profitepaper pakistantoday 23rd april, 2012

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About time we kicked in some money in agriculture Page 02

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Monday, 23 April, 2012

Pak-Iran barter is a no-brainer

TOWARDS ZERO

Both Tehran and Islamabad need each other to drag themselves out of their respective economic quagmires g

KUNWAR KHULDUNE SHAHID

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GOVT’S REVENUE ON AUTO PART IMPORTS IS

PAKISTAN LOSES 10 BILLION ANNUALLY IN TERMS OF IMPORT DUTIES, TAXES INTENTIONAL MUDDLE UP OF CATEGORIES SAVES APPLICABLE DUES FOR IMPORTERS CLEARING AGENTS MISUSING CUSTOM LAWS CUSTOM RULING 329 TO BE RECONSIDERED LAHORE STAFF REPORT

lmost every day many auto parts consignments are arriving from China, thailand and other countries at different ports in Pakistan but the government’s revenue on these imports is still negligible due to misdeclaration of these parts during clearance at customs and loopholes in import policy. According to sources, Pakistan loses approximately Rs. 10 billion every year in terms of import duties and taxes as many importers are involved in malpractice in connivance with incompetent and corrupt staff at customs are exploiting the loopholes in import policy to misdeclare the imported goods. sources said that Custom Ruling 329 of import policy is a list in which duties on 70% parts are defined and 30% are mentioned as ‘others’ while the duty structure is based on weight rather than the value of these auto parts and is as low as Us$ 2.48/kg on most parts even if their value is high, such as diggis (Car trunks). sources said that the importers very intelligently cheat the authorities by misdeclaring few parts in other categories, saving applicable duties.

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For example, they said that shock absorbers are being made locally and should be imported under ItP 8010 category if needed, paying 50% punitive duty on it but some importers are importing it under ItP 8090 paying 15% less duty.

“It seems that either the relevant staff is not aware about the rules and clearing such parts under wrong category or is involved in some form of corruption,” sources claimed. sources said that it is very easy to mis declare / under invoice as most of the clearing agents plays smartly and take benefit of current custom laws very easily. For instance, they said that an importer declared car luggage (DIGGI) as 2 kg only instead of 20 kg, and the declared value of that car luggage was only Us$ 4.96 which almost equals to Rs 450 only. “Realistically Rs 450 is not even the cost of packaging (board box) or wooden cages which is mandatory to pack any kind of parts and it shows that to clear in KGs without any discrimination of make, model and cc is done with closed eyes by custom concerns,” the sources added. on top of it if genuine parts are being imported, it is also very easy to evade duties by removing genuine logos from packaging and declaring those as replacement

parts which have lesser duty and no one from custom really checks that what kind of parts are being cleared. “the solution is to consider oEm FoB value and take reference values from there to ensure that whatever parts are being imported into Pakistan should not be mis declared,” sources suggested. sources said that this is the right time that Ruling 329 is reconsidered by custom valuation to review declared value of auto parts and take all stakeholders on board (traders, oEms, local manufacturers) to eliminate loopholes in the policy.

“Almost all types of auto spare parts ranging from critical engine and transmission parts such as rings, pistons, gas kits, maintenance parts like oil filter, air filter are being imported through sea in astonishing quantities and misdeclaration is causing losses of billions of rupees to government and the government should put a strict check on such practices,” sources added. this would not only help the government to increase the revenue generation but would also enable legal businesses to expand, generating more revenues and employment opportunities for the countrymen.

Ith Washington upping the ante on sanctions on Iran, barter has been a popular topic of discussion on the tehran drawing board. oil export is the spine of Iranian economy and the butt of Us manoeuvre, hence a lot of the aforementioned barter has involved the proverbial black gold. Iran has recently offered China and India – its leading oil purchasers – oil in exchange for goods other than their local currencies like wheat, soybean meal and other consumer products. Even Uruguay has offered Iran rice in exchange for oil, since Iran has always been a major importer of rice from the south American country, while the former could do with some oil for their ever inflating industrial needs.

Now, while Pakistan might not be involved in oil exchanges as such, PsmA (Pakistan sugar mills Association) chairman Javed Kayani, has conjured up the idea of barter trade for urea procurement against sugar. Kayani has sent a letter to Federal Finance minister Abdul hafeez sheikh, saying that the 300,000 tonnes of urea already approved from Iran can be procured against barter of sugar. this in turn would save a lot of precious foreign exchange. Kayani further stated the international price of sugar could “almost buy double the quantity of urea”. And therefore, pressing the accelerator on further urea procurement and taking it up a few notches to around 800,000 tonnes of urea. this number could then be exchanged for around 400,000 tonnes of sugar.

While the sugar exchange, is under discussion the word is that we have already tabled a wheat offer as a part of a barter deal. shafqat hussain Nagmi, managing Director of Pakistan Agricultural storage and services Corporation (PAssCo) recently stated that Pakistan has offered one million tonnes of wheat and will get fertilisers and iron ore in return. shafqat hussain said that Pakistan would be getting around 600,000 tonnes of urea and 200,000 tonnes of iron ore – 30,000 of which is said to be lump ore while the remaining fraction is said to be constituted by fine iron ore. the latter would be of particular interest for the Pakistan steel mills. this particular discussion was first put on the negotiation table during Iranian President mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari in February. the presidents

wanted to take the mutual trade to around $10 billion, which could easily be achieved by barter trade.

Rice is another ingredient that has been thrown in the Iran-Pakistan trade cauldron in the past. When Iran’s deputy trade minister Abbas Ghobadi held meetings with business magnates and government officials, he expounded Iranian interest in importing 200,000 of Pakistani rice, as asserted by water and power minister Naveed Qamar.

Just like Iranian sanctions have hurt Iran’s trade numbers with just about every single country you could think of, the Islamabad-tehran trade has also metamorphosed into repentant remnants of the once decent numbers. It once stood at $ 1.2 billion in 2009-10, and last year fell to merely $450 million. Barter trade would be an apposite way of posting higher numbers for both the nations that are suffering in one form or the other due to skewed American policies. the $10 billion trade touted in February by the presidents of Iran and Pakistan might seem akin to a leaf out of mythology as things stand, but both the nations can take a massive leap by using the wheaturea barter and than mull over other goods along the same lines.

And then there is the small matter of the Iran-Pakistan pipeline as well. It seems both Pakistan and Iran would need each other’s support for a while now as far as digging themselves out of the fiscal quagmire is concerned. the intentions are there, the framework is there it’s only a matter of implementation now.

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Monday, 23 April, 2012

news

AGRI-MISERS

About time we kicked in some money in agriculture g

Pakistan ranked as one of the ‘least spending’ countries as far as agriculture research is concerned g PARB CEO discusses all things agriculture with AJA LAHORE

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STAFF REPORT

AKIstAN has been ranked as one of the least spending countries as far as agriculture research is concerned, which deprives farmers of higher productivity benefits besides increasing his or her cost of production significantly. “Instead of investing on research and innovation, Pakistan’s agriculture sector is focused on increased use of inputs, including fertilisers, pesticides and water, which led to stagnation in productivity,” said Dr mubarik Ali, Chief Executive Punjab Agriculture Research Board (PARB). he was speaking at a consultative meeting with members of the Agricultural Journalists’ Association (AJA) here on saturday. our agriculture production is not picking up and we have to import billion of rupees worth of pulses, fruit and vegetables every year, he said. Citing the example of regional countries, Dr Ali underlined that Pakistan had the lowest spending on agriculture research among almost all the world key nations and it was too on declining trend. he pointed out that the country was hardly investing 0.25 to 0.29 per cent of its agriculture GDP on research and development (R&D), whereas India was in-

vesting 0.4 per cent, Bangladesh 0.35 per cent, China 0.6 per cent and Japan 2.5 per cent of respective agriculture GDP. on the other hand, developed world was investing 2-3 per cent of its agriculture GDP on R&D, he added.

PRAB chief further highlighted that inappropriate use of funds; obsolete research infrastructure; little or no commercialisation and lack of innovation among scientists were a few other impediments affecting agriculture growth in the country. the root cause of the problems include little investment on research, inappropriate investment, lack of coordinated planning, lack of monitoring & evaluation, focused on routine, rather than problem-solving research, little Incentive to be Innovative and last but not the least little commercialisation of research,” he elaborated. on the one hand, he indicated, Pakistan was on the lowest side when it came to invest in R&D, while on the other hand, a major chunk of investment—around 85 per cent went to administrative expenditures, like salaries, transport and maintenance of research facilities.

CEo PARB appreciated the role of higher Education Commission (hEC) and Punjab government for revamping the education and research facilities in the country.

however, he said, after the passage of 18th Constitutional Amendment, the hEC role had been marginalised, which resulted in that educational and research institutes were again being neglected. Grants now had been reduced, ultimately affecting research work, he maintained. highlighting the significance of R&D, Dr Ali said, “these are scientists and research institutes’ efforts that the country is producing nearly five times more grains when it is compared with the levels of prepartition. It is the fruit of research that per capita consumption of food products has increased 15 to 20 per cent, while spending on food has dropped from 85 per cent to 65 per cent during last several decades. speaking about the initiatives taken by the PARB, Dr mubarak pointed out that though the board had been revamped in 2007, but it had to spend initial two years in making rules and regulations. however, now it had been working effectively and efficiently and had received 372 research proposals, out of which 65 had been approved by the technical working group after rigorous deliberations. to overcome research related problems, he observed, PARB is now poised to plan, coordinate, fund, monitor, and commercialise specific agriculture research

How Brazil broke loose MARK ROE, JOãO PAULO VAScONcELLOS

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RAZIlIAN President Dilma Rousseff’s visit last week to Washington, DC, offers an occasion to consider how some once-poor countries have broken out of poverty, as Brazil has.

Development institutions like the World Bank have advocated improving business law as being essential to success. Are they right? such thinking goes back at least as far as max Weber’s argument that an effective business environment requires a legal structure as predictable as a clock. Investors, it is thought, need clear rules and effective courts. security of contract and strong mechanisms that protect investors are, in this view, foundational for finance, which in turn fuels economic growth. If a potential financier is unsure of being repaid, he or she will not invest, firms will not grow, and economic development will stall. Rules and institutions come first; real economic development follows.

But, compelling as this logic seems, Brazil’s rise does not confirm it: financial and economic growth was not preceded by – or even accompanied by – fundamental improvements in courts and contracts.

Growth is unmistakable: Brazil’s financial markets have expanded robustly, with stock-market capitalization rising from 35% of GDP in 2000 to 74% in 2010. In the eight years prior to 2004, only six companies went public; in the eight years since, 138 have. last year, Brazil overtook the United Kingdom – often seen as an exemplar of contractual security – as the world’s sixth-largest economy.

And yet legal change was not central in Brazil’s success. Brazilian courts were reputed in 2000 to handle investors’ lawsuits slowly and poorly, and they are reputed to handle them slowly and poorly today. Even basic elements of business organization – like limiting public shareholders’ obligation for corporate debts – are said by Brazilian legal experts, such as Bruno salama, to remain an open question, with all shareholders potentially exposed, especially in labor and tax lawsuits.

If courts are not protecting investors, is something else? New, important stockexchange rules have strengthened outside investors’ confidence, though only for new companies. For legal scholars, most prominently Columbia University’s John Coffee, stock exchanges have historically been the first step toward protecting investors.

An analysis by Ronald Gilson, henry

hansmann, and mariana Pargendler of Brazil’s Novo mercado – the stock exchange’s special voluntary listing segment, which provides strong protections for investors in newly listed companies – supports this view.

But stock exchanges have limits, particularly in Brazil. In the absence of reliable courts, they cannot sue to enforce their rules. their only recourse is to push recalcitrant firms off the exchange. the Novo mercado dealt with this problem by subjecting disputes involving its newly-listed companies to arbitration. Commercial arbitration – and courts’ obligations to enforce the arbitrators’ decisions – can assure investors, even if the courts generally do not.

But arbitration – which has yet to be deeply tested for resolving disputes on the Novo mercado – does not seem to be the linchpin of Brazil’s recent success. After all, its institutional innovations apply only to the new Novo mercado-listed companies, and not to the bulk of the Brazilian economy’s big firms, which are listed on the stock exchange’s main segment, and thus remain stuck with the old rules, old institutions, and anineffective court system. two other key changes, one obvious and one surprising, were more essential

outputs in Punjab, the biggest agrarian economy of country. he told that audience including representatives of educational institutions and farmers that revamping of agriculture research had resulted in focused, result-oriented work with greater coordination among various institutions. talking about strategy of PARB, he said, focus is being diverted to high priority research with the involvement of stakeholders besides funding projects on competitive basis. he added that effective research monitoring and commercialisation of research outputs are being ensured besides offering lucrative incentives to scientists. Efforts are also being made to enhance international collaboration and increasing capacity building of various agriculture research stations through greater spending on infrastructure. he said breakthrough has been made in developing ClCV resistant cotton varieties at experiment level and its field trials are being initiated. he added that various approaches had been employed to overcome problem of ClCV, which has emerged as one of the potent threats to this cash crop.

Issues such as control of Bacterial leaf Blight-BlB for paddy, major progress in bran oil extraction, citrus waxing through indigenous resources, first ever propagation

to Brazil’s financial development. the obvious change is that economicgrowth opportunities mushroomed, owing to greater monetary stability, disinflation, and natural-resource wealth. Better macroeconomic policy led to faster GDP growth, which required financing and motivated some insiders to forego pernicious maneuvering that would scare away new outside investors.

Growth plausibly drove financial development as much as, or more than, institutional development did.

While public and private enforcement will need to improve if Brazil’s economy is to move to the next level, dramatic legal improvement has not underpinned Brazil’s overall financial development so far. the second change is both less obvious and more important: the political stability that came with the election in 2002 of President luiz Inácio lula da silva. the surprise here is that lula, a former labor leader who had been on the far left, was widely opposed, if not despised, in business and financial circles. how, then, did his victory help to fuel the financial growth of the subsequent decade?

Despite his past, lula promised not to disrupt Brazilian corporate capitalism, running with a market-oriented vice president. Why he did so is difficult to determine: quite plausibly, some combination of lula’s realism, his reaction to stock-market declines attributed to his chances of being

of date palm by tissue culture, successful olive propagation & value addition technique and productivity enhancement of buffalo through efficient management also highlighted on the occasion.

Prof. Dr. talat Naseer Pasha, ViceChancellor, University of Veterinary and Animal sciences (UVAs) said research work in education institutions was now being better coordinated and expedited following setting up of PARB. he added that special attention now also been given to livestock and dairy sector. he expressed that hope that such efforts would help in addressing one of the key issues of our agriculture sector in most efficient way.

Dr. tariq Bucha, President, Farmers Associates Pakistan (FAP) stressed the need of increasing interaction between scientists and farmers. he added that farmers, being ultimate beneficiary of research, should be fully involved in identifying research project besides creating linkages at grassroots level. safraz Khan, Vice President Kissan Board Pakistan (KBP) said small farmers, being biggest shareholder in farming and dairy sector should be given priority while initiating research work. he said various aspects of agriculture research should be properly discussed with representatives of farmer organisation.

elected, and campaign donations was at work. once elected, lula governed from the pragmatic left, continuing the prior administration’s core policies. true, Brazil still has a “hard” left, and some in lula’s own party are comfortable with, say, Cuba’s Castro brothers and Venezuelan President hugo Chávez.

But a consensus had emerged in Brazil that a left party could neither win nor govern with hard-left ideas, and lula’s presidency did not challenge this view. the consensus may have reflected the success of lula’s predecessor, Fernando henrique Cardoso, the relative success of privatization and liberal market economies around the world, and the growth of Brazil’s middle class.

Whatever the case, for key leaders of the Brazilian left, including Rousseff, capitalism became part of the solution, not the fundamental problem.

Investors take all kinds of risks. the biggest are not always the legal ones on which the World Bank and development agencies have focused; rather, they are the business risks of a company that fails or a polity that implodes. If business conditions are auspicious and there is a strong consensus in favor of liberal capitalism as the polity’s core economic principle, financial markets can develop and reluctantly absorb risks stemming from the legal system’s defects. Institutional improvements help, but they can come later.

Courtesy: Project Syndicate

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G20 doubles IMF’s war chest amid fears on Europe WASHINGTON

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REUTERS

EADING world economies on Friday pledged $430 billion in new funding for the International monetary Fund, more than doubling its lending power in a bid to protect the global economy from the euro-zone debt crisis. the promised funds from the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies aim to ensure the ImF can respond decisively should the debt problems that have engulfed three euro zone countries spread and threaten a fragile global recovery. “this is extremely important, necessary, an expression of collective resolve,” ImF managing Director Christine lagarde said. “Given the increase that has just taken place, we are north of a trillion dollars actually. so I was a bit mesmerized by the amount.” the $1 trillion figure includes both the ImF’s existing and newly won resources, as well as loans already committed. the ImF would be able to use its increased firepower to help any country or region in need. But Europe’s crisis was the driving force behind the push for more funds, though officials and investors alike said it merely buys time for Europe to undertake more economic reforms.

Greece, Ireland and Portugal have already received bailouts. Investors now are worried that Italy and spain, the euro zone’s third and fourth biggest economies, will fail to bring down their debt burdens quickly enough to satisfy financial markets and be forced to follow the same path. the ImF traditionally has provided

aid to struggling emerging market nations, but the euro zone debt crisis has made big industrial economies a new focus. And emerging economies, which have been pressing for a greater say at the ImF, joined in pledging additional funds.

In a central bank statement, China said it “will not be absent from the table” of increasing funds for the ImF, but it did not specify any amount.

GRAVEST ECONOMIC THREAET: Worries about the debt crisis have dominated talks among finance officials in Washington this week for the semiannual meetings of the ImF and the World Bank, with spain facing special scrutiny. the ImF has warned the crisis presents the gravest risk to global economic expansion, though the G20 said in its statement that the threat of a major blowup has started to recede. the ImF estimated in January it would need $600 billion in fresh funds, but lagarde lowered that figure to $400 billion, saying actions Europe had taken to quell the crisis had cut the risk.

In foreign currency markets, investors welcomed the G20 move, giving a boost to the euro, which has enjoyed its best week since February.

But in a sign investors lack confidence that a big ImF war chest can draw a line under the region’s problems, both spanish and Italian bonds faced pressure on Friday. the yield on spain’s 10-year bond topped 6 percent before retreating..

David Keeble, global head of interest rate strategy at Credit Agricole Corp., said the expansion of the ImF’s coffers was only a start in resolving the euro zone crisis. “the $430 billion is a nice enough size.

I’m guessing that they’ll get a few billion more, although the market will no doubt come to the conclusion that no number is big enough,” he said.

Indeed, ImF officials said the new funds would only buy time for Europe to continue difficult economic reforms. tensions over whether European countries are sufficiently committed to making deep and painful cuts to their budget deficits or whether European Union policymakers have dug deeply enough into their own pockets have plagued G20 talks over financial resources. lagarde defended Europe’s actions to date, saying its package of fiscal, financial and monetary measures taken in recent months were “sufficient.” however, the head of the ImF’s steering committee, the singapore finance

minister tharman shanmugaratnam, was more cautious. “Whether Europe has done enough to build up its firewall depends really on its reforms,” he said, speaking alongside lagarde. “If its reforms lose credibility, if its reforms lose momentum, then quite frankly the firewall is not enough. so it depends entirely on the commitment to reform.”

Not all G20 members were committing new funds. the United states has said it has already done enough by providing dollar liquidity for European banks and Canada has said Europe needs to do more to erect a financial firewall, although it did not close the door completely. “Circumstances could change,” Canadian Finance minister Jim Flaherty said.

EMERGING MARKETS: Emerging

markets won assurances from their G20 partners that their growing economic clout would be rewarded over time with greater voting power in the ImF, known as quotas - an issue that was central to winning their support.

“We conditioned the money to the completion of the ImF’s quota reform so that emerging countries have larger representation - that was accepted,” Brazilian Finance minister Guido mantega said after the G20 meeting.

While the BRICs group of leading emerging nations - which also includes Russia, India, China and south Africa have agreed to provide more money, the exact amount each country will chip in was not announced. the issue now goes to the G20 leaders’ summit in los Cabos, mexico, in June. the BRICs countries are especially frustrated that the United states is stalling over implementing a 2010 voting reform deal, which would reduce Europe’s dominance on the ImF board and give China the No. 3 position.

Danish Finance minister margrethe Vestage said the European Union would go ahead and give up two ImF board seats later this year as planned. the G20 communique reaffirmed members would redistribute ImF power by the october meeting, and stick to plans to revisit voting shares next year. this action would recognize that the world economy has changed substantially in view of strong growth in dynamic emerging markets, the communique said, meaning that emerging economies should have greater clout at the ImF.

CORPORATE CORNER Pak Datacom Ltd wins MAP Corporate Excellence Award 2011

OKARA: President of Pakistan mr. Asif Ali Zardari distributed tractors keys to farmers during his visit to Village Wasaw Wala tehsil Depalpur District okara. While distributing tractors keys to the farmers President appreciated National Bank of Pakistan’s efforts in facilitating agricultural growth in the country. mr. Qamar hussain, President National Bank of Pakistan was also present on the occasion where he ensured Bank’s all out support for the agricultural sector of the country. he said that NBP has come up with innovative products for the farmers and the idea is to extend maximum support to the all important agricultural base of the country.

Qatar Airways announces fabulous 3-day global sale

ISLAMABAD: Pak Datacom ltd. (PDl) Pakistan’s leading ICt solution provider honored by management Association of Pakistan (mAP) for Corporate Excellence in the telecom sector for the year 2011. the emblem of admiration was awarded at a ceremony held in Karachi on April 10, 2012 by Finance minister, Dr. Abdul hafeez sheikh. PDl outclassed its competitors in the telecom sector for high level management practices and techniques. salman malik, managing Director & CEo PDl said, “I am grateful to mAP for recognizing the hard work and passion of our management and employees in setting itself apart amongst ICt companies in Pakistan to win this prestigious award. this award is also a challenge for all of us at PDl to remain committed towards our strive for outstanding performance and good corporate governance,” he added.

President Zardari distributes tractors during visit to Okara

those planning to visit family or friends or just keen on a getaway break, Qatar Airways is offering these value fares to over 100 destinations we fly to across Europe, middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and south America,” he said. “We are very pleased to offer these great savings to our loyal customers, and to those travelling with us for the first time. the promotional offers are not only appealing, but the large number of destinations available is also extremely attractive. “2011 was a big year for Qatar Airways and 2012 is going to be even bigger as we introduce more destinations to our international network and increased capacity on existing routes to give our customers a wide array of travel choices. Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of 108 aircraft to 113 key business and leisure destinations worldwide. last year was a landmark 12 months for Qatar Airways, which inducted 15 new destinations to its network, and won the coveted skytrax Airline of the Year Award. As part of its 2012 expansion programme, Qatar Airways launches flights to a further 11 destinations – Zagreb (Croatia) from may 9; Perth (Australia) from July 3 and others cities during the year, including mombasa (Kenya), Zanzibar (tanzania), helsinki (Finland), Gassim (saudi Arabia), Belgrade (serbia), Erbil (Iraq), Baghdad (Iraq), Kilimanjaro (tanzania) and Yangon (myanmar). In February, the carrier launched services to the Azerbaijan capital Baku and Georgia’s capital city of tbilisi, and last month began flights to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda in East Africa.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan telecommunication Company limited (PtCl), the country’s largest and only integrated telecom service provider, commemorated the international Earth Day 2012 by kicking off a tree plantation campaign at its headquarters in Islamabad. In a graceful ceremony attended by PtCl officials and employees, senior Executive Vice President hR, syed mazhar hussain launched the tree plantation campaign by planting a ‘Blue Pine’ sapling in the central gardens of the PtCl hQs building. As part of this campaign, PtCl is planting 200 tree saplings in its hQs grounds as well as PtCl residential colonies spread across Islamabad.

“PtCl has made significant strides this past year to reduce its carbon footprint by encouraging a paperless environment and using recycled material for its products,” said mr. hussain on the occasion. “We are firmly committed to sustainability, and this tree plantation campaign is yet another step in our ongoing efforts to preserve and protect our precious environment for future generations.”

In 2009 United Nations designated April 22 as ‘ International mother Earth Day ’. It is commemorated annually in more than 175 countries to increase awareness and appreciation of the Earth’s natural environment.

PTCL launches tree plantation campaign on Earth Day 2012 DOHA: Qatar Airways will tomorrow (April 17) launch an amazing three-day global sale to more than 100 destinations worldwide. Passengers from Doha and around the world can avail the special fares taking advantage of up to 25% off both Economy and Business Class prices. the round-trip fares are inclusive of all taxes and surcharges. the 72hour sale booking window opens at midnight 0001 hrs (local time in each market) on tuesday April 17 and ends on thursday April 19 at 2359 hrs (local time in each market). Passengers can choose from a diverse range of more than 100 business and leisure destinations served by Qatar Airways, including Cape town, New York, sao Paulo, Bangkok, Athens, singapore, Istanbul, maldives, Delhi, Goa, munich, stockholm, Copenhagen, Casablanca and melbourne via the airline’s Doha hub. the specials are for travel until June 6 and tickets can be booked online at www.qatarairways.com, through Qatar Airways’ reservation offices or travel agents. Qatar Airways Chief Executive officer Akbar Al Baker said the airline’s global sale was an attractive offer expected to generate huge interest worldwide. “For

KARACH: Chairman Consumers Association of Pakistan Kaukab Iqbal Singing the MoU for Road Safety with Farooq Azam Asst. Inspector General National Highways & Motorway Police, on this occasion DIG. Jehanzib Khan, SSP Farhan Baig, Chairman Punjab Region CAP Arif Ansari, Advocate Main Irfan Akram, Dr. Iftikhar Hussain, Waheed Daar, Ghazali Akther, Nasir Iqbal & Muhammad Yaseen is also seen in the picture. PRESS RELEASE