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Russia eyes $ 600 million trade with Pakistan KARACHI
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STAFF REPORT
uSSIA plans to increase the volume of bilateral trade with Pakistan to the 2008 level of $ 600 million, Consul General of Russia Andrey V. Demidov has said. “Still we plan to reach the level of uS $ 600 million by the end of 2012,” Demidov told a gathering organized by the Asian union Forum (AuF) here. Present among others were Patronin-Chief Justice Said-uz-Zaman Siddiqui, Chairman Waseem Yasin, Secretary General Tariq Shadab and members of the AuF’s executive committee. “We were and are prepared to cooperate with Pakistan in different spheres and primarily in commerce and in economy,” he said. In the last two decades of the 20th century the cooperation between the two countries remained on a very low level, he recalled. “The bilateral trade volume in 1980 was uS $ 95 million only and in 1990 – 138 mln. These figures were negligible,” said the consul general. He said the record high volume of bilateral trade, about $ 600 million, was reached in 2008. “But later we experienced the effects of the World financial crises and the volume of trade dropped to the level of uS $ 300 mln in 2009,” he said. Demidov said he had already mentioned a very good example of mutually beneficial cooperation that was the Pakistani Steel Mills. The project was inaugurated more than 30 years ago. And it was still operational. The machinery built in the Soviet union, although old, was still working without any serious technical problem. Nevertheless, the Pakistani Steel Mills needed to be upgraded, he said. The new machinery was to be supplied
and fit in. The production level was to be brought up. “And we are prepared to come and to modernize the project. About four years ago we presented the management of the Steel Mills with a detailed plan of upgrading the production to the level of 3 million tons. This plan is still under consideration by our partners,” the consul general said. In this respect, Demidov stressed his conviction that the follow-up of bilateral cooperation around the Pakistani Steel Mills could move forward the whole complex of our bilateral ties. “We know that Pakistan is experiencing energy deficit. But Russia is the world’s biggest energy supplier. Our assistance in the field of energy can be rendered in the form of oil and gas supplies. Our experts assisted the Iranians in bringing the gas pipeline to the Iran-Pakistan border,” said the Russian consul general. It had been announced that Russia had a plan to allocate $ 500 million for the upgrading of the Pakistani Steel Mills, he said. Special agreements, he said, were underway on construction of a South
Asian Electricity Trade and Development Project CASA-1000 and gas pipeline TAPI. Demidov said good prospects for fruitful bilateral cooperation could be found in the fields of railroads and highway construction, energy, coal mining and others. A very important and a very fruitful sphere of bilateral cooperation was Russian possible participation in building irrigation projects in Pakistan. “Russia has a very serious experience of using modern machinery in this field. In the past we built a lot of irrigation systems in Central Asia,” said he. Both the parties can cooperate in the field of transport, building roads, railroads, bridges etc, including air transport. On May 5 this year, he recalled, a Russian-made passenger airplane of latest brand “Sukhoi Superjet” performed demonstration flights in the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, in the presence of officials from the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan. “In our view the biggest prospects for the future development of mankind lie in outer space. Space is an inex-
PSM to iMPort iron ore froM iran ISLAMABAD: Chief executive officer of Pakistan Steel Mills is on a visit to Iran to discuss and secure supplies of iron ore from a less expensive and quick source of raw material to boost PS production. The spokesperson of the PS said that the main purpose of the visit is to explore possibilities of securing a continuous supply for the Steel Mills, IRNA News Agency Reported. The mill is experiencing difficulties in importing iron ore from Australia, Canada and Brazil as shipments take 50 to 60 days with a high freight compared to a 10-12-day cost-effective shipment from the neighbouring country. The spokesperson said the PS delegation would meet representatives of five Iranian companies and would also discuss possibility of barter trade, under which PS would supply metallurgical coke in exchange for Iranian ore. APP
haustible source of energy, raw materials. And of course it is an important source of human knowledge. Russia now is an undoubtedly world leader in space exploration, in manned spaceflights,” Demidov said. The two countries, he said, had already started cooperation in the space. In December 2001, a Russian missile launched into orbit a Pakistani satellite “BADAR-2”. In September 2012, the two sides witnessed the second session of Inter-ministerial Russian-Pakistani Commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation held in Islamabad. “We can cooperate in the field of education that is in training of Pakistani students in Russian universities,” he said. Also, according to Demidov, the two countries had an intense political dialogue including regular contacts at the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the so called “Dushanbe Four”. “Both sides have regular consultations between foreign ministers,” he said. The consul general said Russia and Pakistan had close approaches to main international issues. “This cooperation should be continued,” he said. “Of course the moving forward closer with Russia is not and should not be the only option for Pakistan. We think that Pakistan should continue its long-time cooperation with the united States. And, undoubtedly we will only support Pakistan in its aspiration to maintain its time-tested all-weather friendship with China. What we want is to complement the existing cooperation with these nations. We wish to add what the listed nations could not and possibly do not want to give to Pakistan,” he said. Russian businesspeople, Demidov said, were listed among quite fortunate ones. “But they are to be encouraged to come and to invest in Pakistan. They are to be invited to invest in Pakistan. In what way invited? Invited to business and investment exhibitions and fairs. Invited to take part in business forums, in talks and negotiations on specific projects,” he said. He said his side was awaiting with keen interest the visit to Pakistan of Russian President Vladimir V. Putin. “I would like to stress that the visit was not cancelled, it was postponed.
Byco opens 25-metre deep oil terminal in Balochistan First oil tanker arrives at ‘Single Point Mooring’ g
KARACHI STAFF REPORT
Byco has achieved yet another historic milestone by bringing the first ever oil tanker to its newly-established deep sea Single Point Mooring (SPM) facility constructed by the Byco Terminal Pakistan Ltd, a Byco group company. Byco’s crude oil tanker, M.T ARIETIS, carrying 70,000 tons of upper zakum crude oil from Abu Dahbi was berthed at first ever SPM Tuesday. This marks the commissioning of 3rd port which will be used for import of crude oil and petroleum related products. With a clear draft of 25 meters this facility can accommodate larger size vessels carrying Crude/ Petroleum products in cargo sizes of over 100,000 tons. The full operation of SPM will cause to create adequate availability of other oil piers leading to reduced waiting time and consequential demurrage. In the initial stages, the SPM shall be used to import Crude Oil for Byco’s newly completed 120,000 bpd and the existing fully operative smaller refinery of 35,000 bpd. The SPM has been set up on the coast of Arabian Sea at a distance of approximately 14km from the Byco’s Mouza Kund Site and is approximately 10 kilometers from the sea shore at 25 meters depth. It is connected to the storage tanks through 28 inch diameter offshore and onshore pipeline. Speaking on the occasion, Imran Farookhi, CEO Byco Terminals Pakistan, the company that owns and operates the SPM, said that the arrival of M.T ARIETIS marked the end of one journey and the beginning of a new one. “With the blessings of the Almighty, we have conquered all obstacles and are ready to meet the needs of Pakistan’s growing oil needs,” he said. Presently the petroleum products are being imported through Karachi and Port Qasim and both these ports had a draft limitation and as such cannot accommodate larger ships. The SPM facility with a draft of 25 meters would allow mooring of the larger crude carriers, which would not only result into lower administrative cost but would also bring in substantial savings on account of difference in freight charges, thus giving SPM facility a strategic advantage. Byco Terminals Pakistan is an infrastructure company setup to facilitate the logistics of petroleum products, Byco Terminals Pakistan (formerly universal Terminal Limited) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited (BPPL).
‘UREA MANUFACTURERS HAVE GIVEN FARMERS RS 365B BOOST’ KARACHI STAFF REPORT
The domestic urea manufacturing plants have provided a benefit of Rs 365 billion to the farmers over the last five years, said the Fertilizer Manufacturers Pakistan Advisory Council (FMPAC) Wednesday. The benefit, the council said, was in the face of keeping the local urea prices significantly below international levels. “That is a huge benefit to the agriculture industry and the economy,” said a FMPAC spokesman in a statement issued here. The spokesman said all the four SNGPL based fertilizer plants had incurred significant losses in the last 2 years due to non-supply of gas and further benefit to the agri-economy was being eroded. He added that there was a misconception that fertilizer manufacturers were enjoying raw material subsidy from the government in the form of reduced feed gas prices. This subsidy was not for the manufacturers, but was in fact passed on to the
farmers via reduced prices and this government policy had historically protected farmers and the agriculture economy from price fluctuations of international urea market, rupee depreciation and foreign exchange requirements. Based on current feed and fuel gas prices, gas subsidy per bag of urea works out to be Rs.228 per bag. In essence if Government subsidy on gas price was taken away, urea prices would only increase by Rs. 228 per bag. On the other hand difference between price of domestic and international urea throughout 2012 has been more than Rs. 1,000 per bag. Therefore, he said, that not only is the fertilizer industry passing on feed gas subsidy to the farmer, it is also passing on a much larger benefit of local urea production in addition to paying taxes to Government. The official further added that out of the total urea price increase since 2010, about 80% has resulted from imposition of GST on urea and CESS on gas, and general inflation while balance 20% is due to factors such as significant less production due to Gas curtailment and other costs which remain constant irrespective
of less production etc. Government did not honor its gas supply contracts with the fertilizer manufacturers despite the fact that industry has recently invested $2.3 billion in the country based on the government approved policy designed to encourage investment in the sector. Domestic urea plants in the country are now faced with a production loss of over 2.8 million tons in 2012 as they could only produce 4.1 million tons of urea against a total production capacity of over 6.9 million tons per annum which has increased foreign outflow instead of spending within the country. The government has also incurred significant losses by importing urea worth over $ 1 billion and providing subsidy of over Rs. 50 billion on imported urea in the last 2 years. urea is the most expensive form of energy that is imported costing around $23/MMBTu, whereas RFO and LNG would be 30-50% on average less expensive than urea on a MMBTu basis. The FMPAC official further clarified that domestically produced urea is always available around the length and breadth of Pakistan eliminating pocket shortages. Whereas imported urea is generally not
available at the right time needed for sowing of crops due to unavoidable delays in imports. He said that there are a host of other reasons including food autarky and food self-sufficiency which warrants sustained and regular production of domestically produced urea. He said that the entire crisis has primarily been due to non-ad-
herence of the Government approved priority for gas supply to the fertilizer industry who had sovereign contracts in place to receive gas unlike other sectors. The continued non supply of gas to the SNGPL plants is already creating financial turmoil for these manufacturers, as well as severely denting the agriculture economy.
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Business 02 fiSH eXPort
$1b worth fish on the table ISLAMABAD
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HE Sindh government aims to enhance the seafood exports from the current $300 million to $1 billion by adopting new technologies to promote aquaculture, developing infrastructure and enhancing capacity building of fishermen in the province. “At present Pakistan’s seafood exports stand at just $300 million and major share in exports is contributed by Sindh province,” Director of Fisheries (Hatcheries & Trainings) at Department of Fisheries, Khawar Pervez Awan told reporters during their visit to coastal areas of the province. He said that the country’s total fish production stands at 400,000 metric tons per annum out of which 282,000 metric tons is pro-
duced by Sindh and remaining by other provinces. He was of the view that fish production in the country has remained stagnant which needs attention to propel it and earn foreign exchange. He said that among the all seafood exports, the major share of 60% is contributed by shrimps. Mr.Awan said that value addition could also help enhance the cost of the seafood adding that several countries were importing fish from Pakistan and exporting to other countries by using their own labels and trade mark. He added that despite the ban by European union on the exports
CSR activities should be transparent: SECP ISLAMABAD: The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is fast becoming an integral part of businesses all over the world and in Pakistan a large number of businesses are doing commendable work in this area. SECP believes that transparency and corporate accountability are essential in carrying out the CSR activities. Tahir Mahmood, the SECP Commissioner, Company Law Division, stated this while speaking at a roundtable discussion on CSR Voluntary Guidelines, 2012, on Wednesday in Islamabad. He reaffirmed the SECP’s commitment to facilitate stakeholders’ engagement for strengthening accountability and transparency in reporting framework. The discussion was attended by distinguished representatives of public companies, professional institutions, research institutions and NGOs involved in the CSR projects. The SECP representatives informed the participants that in May 2012, the SECP has in principle granted approval for introducing corporate social responsibility (CSR) guidelines for public companies which is a significant step towards streamlining reporting requirements and corporate accountability of the CSR activities. It was stressed that ownership of strategic policy for planning, execution and reporting CSR activities shall rest with Board of Directors so that the CSR policy permeates through the business structure for effective implementation. The guidelines provides for forming a CSR consultative committee, ideally led by a CSR expert, for purpose of ensuring transparent, specialized supervision and reporting progress. The guidelines call for obtaining independent assurance of CSR projects and the report of assurer thereof forming part of the CSR report of company. The participants appreciated the SECP’s efforts and intent for introducing guidelines. APP
of Pakistani fish, the exports did not decrease as the fish exports were diverted to other interested countries. Meanwhile, the exports of fish and fish preparations during the first five months of the current fiscal year witnessed slight increase of 0.57 percent. Seafood exports during JulyNovember (2012-13) stood at $ 126.294 million against the exports of $125.683 million during the same period of last year. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been financing Sindh Coastal Community Development Project and development of fisheries is a
sub-component of that project. The project is aimed at promoting fish raising and growing culture instead of just catching. under the project, 30 fish ponds are to be constructed in Thatta besides installing 100 rafts for Oyster rearing and rehabilitation of Fish Hatchery in Badin district to produce quality seed. The fisheries development program is the part of Asia Development Bank’s (ADB) funded project which has been launched to uplift the poor of the coastal areas. The ADB has been providing funds for the Sindh Coastal Community Development Project (SCCDP) to diversify household income generation options and access to service. Besides, the purpose of the ADB-Funded project is to improve costal zone management by stabilizing environmental degradation, protecting coastal areas from accelerated coastal erosion.
SMEs ‘imperative’ for promotion of economic activities RAWALPINDI: The role of Small and Medium Enterprises SMEs is imperative for promotion of economic activities which would help to create job opportunities, investment attractions and human resource development at grass root level. A collaborated development network is required to provide platform to all the stakeholders for contribution of their inputs for economic wellbeing of the country. This was stated by the Chairman IPO-Pakistan Mr. Hameed ullah Jan Afridi MNA while addressing the concluding session of SMEs Conference and Seminar on IPR held at Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce & Industries which was jointly organized by Industries, Commerce & Investment Department Punjab in collaboration with Intellectual Property Organization (IPO-Pakistan), Agriculture Department, PSIC and RCCI on Wednesday. The Chairman IPO said that IPO has got legal entity after passage of IP Act 2012 and the organization has initiated a number of projects focusing on developing institutional framework, capacity building, enhancing mutual cooperation and rectifying memorandum of understanding with different organizations. He said SME sector has great potential to promote indigenous creative capabilities. He further said that IPO-Pakistan has set up IP facilitation Desks at LCCI, KCCI and SMEDA offices at Lahore and Karachi to facilitate IP right holders for information dissemination and guidance about their IP rights registration. He also announced for opening similar Facilitation Desk at RCCI with the cooperation of SMEDA. The Chairman emphasized on cooperation among IP stakeholders for promotion and protection of IPRs in the country.The Director General IPO-Pakistan Mr. Sajjad Ahmad Bhutta underlined the need of developing market oriented innovative capabilities among the IP right creators in SME sector. He further said that database of SMEs is being developed to address their sectoral issues. IPR enforcement is being strengthened for effective IP rights protection. ONLINE
Major Gainers COMPANY Wyeth Pak Limited Siemens Pakistan Khyber TobaccoXD Pak Oilfields Millat Tractors Ltd.
OPEN 944.76 762.00 118.89 435.36 561.05
HIGH 955.00 770.00 124.83 442.10 565.00
LOW 955.00 761.00 124.83 434.99 559.90
CLOSE 955.00 770.00 124.83 440.67 564.86
CHANGE 10.24 8.00 5.94 5.31 3.81
TURNOVER 50 4,500 500 516,700 80,400
10030.00 403.20 247.00 139.00 98.76
10000.00 364.80 230.36 133.10 98.76
10007.50 366.00 235.08 133.10 98.76
-142.50 -18.00 -7.40 -7.00 -5.19
100 2,600 14,600 20,600 500
3.99 6.50 14.90 39.10 6.57
3.20 6.05 14.45 38.35 6.35
3.99 6.15 14.62 38.69 6.37
1.00 -0.03 -0.17 0.19 -0.03
14,901,500 9,980,000 4,254,000 4,193,500 3,674,000
Major Losers UniLever Pak Mithchells Fruit Pak.Int.Cont. SD Murree Brewery AL-Abbas Sugur
10150.00 384.00 242.48 140.10 103.95
Volume Leaders P.I.A.C.(A) TRG Pakistan Ltd. Maple Leaf Cement Fauji Fert Bin Fauji Cement
2.99 6.18 14.79 38.50 6.40
Interbank Rates US Dollar UK Pound Japanese Yen Euro
97.2994 156.9342 1.1388 128.4352
Dollar East US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal Australian Dollar
BUY 97.50 127.66 155.69 1.1241 96.72 12.35 26.36 25.82 99.53
SELL 98.20 129.56 157.95 1.1397 98.77 12.58 26.70 26.15 102.46
Mobile banking transactions hit Rs 139b in 1QFY13 KARACHI: Mobile banking accounts in the country climbed to 1.8 million registering what the central bank described it a remarkable growth of 25 percent during the first quarter of FY13. According to Branchless Banking Newsletter issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Wednesday, during July-September FY13 the branchless banking (BB) customers conducted almost 31.5 million transactions worth Rs 139 billion. The average size of each transaction was Rs 4,420, while the average number of transaction per day increased to 0.349 million. The accounts’ activity level has also improved considerably during the quarter at the back of significant growth of 84% in Level ‘0’ accounts and 7% growth in Level ‘1’ accounts. These accounts are opened at the agents’ location largely by those who have traditionally been excluded from the banking services. The agents’ network has reached to 31,637 as of 30th September, 2012 from 29,525 as on 30th June, 2012 registering an increase of 7 percent. It may be pointed out that transaction limits for Level ‘0’ & Level ‘1’ accounts are Rs 15,000 and Rs 25,000 per day respectively. Bills payments & mobile topups remained the dominating activity during July-September 2012 quarter with 45 percent share in total numbers, followed by person to person (over the counter) fund transfers with a share of 38 percent.STAFF REPORT
CORPORATE CORNER Faysal Bank Limited signs MoU with auto dealers
Naeem Zamindar hosts dinner in honour of Declan
even contract with each other to offer broadband roaming services to cross-operator users – making service availability (on WiMAX or WiFi) available to larger pool of customers in wider range of areas.
Colgate Sensitive lets you enjoy your hot drinks without toothache
KARACHI: Faysal Bank Limited’s Car Finance Business has taken another initiative towards providing innovative and value-added products and services to its customers by joining hands with top Auto dealers countrywide. under this alliance customers will avail exclusive benefits and discounts, with precedence over delivery of vehicles. A signing ceremony of MOu was held at Faysal Bank, head office Karachi between Mir Nejib Rahman (Head - Consumer Finance, Wealth Management and e-Banking) and The Auto Dealers (Toyota Central Motors, Toyota Hyderabad Motors, Honda Shahrah-e-Faisal and Suzuki Margalla Motors). On the occasion, Mr. Naved A Khan (President & CEO - Faysal Bank Limited) addressing the forum said, ”Our ambition is to provide par excellence services for our customers while meeting all their financial needs. The Bank is committed to offer superior car financing options and to promote one window operation with support of our alliance partners.”
LAHORE: Declan Byrne, President of WiMAX forum, the global body that certifies and promotes the compatibility and interoperability of WiMAX products and services, recently visited Pakistan to meet with regulator and government officials. Along with local partners, WiMAX forum has put immense efforts in streamlining the WiMAX businesses in Pakistan that have been undergoing stagnant growth after booming period few years ago. Declan, speaking on the occasion said, “My visit to Pakistan is not only aimed at convincing the government in bringing more transparency in laws and market practices but also to encourage WiMAX investors who are apparently hesitant in putting more capital in their businesses lately.” Declan further suggested that WiMAX operators can partner with cellular companies to form partnerships to offer broadband services to cross-network users, eventually to boost their revenues on current working ecosystem. Pakistan is the first country in the world to have rolled out a nationwide WiMAX network, established by Wateen Telecom. WiMAX President further proposed that WiMAX operators can
KaRaChi: Chief Justice Fedrel Shariat Court agha Rafig ahmed Khan is awarding Gold Medal to student o Boman Lakhani (Chancellor) and Kashif Roll Registrar) of the institute of Business & Technology look on.
FRESh congratulates COThM KARACHI: Colgate Palmolive has always been at the forefront of creating awareness regarding oral healthcare in Pakistan. Colgate, the #1 brand recommended by dentists, has now introduced New Colgate Sensitive Multiprotection, specifically designed to cure and prevent dental sensitivity and provide complete gum care with the additional benefits of whitening and cavity protection. During December, COLGATE SENSITIVE came to your favorite McDonalds and asked you to take the sensitivity challenge. After consumers were asked to take a sip from a hot cup of tea, our suspicions were confirmed; that one in every three individuals suffers from dentine hypersensitivity. Colgate Sensitive has been the leader in educating consumers about the symptoms and effects of dental sensitivity and continued that trend by treating patients suffering from dental sensitivity on the spot.
KARACHI: Chief Executive of Foundation for Rehabilitation & Education of Slow Children (FRESH) Ashba Kamran has congratulated Mr Ahmed Shafiq, Executive Director of the College of Tourism & Hotel Management (COTHM) on his appointment as Chairman of Standing Committee on Travel, Tourism, Hospitality and Sector Skill of the LCCI for the year 2012-13. Ashba Kamran has expressed the hope that Ahmed Shafiq will play effective role in formulating the tourism policy for the province of Punjab through the platform of LCCI. She said the COTHM has also signed a Memorandum of understanding (Mou) with FRESH on educating and training of FRESH students in hospitality and hotel management. Accordingly, a good number of slow learners have joined COTHM under the leadership of Ahmed Shafiq for their bright future.
Thursday, 27 December, 2012