PRO 24-11-2012_Layout 1 11/23/2012 10:56 PM Page 1
Saturday, 24 November, 2012
Growers, millers jubilant on ECC decisions Wheat growers welcome new support price ISLAMABAD APP
PESHAWAR APP
G
ROWERS, sugar millers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Friday reciprocated the decision of federal government for increase in the support price of wheat and allowing the export of surplus sugar as a step forward towards bringing agricultural revolution and improvement in the socio-economic conditions. On the growing demand of both growers and sugar milling industry, the Economic Coordination Council (ECC) has decided 14.3 per cent increase in the support of price of 40-kilogram wheat as compare to the price of commodity last year. The support price of wheat, which was last year Rs.1050/- per 40 kilogram for coming crop has been fixed Rs.1200/. Similarly, the ECC has also allowed the export of 400,000 tons of sugar. The decisions of the democratically elected is attracting appreciations not only from farmers and millers, but also from common man, saying the measures will encourage bringing maximum agricultural land under the cultivation of wheat and sugarcane in the country. In this connection, when APP contacted Murad Ali Khan, a leader of a growers’ association in fertile district Charsadda, appreciated the decisions, adding it will prove beneficial for both growers and sugar millers. He said that the present government since coming into power had consecutively increased the support price of wheat, which had ushered better results.
He said that due to the pro-farmers policies, the country which few years backing was importing wheat and sugar is now exporting both commodities and earning foreign exchange for the country. Murad Ali Khan said that increase in the price of support price of wheat and allowing of sugar export will not only improve the socio-economic conditions of farmers, but will also stabilizes the financial viability of sugar industry in the country. Ameerullah Khan, another grower said that the decisions will increase domestic production of both commodities and strengthen the national economy. He said that the decision will help bring maximum area under cultivation and the country will come into position of exporting wheat and wheat products. On contact, Talehmand Khan, a manager at Khazana Sugar Mills (KSM), Peshawar welcomed the decision of allowing the export of 400,000 sugar, adding it will benefit both sugar mills and growers. He said that the decision will bring positive impact on the socio-economic conditions of farming community and will guarantee sufficient supply of sugar for domestic needs. He said that last year, sugar mills 500,000 ton sugar against domestic demand of 44,00,000 ton. He said that the surplus sugar that was laying in the godowns of sugar mills will now be exported to earn foreign exchange. He said that this year, the country is likely to produce 1.6 metric ton surplus sugar. The export of sugar, he said will enable the mills to make payments to growers on time.
Wheat growers have welcomed the government’s new support price of wheat for the year 2012-13 at the rate of Rs. 1200 per 40 kg saying it will encourage the farmers to grow more crop for the benefit of the country. “The increase in the support price for wheat is good step of the government which will encourage the farmers grow crop on maximum area”, said Muhammad Nasir Sarwar, President of Kissan Welfare Association while talking to APP. He, however was of the view that the new price was not according to the farmers’ expectation adding the government did not increase the wheat support price for last three years but during this period prices of agri inputs including diesel, urea and other expenses have gone up marginally. He demanded the government to enhance the support price up to Rs. 2000 per 40 kg and suggested that the government should follow the strategy of targeted subsidy on wheat for the poor segment of the country. Meanwhile, Chief Agriculture Policy Institute (API) Abdul R a u f Chaudhry told this news agency that sufficient inputs like seed, water and fertilizers are available for the sowing of Rabi crops particularly major food crop of the season wheat. According to estimates of Indus River System Authority (IRSA) about 3.4 percent extra water would be available for sowing the wheat crop during the current season, said here on Friday adding that the Water availability during the Rabi season has been estimated about 30.4 Million Acre F e e t (MAF)
whcih is 3.4 percent higher than the last year and up by 7 percent as compared to the last year 7 years. He informed that all the arrangements have been finalized for sowing the Rabi crops as the season starts from October and continues till March for sowing of different crops including w h e a t , mustard and other minor
crops and vegetables to fulfill the domestic requirements. About the fertilizers and pesticides availability, he said that about 2,996 thousand tons of urea
fertilizer are available throughout the season with 684 thousand tons carry forward stocks of last year. According the estimates of National Fertilizer Development Company, out of the total required urea, 1900 thousand tons are domestic produce where as 412 thousand tons are get by import, he added. The estimated off-take of urea will be about 3,000 tons thus the demand and supply position up to June 2013 is expected to remain comfortable depending upon the arrival of scheduled imports, he added. He said that about 943 thousand tons of DAP would be available for Rabi 2012-13 with 227 thousand tons of opening stocks. Out of the total required quantum of the input 336 thousand tons are domestic production where as the remaining quantity will be fulfilled by import. Rauf Chaudhry said that the expected off-take is likely 785 thousand tons during the current season for sowing the wheat crop. five years, he added. Sufficient certified wheat seed at affordable rates are also available as country was receiving bumper crop from last four years and to control the herbicides attack on the crop private sector was also vigilant. It may be recalled that wheat crop is cultivated over 75 percent areas in Punjab, 12 percent in Sindh, 8 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 4 percent area over Balochistan. Out of the total wheat out put about 76 percent is produced in Punjab, while Sindh produce 16 percent, KP 5 percent and Balochistan produces 3 percent of total wheat produced across the country. The API head informed that according the data received from the provinces normal sowing of wheat was recorded across the wheat sowing areas, however he said that normal rainfall during the period from January-March would help the country to achieve healthier crop. He further said that timely rainfall in the Potohar region has helped the wheat crop sowing and the cultivated area under wheat crop also witnessed increase.
‘It’s a matter of age’ Cut in used cars age limit to spur auto sector growth: PAAPAM LAHORE ONLINE
The Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers has welcomed the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) decision to bring down age limit of used imported cars from five to three years to support the local industry, which had been adversely affected by the huge influx of used cars. PAAPAM Chairman, Munir Bana, and Vice Chairman, Usman Malik, in their joint statement on Friday, said that this decision would go a long way in stimulating the growth of the domestic industry and a flagging economy. Deputy Prime Minister/Senior Industries Minis-
ter, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, deserves appreciation for accepting the auto industry’s plea and moving a proposal for reduction in the age limit of used car imports. “Deputy Prime Minister firmly believed that jobs of 2 million workers of the auto industry must be saved. At PAAPAM’s last annual function, he personally made a commitment to raise his voice against imports of used cars in the interest of domestic industry,” said PAAPAM Chairman Munir Bana. Appreciating Pervaiz Elahi’s services, PAAPAM’s Chairman said that the deputy prime minister had also reduced general sales tax on tractors from 17 % to 5% last year, helping revive the tractor in-
dustry and its allied auto parts manufacturing (APM) units. PAAPAM chairman Munir Bana said that the auto industry was facing a steep decline in production and car assemblers & APMs had retrenched thousands of workers because of continuing imports of used cars. He said that countries like India, Thailand, Malaysia and even Japan protect their local industry by imposing heavy duties to discourage
imports. PAAPAM vice chairman Usman Malik added that in order to protect the employment of 2 million persons directly/indirectly associated with the automotive industry and to encourage foreign investment, it was essential to provide fair protection to local industry. He further said that that during the period 20012007, with the help of stable policies of the government, the automobile industry went through a period of tremendous expansion, with investments of over Rs40 billion and volumes going
up by over 500 per cent. These developments made the auto industry one of the top five industrial sectors of the country in terms of contribution to tax revenue, acquisition of hi-tech manufacturing technologies and generation of employment. Unfortunately, due to import of used vehicles and other adverse policy factors, our industry is now suffering from excess capacity, he added. Immediate past Chairman Syed Nabeel Hashmi whilst expressing his delight at the development thanked the deputy prime minister and also called upon the industry as a whole to respond to the government gesture immediately by further enhancing and speeding up production and local content”.
PRO 24-11-2012_Layout 1 11/23/2012 10:56 PM Page 2
Asian markets mostly up in quiet trade HONG KONG
A
Mandviwala briefs PM on status of implementation of decisions
COMPANY Unilever Food Rafhan Maize Prod. Bata (Pak) XD Island Textile Indus DyeingXD
OPEN 3780.00 3550.00 1352.50 716.97 538.91
HIGH 3960.00 3700.00 1420.12 752.00 560.00
LOW 3960.00 3600.00 1350.01 681.13 550.00
CLOSE CHANGE 3960.00 180.00 3700.00 150.00 1420.00 67.50 750.00 33.03 555.00 16.09
TURNOVER 20 300 1,150 1,300 300
1250.00 930.00 787.50 570.90 290.00
1250.00 925.00 720.00 552.00 280.00
1250.00 926.00 731.15 555.85 283.15
-50.00 -19.00 -18.85 -12.39 -4.79
50 150 9,000 23,200 8,700
7.19 15.59 11.24 3.73 3.35
6.81 14.26 10.50 2.79 3.06
6.97 15.47 10.69 3.73 3.23
0.00 0.23 0.17 1.00 0.38
61,735,500 31,636,000 11,360,000 8,569,500 6,660,500
Major Losers 1300.00 945.00 750.00 568.24 287.94
Volume Leaders Fauji Cement Maple Leaf Cement Byco Petroleum Pervez Ahmed Dewan Motors
6.97 15.24 10.52 2.73 2.85
Interbank Rates the next batch of bailout cash to Athens when they meet Monday, after a hold-up in talks this week. The single currency bought $1.2881 in early Tokyo trade, compared with $1.2875 in London on Thursday while it was also at 106.06 yen from 106.22 yen. The dollar fetched 82.35 yen, from 82.42 yen. Trading on foreign exchange markets was quiet owing to Japan’s public holiday, but the yen was still under pressure on expectations the country’s central bank will unveil a new round of monetary easing next month. Investors began selling the unit last week after the man likely to become prime minister
after a December 16 general election said he would push for unlimited loosening monetary policy by the bank. Regional traders were also drawing support from Thursday’s release of preliminary data by HSBC showing Chinese manufacturing activity grew for the first time in 13 months in November. On oil markets New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January shed 59 cents to $86.79 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for January delivery fell 19 cents to $110.36. Gold was at $1,729.60 at 0210 GMT compared with $1,729.27 late Thursday.
eU leaders warn budget deal far off
ISLAMABAD ONLINE
Prime Minister Raja Prevez Ashraf, Friday, said that D-8 Charter adopted in the 8th Summit was a major achievement for the Organization as it would improve interaction and cooperation among the Member States. The Prime Minister was talking to Chairman BOI/MOS Finance, Mr. Saleem H Mandviwala who called on him at the PM’s House on Friday. He said that the hosting of D-8 Summit afforded an opportunity to interact with the D-8 leaders both during the Summit and at bilateral level. Mr. Salim H Mandviwala also briefed the Prime Minister on the status of implementation of decisions taken by him when he visited the office of Board of Investment (BoI) last month.
Major Gainers
Colgate Palmolive Wyeth Pak Limited Siemens Pakistan Millat Tractors Ltd. National Foods
AGENCIES
SIAN markets were mostly up Friday following a rally in the previous session, while dealers await another meeting on Greece’s bailout and the resumption of talks on the US fiscal cliff. Trade was subdued with Japanese markets closed for a public holiday and the United States celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday. Hong Kong added 0.21 percent, Sydney was flat, Shanghai added 0.60 percent and Seoul was 0.30 percent higher. One dealer said jitters would likely have set in over upcoming negotiations between Democrats and Republicans to hammer out a deal on the fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts that comes into effect on January 1. “I think next week the market will face the reality that there’s still a lot of work to do on the fiscal cliff and the debt ceiling,” said Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG Markets in Australia. Global markets have soared over the past week on hopes that a compromise will be found in Washington that will avert the fiscal cliff, which will likely send the economy into recession if it comes into effect. The euro was holding onto recent gains against the dollar as dealers remain confident eurozone finance ministers will agree to release
Business 02
BRUSSELS AGENCIES
European leaders voiced pessimism Friday on reaching a deal on a trillion-euro EU budget, as gruelling talks pushed into a second day with little prospect of bridging bitter divisions. The summit talks in Brussels were suspended overnight after less than an hour and a half, having already begun hours late on Thursday due to the vast differences on the need for cuts between the bloc’s have and have-not nations. The negotiations were scheduled to resume
at 1100 GMT on Friday once delegates from the 27 member nations have had time to examine new proposals on the 2014-2020 budget submitted by EU president Herman Van Rompuy. But with an increasingly eurosceptic Britain threatening to wield its veto, and splits throughout the EU over the level of spending, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that any deal may have to wait. “I think we’re advancing a bit, but I doubt that we will reach a deal,” Merkel said as she and her fellow leaders left the first session of talks. French President Francois Hollande also warned that failure to reach a deal was increasingly likely. “It’s what everyone has in mind,” Hollande said as he left for the night, due back hours later to try to breach the divisions. But giving “time to time to reach a deal” will “most likely be the wise choice,” he said. The first round of talks followed a tough day of face-to-face meetings between Van Rompuy and each of the bloc’s leaders, followed by a flurry of backroom bilaterals. “Maybe this meeting will be long and complicated,” Van Rompuy said as the two-day talks opened. “Fortunately this issue only comes up every seven years,” he added.
US Dollar UK Pound Japanese Yen Euro
96.0508 153.0474 1.1694 123.7423
Dollar East BUY US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal Australian Dollar
SELL
96.40 124.06 153.45 1.1576 96.12 12.21 26.10 25.58 99.62
96.90 125.54 155.25 1.1712 97.75 12.43 26.38 25.83 102.24
CORPORATE CORNER PIA’s post-hajj operation continues satisfactorily KARACHI: So far 60521 hajjis has been brought back to Pakistan through 143 Hajj flights and flights are operating now on schedule time, PIA Spokesman said here on Thursday. The airline has brought back 8,753 hajjis to Karachi through 18 post hajj flights, 11,496 through 23 flights to Islamabad, 10,038 through 20 flights to Lahore and 10836 Hajjis to Peshawar through 33 post hajj flights.PIA carried back 9,397 hajjis to Quetta by 29 Post-Hajj flights, 6,510 Hajjis to Multan by 13 flights and 3,491 Hajjis to Sialkot by 07 PostHajj Flights.
Nespak wins dam project in Nigeria LAHORE: NESPAK in joint venture with H. P. Gauff Ingenieure GMBH & Co. Germany has won engineering supervision of Obudu Dam Rehabilitation work in Nigeria. Obudu dam is in Cross River State in the south east of Nigeria. It is an Earthfill structure with a height of 18m, total creast length of 425m and storage capacity of 4.2 million cubic meters. It is a multipurpose dam and was commissioned in 1999 for use in farm irrigation, fishing, potable water supply and also for recreational and tourism purposes.
Thai hosts IATA conference
Egyptian businessmen looking for joint ventures ISLAMABAD ONLINE
A delegation of businessman from Egypt visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) for B2B meetings with Pakistani entrepreneurs having common interest in various fields. These delegates were on visit to Pakistan for attending four-day 8th summit of the Developing 8 Muslim countries. The Egyptian delegation comprising of Tamer Safwat, EECA’s consultant for External Exhibitions, Mrs.Iman Abdel Maksoud Shaltout, Director of Egyptian Pavilion,May Sami Ahmed Hussain, Home Textile Exports Council,Ahmed Hamdy abdo Hendy from Chemical and Ferlilizers export Council,Omer Hafez El Hawwam fromTextile ex-
port Council,M.Mostafa and Muhammad Amen from Bed Jansen and Shehab Eldin Farid from Egyptian Beverages. The Egyptian delegates expressed interest in promoting trade and economic relations and stressed the need for close cooperation between the business sectors of the two countries. They said that the aim of their visit to ICCI was to explore the possibilities of investment potential in the fields of agriculture, food processing, textiles, engineering, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and building materials. They said that both the sides should share information about trade exhibitions and fairs which could be the most feasible option for strengthening mutual economic, cultural and trade ties be-
tween Egypt and Pakistan. Speaking on the occasion,Zafar Bakhtawari, President ICCI said that Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with Egypt as it is the land of great heroes, adding that both the countries have lot of similarities and deep rooted in shared faith and values. He said that it was quite disappointed on cancellation of visit of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who was also scheduled to attend the D8 summit and address the parliamentarians in Pakistan. Mr.Bakhtawari was of the view that Egyptian President should have to visit Pakistan because his current visit to Islamabad could be a landmark in the traditional and friendly relations between the two major Muslim countries as there
was no visit of any Egyptian President since 1983 while there were a number of visits from Pakistan side. He said Pakistan was located at a strategic location and Egypt could enter Central Asian markets by developing better economic relations with Pakistan. President ICCI emphasized on the need of channelizing the trade related information and cooperation in various sectors through regular exchange of business delegations and holding B2B meetings. To accelerate the trade activities between the two countries, direct flights from Islamabad to Cairo, should be started which would definitely improve the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Egypt, Bakhtawari maintained.
KARACHI: Thai Airways International hosted the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Integrated Settlement Week conference at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel in Bangkok. This year, IATA brings together major groups to the same venue under one umbrella: the IATA Clearing House User Group Meeting (ICHUG), the First & Final General Meeting (F&F), the Inaugural Simplified Interline Settlement Meeting (SIS) and the Revenue Accounting General Meeting (RAGM). In addtition, THAI hosted the airlines of the IATA conference on a session titled ‘Crisis Communications in the Age of Social Media”. Attendants were aviation professionals, media experts and guest speakers at the Sofitel SO Bangkok. The conference focused on five main themes: how social media is changing the news business, the impact of social media on the aviation industry, how social media can be used as a tool for families after an incident, developing best practices for the aviation industry, and how to develop an effective social media programme.
Saturday, 24 November, 2012