay in a room, or 800 miles in a club room or suite, at any of Mandarin Oriental’s participating hotels worldwide. In addition, Etihad Guest Gold and Gold Elite members will enjoy special benefits at the Group’s hotels including upgrades, early check-in and late check-out [subject to availability]. To celebrate the launch of this new partnership, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Etihad Guest are delighted to offer double miles to Etihad Guest members booking Luxury Breaks at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group properties and staying in a room, and triple miles for suite bookings, from 15 January to 15 April 2013 [Terms and conditions apply]. PR
Coca-Cola encourages random acts of kindness through ‘Crazy for Good’ HONG KONG: Pring (e-Business Pvt Ltd) has been honoured as a winner of the 2012 Red Herring Top Asia 100. This prestigious award recognises the most promising and innovative technological companies in Asia selected from a pool of hundreds of finalists. The award was received by Zibber Mohiuddin, Chairman Pring, at the auspicious event hosted by Red Herring in Hong Kong. Red Herring’s editorial staff evaluated the companies on quantitative and qualitative criteria. This includes financial performance, technological innovation, management and their track record, relevant to their sector peers. “This award is a validation of our groundbreaking achievements that allow us to deliver unmatched value to our customers and partners,” says Dr Muqtaza Shah, CEO of Pring “Previous winners of this award have gone on to achieving tremendous success and I am proud to be a Pakistani company finally on this list.” Pring is Pakistan’s largest social network with more than 4,500,000 users. It has been designed from the ground up to work both on mobile phones and the Internet allowing access to social networking to an unprecedented number of users. PR
Mandarin Oriental and Etihad Guest unveil frequent flyer partnership KARACHI: Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has announced that it has signed a new partnership with Etihad Guest, the loyalty programme of Etihad Airways. Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group is the award-winning owner and operator of some of the world’s most prestigious hotels and resorts. The Group now operates, or has under develop-
KARACHI: Continuing the journey of spreading happiness, Coca-Cola has unveiled a new campaign called ‘Crazy for Good’, as part of their Cultural Leadership program. The campaign projects to seed kindness into the mindset of the people of Pakistan by promoting random acts of kindness to spread goodness in society. The campaign is driven by the insight that people have lost sight of the kindness they are born with, to the extent that when someone commits an act of kindness they are considered crazy. Through ‘Crazy for Good’, Coca-Cola will be celebrating people who do random acts of kindness; and use this positive disruption to inspire others to play their role too, in bringing a constructive change in society. This campaign is an extension to the Company’s Cultural Leadership program which in 2012 launched its ‘Reasons to Believe’ Campaign, celebrating the many reasons to believe in Pakistan to reignite faith and hope for a better future. In the midst of the dynamic situation of Pakistan today, portraying a boiling pot of ideas and bubbling sentiments awaiting winds of change, Crazy for Good takes the Cultural Leadership program a step further and endeavors to promote kindness and goodness at an individual platform, calling to people to actively play their role by committing Random Acts of Kindness to make the world a happier place for all of us. While speaking about the Crazy for Good campaign, Rizwan U. Khan, General Manager, The Coca-Cola Export Corporation, Pakistan stated “Kindness is the social thread that binds society together; but unfortunately, people underestimate the power of kindness. As a Company that is synonymous with attributes of happiness, optimism and joy, we decided to take the message of random acts of kindness and their potential of open-
ing happiness for the people of Pakistan forward in an interactive and engaging way.” PR
Checkout TSM Online Exclusive Collection at Daraz.pk KARACHI: Tsm& Co. the new trend setters in the formal shoe business are now stocking with online megastore Daraz.pk. The brand is well known and excels in making customized shoes for its customers. Tsm& Co. recently joined hands with the online giant to make their presence prominent in the market. Company founded by young professional backs itself on the quality and artistic designs that have been missing among many brands. Their shoes are made of premium quality calf leather, and patented multilayered Italian calf skin soles for absolute luxury, their shoes are the epitome of comfort and class. Each order is rigorously checked before it handed over to the customer. “Pairing up with Daraz.pk will only enhance our brand more and extend our offering to a greater audience,” said Hambal Akif, CEO of Tsm & Co. He further added, “We don’t just offer good shoes, we
offer a complete experience”. PR
PACRA assigns ratings to IESCO ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) has assigned Long-term entity rating of “A+” (Single A Plus) and short-term rating of “A1” (A One) to Islamabad Electric Supply Company Limited (IESCO). The ratings denote a low expectation of credit risk. The capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is considered strong. The ratings of IESCO derive strength from ownership of Government of Pakistan (GoP) through Ministry of Water and Power. Given the strategic importance of the company to the economy, support from GoP is expected if need arises. Majority of loans availed by the company are re-lent by GoP. Meanwhile, flexible repayment terms as extended by GoP, further provide comfort to the ratings. On a standalone basis IESCO’s operational performance against key parameters- T&D losses and Recovery Ratioremains strong. Supply deficit nature of industry and tight regulatory environment implies low business risk for IESCO. PR
RNITTE conducts Cambridge teacher training course
ISLAMABAD: Roots National Institute of Teachers Training & Education-RNITTE has started its second batch of “Cambridge International Certificate for Teachers & Trainers CICTT”, after the success of RNITTE’s first batch in year 2011. RNITTE has shortlisted 30 potential candidates for this high profile course. Cambridge International Examination –CIE is the world’s leading provider of International qualifications and assessments and it is the benchmark of teaching excellence. The Certificate for Teachers and Trainers provides a practical introduction to key issues such as active learning. It is relevant to teaching and training in all contexts. It will help teachers and trainers quickly to start
updating their skills and enhancing their practice, e.g. by introducing a new approach into their teaching in a systematic, thoughtful and effective manner. The Certificate is assessed through a practice-based assignment involving three professional activities that are highly relevant not only to the individual teacher or trainer but also to her/his institution. Candidates will select three activities which they will design, develop, carry out and will reflect upon their respective designed activities. This will involve brainstorming of ideas, decision-making, design, action and evaluation. Training sessions are carried out by the team of Certified Programme Leaders and Cambridge Certified Teachers. PR