PRO 28-03-2012_Layout 1 3/28/2012 2:08 AM Page 1
Third tier stakes instigate frenzied bull stampede Page 03
profit.com.pk
Wednesday, 28 March, 2012
AnOtHEr MOO MOMEnt
Who’s smuggling our cows? g
Ministry of Food Security asked to recommend measures to address smuggling of livestock g Ministry also directed to pep up quality control ISLAMABAD
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STAFF REPORT
FTer showing concern over the increase in prices of beef and mutton, the National Price Monitoring Committee has directed the Ministry of Food Security to suggest measure in consultation with Federal board of revenue and Ministry of Interior to control livestock smuggling to neighbouring countries. The meeting of the committee was held under the chairmanship of Special Secretary Finance and attended by the representatives from Punjab, balochistan, Khyber Pakhthunkhwa, Islamabad Capital
Territory, and Ministry of Planning and Development, Ministry of Industries, Ministry of Commerce, Food Security Division, Interior Division, Cabinet Division, Pakistan bureau of Statistics and Federal board of revenue. The committee also directed that while issuing the export license the route and quantity should be identify to ensure satiability in domestic price. The meeting also stressed for establishing more storages facilities by the provincial governments to minimize the wastage of perishable food items as well as expediting the revival of palm oil development project to save foreign exchange on import of edible oil. The committee reviewed the price
trend of 28 selected items among the provinces and noted some variations in the prices of wheat, rice basmati broken, rice irri-6, pulses, beef, mutton, egg, milk fresh, milk powdered, ghee, onions, tomato and garlic. It was noted with concern that prices of most items in balochistan were higher as compared to other provinces. The meeting emphasized for better market intelligence between the provinces and directed Ministry of Food Security to bring a workable plan in consultation with the provinces for sharing the market intelligence to address the price disparity. The meeting reviewed the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Food, Non-Food, Core, Wholesale Price index (WPI) and Sensi-
tive Price Index (SPI) to measures the changes in prices. The SPI recorded an increase of 0.28 percent of the week ended on 15th March, 2012. It was observed that out of 53 items, prices of 25 items registered increase while prices of 05 items decreased and prices of 23 items remain unchanged as compared to last week ended on 8-3-2012, where prices of 31 items increased, prices of 07 items decreased and prices of 15 items remain unchanged. The prices which registered increase were Tomatoes by 28.79 percent, rice (basmati) broken 2.93 percent, Gram Pulse 1.55 percent, Sugar 0.92 percent, Vegetable Ghee (Loose) 0.74 percent, Wheat Flour 0.67 percent and Mash Pulse
0.30 percent. The items which recorded decrease in their prices were Garlic 3.93 percent, Chicken Farm 3.34 percent, egg (Farm) 2.94 percent, Onion 1.50 percent and Potatoes 0.76 percent. While prices of Mutton, Milk Powdered NIDO, Cooking Oil (Tin), Vegetable Ghee (Tin), electric Charges, Gas Charges up to 100M³, Petrol, Diesel and Kerosene remain unchanged. It was also observed that in comparison with the regional countries, Pakistan is the lowest in prices of Wheat, Wheat Flour, rice, Sugar, Chicken Farm and 2nd lowest in beef, Garlic and Petrol while prices of Pulses, Mutton, eggs, Potatoes, red Chilies, Onion, Diesel, Tea and urea are higher in Pakistan.
Over $51m outflows from Pakistan as majority Excessive imports beat the daylight out of urea sales shareholders in Hubco offload stakes KARACHI
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ISMAIL DILAWAR
He country is going to receive a fresh setback on account of foreign investment, as a major shareholding Dutch company in Hub Power Company (Hubco) has decided to offload its entire stakes in local stocks market. after Saudi arabia’s Ms Xenel International, which in October last year sold 140 million of its shares in the Independent Power Producer (IPP) to local buyers from government banks, insurance companies and fund managers, the National Power International Holdings bV is also selling its majority ordinary shares in Hubco. according to company sources, the
Power International, the single largest shareholder in Hubco, has entered into share sale and purchase agreements with the Dawood Group and allied bank Limited. The deal is to sell the Netherlands’s firm’s entire 17.44 percent shares in Hubco that account for some 201.803 million shares. The rate for the sale is said to be rs 31 per share. Hubco’s current Daily Weighted average rate is rs 33.03 on the Karachi bourse. Of the total saleable shares, Dawood Group is purchasing 137.74 million shares, of which 35.48 million would be bought by the Dawood Hercules Corporation and 102.26 million shares by its wholly-owned subsidiary, DH Fertilizer Limited. While the allied bank is purchasing one percent of the total saleable shares
numbering over 11.803 million shares. This means the volume of the proposed acquisition is of a worth beyond rs 4.635 billion or over $ 51 million. It was in October 2011 when Xenel International had divested at least 12 percent of its shareholdings in the power producing firm in the local market at a discount rate of rs 37 against the Hubco’s then market price of rs 40.20. The predividend volume of that deal was approximated at $ 65 million. If the deal is executed as the same is awaiting approval of the government and other concerned authorities, this would be a major outflow of the foreign investment from Pakistan which is already seeing its current account deficit widening beyond $ 2.9 billion during first eight months of the current fiscal year, Fy2011-2012.
KARACHI STAFF REPORT
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ebruary saw urea offtake in the country sharply declining by 61 percent to 160k tons, marking one of the lowest monthly sales figures in last few years. “This sharp decline in urea sales is primarily due to excessive buying of imported urea in the preceding month which was available at discounted price to local urea,” said Farhan Mahmood of Topline research. Interestingly, the analyst said, sales of local urea in the review month stood at 119k tons, even lower than one third compared to same month last year.
Cumulative urea sales during Jan-Feb 2012 stood at 730k tons which remained lower by 10 percent. Similarly, the DaP sales declined by 83 percent to 12k tons in February primarily due to higher application of discounted urea as a substitute and anticipation of sharp decline in DaP prices. Thus, during Jan-Feb 2012, DaP sales stood at 41k tons, down 68 percent year-on-year. “However, we believe that sales of local urea and DaP to recover after March once discounted urea will be consumed forcing farmers to use more local urea in the peak Kharif season,” Mahmood said.
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Wednesday, 28 March, 2012
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IntervIew Kaleem a SIddIquI
‘Circular debt needs political will to be resolved’ g
trade liberalisation with India a positive step for oil sector g Another local OMC to introduce lubricant oils in the country next month KARACHI
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GHULAM ABBAS
He on going trade liberalization process with India is not only a good initiative to stimulate the economic activities in the country but also a positive step for highly import based oil sector. Pakistan facing huge energy crisis can import refined petroleum products from across the border to save freight cost. The petroleum products could be supplied to Pakistan through pipelines from neighboring provinces of India like rajasthan. This was said by Kaleem a Siddiqui, renowned energy expert, who served many oil companies and institutions both in the country and abroad, in an exclusive interview with Profit recently. according to a statistics Pakistan has 12 million tons refining capacity which satisfies only half of its annual requirements, while India exports about 25 per cent of its 185 million tons refining capacity. Siddiqui who previously served Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and byco as President Petroleum Marketing, said that the unresolved circular debt issue needs to have only political will. However, during the last four years no serious efforts were made by the ruling party to resolve the debt issue which what he thought was one the major reasons of present energy crisis in the country. Siddiqui was of the view that the circular debt crisis has crippled the capacity of refineries to process crude oil. He explained that the country had to import oil because refineries in the country were only utilising 60 per cent capacity because of financial constraints. until and unless the presently consumed energy particularly electricity was made more mixed through generating the power from solar, thermal, coal, gas and other alternative and cheaper sources, the crisis were unlikely to be minimized as the country was depending on furnace oil for meeting its 58 percent energy needs. as a long term strategy, the country needed to focus on the cheaper sources of energy mainly thermal, coal and gas. He said that the underground Coal Gasification project at Thar was viable and needed to be supported by the government to make the project successful. according to him Present and previous governments, during the last 60 years have not taken any serious action and none of them have made a long-term plan for this very important sector of the country. Pakistan has all the resources: we have one of the biggest deposits of coal in the world, more than Saudi arabian’s petroleum deposit. We can produce energy and power not only for our use but we can also export it to other countries. unfortunately, all the governments have their own agendas and they do not have any concerns regarding these issues. We have to make long-term, energyfriendly policies and make some sort of law that all upcoming governments should continue to follow. In our country every new government makes their own policies and does not own the previous governments’ road map which is mainly why the problems are getting worse. He welcomed the some positive developments related to pur-
chase of gas from Iran and laying down the pipe line. Talking about the newly made his own company ‘rehkal Pakistan’ Siddiqui said that the company which will initially deal with the business of lubricant product lines with highly qualitative products and new designs of packaging in the country. all arrangements have been finalized to introduce series of lubricant oils for all kind vehicles; will introduce the new products across the country next month. The new company and its products would hopefully be in the market while catering a larger segment. In reply to a query, he said that his company has focused on the quality of the products apart from making highly impressive designs of packaging and marketing tools. The price of the new products would also be highly competitive for at least the dealers and marketers. Though the absence of pumping stations and its own outlets the new products could face competitions in the market but due to its guaranteed quality and others components of uniqueness the company’s products would make its place in the market in a short period of time. Having a background and experiences in the oil marketing field, Siddiqui who is now Chief executive Officer of rehkal Pakistan, claimed that his company would successfully introduce different kinds of lubricant, motor diesel oils and industrial oil in various phases. The company’s products would be available at existing petrol pumps and other places. We are also bringing industrial lubricants for the valuable customers. “Market is always saturated but as new entrants we have to work hard and it is our firm belief that due to our high-quality product, we would manage to create our place in the market.”
Brief profile of Kalim A Siddiqui Chief executive Officer, rehkal Pakistan Mr. Kalim a. Siddiqui, now a Chief executive Officer of rehkal Pakistan is a former Managing Director of Pakistan State Oil and former President of Petroleum Marketing business with byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited. Mr. Siddiqui, holding a bachelor in Chemical engineering and a Masters in Chemistry, has broad-based, global experience in management, business development, system re-engineering and streamlining processes, managing supply chain, marketing and sales, overall operations management in the oil industry for over 33 years holding various senior management positions. Mr. Siddiqui has served as Chairman Oil Companies advisory Committee (OCaC) and has held directorships in various reputable companies, & professional and educational institutes including Pakistan refinery Limited, Pak-arab Pipeline Company, asia Petroleum Limited, agrimall, Pak-Grease Manufacturing Company Limited, Petroleum Institute of Pakistan, Pakistan advertisers Society and Lahore university of Management Sciences. before joining PSO, he served in Caltex (now Chevron) for over 20 years locally as well as internationally. His international assignments were located in the uSa, Vietnamand australia. In Caltex he has dealt with fuel & lube marketing, lube product development and production, LPG marketing, and product engineering activities. He also worked for three years in the uK with Howden engineering Company, burmah-Castrol refinery, North West Water authority and a.P.V Company before coming to three years in the uK with Howden engineering Company, burmah-Castrol refinery, North West Water authority and a.P.V Company before coming to Pakistan in 1980.
Banks, DFIs asked to submit unclaimed deposits data in database format KARACHI
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STAFF REPORT
He central bank has decided to obtain from the banks and development finance institutions (DFIs) their unclaimed deposits data in the database format (DbF). The data would be obtained through Data acquisition Portal 4 (DaP4), primary gateway for data acquisition for the State bank which Tuesday asked banks and DFIs to submit their data in DbF to streamline the
process of acquisition of unclaimed deposits data. “The banks and DFIs are advised to ensure submission of unclaimed deposits data in DbF format through DaP4 by april 07, 2012 or by next working day, if the due date happened to be a holiday, each year,” said an SbP circular issued Tuesday. Further, it said, the banks and DFIs may deposit cheques and debit advices of equal amount of unclaimed deposits on the next working day, if the data is being submitted on last due date.
The central on March 7 arranged a comprehensive training session to help the banks and DFIs smoothly transmit the requisite data for the year 2011. “Keeping in view the constraints faced by banks/DFIs in conversion of MS excel data in DbF format, a DbF Generator along with DaP4 users Manual and user Guide for preparing the data files has also been issued,” it said. In terms of Section 31 of the banking Companies Ordinance, 1962, all the banks and DFIs are
required to surrender to the central bank all those deposits which have not been operated upon during the last 10 years, except deposits in the name of a minor or a government entity or a court of law, as stipulated under Subsection (1) of Section 31 of bCO, 1962. The amount of unclaimed deposits and instruments in Pak rupee and in foreign currencies are required to be surrendered during the first week of april of each calendar year along-with a list of unclaimed deposits/instruments.
Munter, Clinton commend Pakistani entrepreneurial spirit ISLAMABAD INP
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.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and ambassador Cameron Munter have praised the energy, creativity, and determination of Pakistan’s young entrepreneurs at the first ever Pakistan young entrepreneurs Forum. Organised jointly by the u.S. embassy and the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s young entrepreneurs Forum (ICCI yeF)here Tuesday, the young entrepreneurs Conference 2012 brought together for the first time ever in Pakistan aspiring young entrepreneurs, established business leaders, Government of Pakistan representatives, u.S. embassy officials, and members of the Pakistaniamerican Diaspora to discuss entrepreneurship in Pakistan. addressing the crowd of young entrepreneurs and business students at the Jinnah Convention Center, ambassador Munter stated, “I am struck by the common bonds shared between the citizens of Pakistan and the united States. This morning, as we focus on the key entrepreneurial characteristics of courage, creativity, and social responsibility, I believe we can establish a firm foundation for future bilateral engagement and stronger people-to-people ties. The united States stands beside Pakistan as its entrepreneurs tackle the challenges of tomorrow, by promoting u.S.-funded professional exchange programs, establishing linkages with the Pakistani-american Diaspora community, and developing finance solutions aimed at unlocking the capital necessary for Pakistan’s entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises.” In a recorded video statement, Secretary Clinton thanked the People of Pakistan for their inspiring entrepreneurial spirit ICCI President yassar Sakhi butt opened the conference by encouraging Pakistan’s young entrepreneurs to improve ties between Pakistan’s public and private sectors. In addition, throughout the day-long conference, Pakistani entrepreneurs led interactive discussions on social entrepreneurship, women’s entrepreneurship, and building bridges through Diaspora business linkages.
PIAF says govt is anarchist, or words to that effect g
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Castigates govt over ‘highest ever’ electricity hike to protest if things don’t improve LAHORE STAFF REPORT
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HILe blaming the government anarchy like situation in the country over prolonged power outages and the highest ever electricity tariff the PIaF has demanded of the government enhance power generation on war footing as 14 to 16 hours load shedding is likely to trigger the civil disobedience. In a press statement issued here Tuesday, Chairman PIaF Sohail Lashari said that government was failed to generate electricity even as per installed capacity of more than 18000 MW. The PIaF Chairman said that despite a strong opposition by the private sector, the government adopted the path of rental power projects instead of producing cheap and sufficient electricity through hydel and coal resources. He said that load shedding is making the business community cry. He said that non-payment of dues to the IPPs was the biggest reason of ongoing energy crisis but government was least interested to pay dues despite sucking the blood of masses in the name of unjustifed fuel adjustment charges. He said that it is a sheer injustice that instead controlling line losses and making arrangements to stop electricity thefts in the other provinces, the authorities were busy in worsening the situation in Punjab. He said that if immediate measures were not taken to ensure continuous supply of electricity to the industrial units, nothing could stop the industrial wheel from coming to a grinding halt and resultant massive lay-offs. He said that industry was already passing through a very difficult times and the none-supply of power adding fuel to fire.
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Wednesday, 28 March, 2012
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Third tier stakes instigate frenzied bull stampede
Major Gainers Company
Open
High
Low
Close
Change
Turnover
Nestle PakXD Indus Dyeing Mithchells Fruit MCB Bank Ltd XDXB EFU General Ins
4361.83 393.42 184.15 162.95 80.91
4499.00 413.09 193.30 169.00 84.95
4301.00 399.94 174.95 162.80 78.50
4476.41 411.85 192.68 167.45 84.95
114.58 61 18.43 628 8.53 2,078 4.50 862,725 4.04 35,203
Major Losers Colgate Palmolive UniLever Pak LtdXD Bata (Pak) Ltd. Pak.Int.ContXD SD Dadex Eternit
902.61 5700.00 637.29 146.96 47.27
857.49 5750.00 650.00 149.00 49.63
857.48 5500.00 621.00 141.00 44.91
857.48 5681.00 626.02 141.87 45.09
3.48 9.87 5.65 2.93 4.09
3.05 9.10 5.30 2.74 3.72
3.30 9.87 5.55 2.80 3.97
-45.13 51 -19.00 30 -11.27 56 -5.09 15,093 -2.18 13,169
Volume Leaders WorldCall Telecom Azgard Nine Fauji Cement NIB Bank Limited Lafarge Pakistan
KARACHI
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STAFF REPORT
ueSDay saw the Karachi stock market closing higher as the well-performing second and third tier stakes led the bourse on the day of arson and violence in the volatile city. The benchmark, KSe 100-share index, gained 163 points and closed at 13,449.73 points compared to Monday’s 13,286.73 points. KSe 30-share index also closed higher by 169.13 points and
closed at 11,738.04 points against 11,586.91 points of the previous day. ”The stocks closed bullish led by second and third tier stocks,” viewed ahsan Mehanti of arif Habib Securities. The senior stocks analyst attributed the day’s bullish activity to institutional interest in blue chip cement, oil and banking stocks on hopes for improvement in Pak-uS relations after Prime Minister Gilani’s meeting with uS President in Seoul for joint efforts on nuclear safety. “(The)
concerns for law and order in the city and political noise affected the sentiments amid consolidation during the trading session ahead of reformed CGT regime implementation from april 1,” said Mehanti. Despite a volatile day, the trading volumes at KSe set in the green zone to close at 352.78 million shares against 278.010 million shares of a day earlier. The trading value surged to rs 5.475 billion from Monday’s rs 3.708 billion. The market capitalization climbed rose slightly to rs 3.453
trillion against the previous rs 3.410 trillion. Of the total 375 traded scrips, 204 appeared as gainers, 113 as losers and 58 remained unchanged. WorldCall Telecom was the day’s volume leader by counting its traded shares at 27.663 million. The company gained 0.22 paisas with its shares priced at rs 3.08 in the opening and rs 3.30 at the closing. On the future contract, the trading volume increased to 21.48 million shares from 13.62 million shares of the previous session.
3.08 8.87 5.30 2.82 3.78
0.22 27,663,859 1.00 26,445,575 0.25 24,275,789 -0.02 17,260,009 0.19 16,545,150
Interbank Rates US Dollar UK Pound Japanese Yen Euro
90.8001 143.7184 1.0969 120.0378
Dollar East US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal Australian Dollar
Buy
Sell
90.50 120.05 143.89 1.0778 90.33 11.50 24.56 24.04 94.04
91.10 121.38 145.44 1.0893 91.82 11.69 24.80 24.29 96.52
CORPORATE CORNER International Conference on Business Management (ICoBM) to be held at UMt LAHORE: The university of Management and Technology (uMT), Lahore, is organizing the 2nd International Conference on business Management (ICobM) at its campus on March 28-29, 2012 in association with the Institute of administrative Sciences (IaS), Punjab university, Lahore, Institute of business administration (Iba), Sukkur, university of Veterinary and animal Sciences (uVaS), association of Management Development Institutions in Pakistan (aMDIP), Higher education Commission (HeC) of Pakistan, and The News International. The theme of the conference is “business, Society, Science and Technology”. The Chief Guest on the occasion is Dr Ishrat Husain, Dean and Director, Iba Karachi, Chairman aMDIP, and former Governor State bank. The conference will be attended by a large number of dignitaries, educationists, intellectuals, government representatives, public policy makers, representatives of the corporate world and students of business schools. PRESS RELEASE
Financial Literacy Programme breaks ground, nationwide LAHORE: Initiated by the State bank of Pakistan and sponsored by asian Development bank, the Nationwide Financial Literacy Program (NFLP) is currently underway. The purpose of this program is to impart knowledge and understanding of basic financial concepts and services to low-income Pakistanis to enable better economic decisions. It focuses on sharing simple but important tips about budgeting, savings, investing, managing debt, the formal financial sector, branchless banking as well as consumer rights and responsibilities through workshops and street theatre performances. PRESS RELEASE
German expo held at Sialkot International Airport ISLAMABAD: The German embassy, in cooperation with the Pakistan German business Forum (PGbF) held a unique exhibition titled “Germany on the road” at Sialkot International airport. The expo was designed to present the multitude of linkages between Germany and Pakistan by giving German companies, Germanylinked companies and German institutions the opportunity to display their activities in Pakistan in a concise and vivid manner. During the exhibition up-to-date information about Germany as well as appealing giveaways were handed out and a buffet dinner was offered. The event was sponsored by baSF Pakistan, CeI Logistics, eXCeL Group, GWe German Water and energy, KSb Pumps, Küppersbusch Teka Pakistan, MaN Diesel Pakistan, MeTrO Cash and Carry Pakistan, Nordex Se
Germany, SaaS Synergie alno and SaP Pakistan. These companies as well as German institutions in Pakistan presented their activities with attractive stalls during the event. STAFF REPORT
Skimillac- organises customer engagement activity KARACHI: Three day activity was carried out with free sampling, discount on purchase with gifts, free bMI checkup, aerobics and freeze act performance & different competitions amongst the audience. People actively participated and showed interest. Skimillac was highly appreciated because of its good taste and nutritional facts. Skimillac spokesperson informed media that Skimillac has already arranged this activity on various locations in Lahore and Islamabad; they will also organize the same mall activities at different locations. PRESS RELEASE
Chairman Abu Dhabi Group expresses confidence in Pakistan KARACHI: His Highness Sheikh Nahayan bin Mabarak al-Nahayan, Chairman, abu Dhabi Group met with senior government officials and dignitaries and members of the abu Dhabi Group of Companies in Pakistan on his recent visit to Lahore. The visit was intended to reinforce the Group’s commitment to Pakistan and to reiterate confidence in its new strategic direction and renewed vision set forth for all the Group’s investments. abu Dhabi Group enjoys being one of the largest business groups in the Middle east and the single largest foreign investor in Pakistan with assets worth $6.5 billion. PRESS RELEASE
ber delegation, while speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday. The LCCI Senior Vice President Kashif younis Meher presented the address of Welcome to the delegation while Swiss Consul General in Karachi Didier boschung and LCCI former Senior Vice President Tahir Javaid Malik also spoke on the occasion. STAFF REPORT
Accelerating land acquisition process
Weights and measurements survey
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Communications Dr. arbab alamgir Khan has directed to accelerate the land acquisition process to ensure timely completion of Faisalabad-Multan Motorway (M-4). To this effect, any delay will not be tolerated, he added. Some specific date line may be given to contracting firms for strict compliance of mobilization at sites. He was presiding over a high level progress review meeting regarding M-4. The meeting was attended by Chairman NHa Syed Muhammad ali Gardezi, additional Secretary Ministry of Communications Mr. amjad Nazir, Project related officers and representatives of Chinese and Turkish Construction companies. PRESS RELEASE
UBL Funds announces interim payout
Bank of Khyber MD upbeat about future
KARACHI: ubL Fund Managers announced an interim payout for the quarter-ended March 21, 2012 from its open-end investment schemes. The Company announced a payout of rs. 2.50 per units of par value rs. 100 from its money market scheme, ubL Liquidity Plus Fund (uLPF). This is a short-term scheme that invests primarily in government securities and high rated bank deposits. The scheme has given a return of 11.28% p.a. since its inception. From ubL Government Securities Fund (uGSF), the Company announced a payout of rs. 2.40 per unit of par value rs. 100. PRESS RELEASE
PESHAWAR: Managing Director, bank of Khyber, bilal Mustafa has said that the bank has steadily a selfreliance financial position with growing its deposits and capital over the past four years, saying that rs8billion target achieved last year to meet the State bank of Pakistan compliance of Minimum Capital requirements. He expressed the hope that they will get another MCr target of rs9billion this fiscal year. Speaking at a Khyber union of Journalists (Khuj) “Mulaqaat” program here on Tuesday, he said that the bank deposits increased at rs22.781billion as compared to previous four years. Similarly, he said that the bank assets reached by rs68billion in 2011 showing growth of 35 percent against the fiscal year 2010. PRESS RELEASE
SBC, LCCI connect LAHORE: The Swiss business Council (SbC) would work hand in hand with the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the promotion of bilateral trade and economic relations between Pakistan and Switzerland. This was stated by the President Swiss business Council Dr ahmad Fraz, who was heading an 11-mem-
a Presidential Ordinance and praised appointment of an interim CeO of the body. Whilst the need to induct a full time CeO is key, in line with the criteria laid out in the Dra Ordinance, the appointment of the interim CeO will allow the resumption of routine matters affecting the smooth functioning of the pharma industry, Pharma bureau said in a press statement issued here on Tuesday. Pharma bureau said that the Dra would play an important role in framing policy and addressing all matters pertaining to the pharma sector. PRESS RELEASE
Pharma Bureau welcomes centralised DrA LAHORE: Pharma bureau, a representative body of multinational pharmaceutical companies in Pakistan, has welcomed the government’s decision to establish a centralised Drug regulatory authority (Dra) through
LAHORE: Labour department has launched weights & measurements survey in Lahore and this survey will be conducted at shops, industrial and trade institutions, petrol pumps and CNG stations. Director General Labour Welfare Punjab Hamyun Mazhar Sheikh while presiding over a meeting told that a purpose of the survey was to collected the data of those institutions where instruments of weights and measurements were being used. He said that under the instructions of Chief Minister Punjab work was on progress regarding weights and measurements issues. STAFF REPORT
LAHORE: Managing Director PIA, Mr Nadeem Khan Younufzai addressing PIA Officers at the Head Office Auditorium at the farewell ceremony, Deputy Managing Director, Captain Junaid Younus is sitting next to him. PRESS RELEASE
KARACHI: Mr. Hae Duck Lee, Head of TV/ AV division, Samsung Electronics along with Mr. Khalid Sarwar, owner of the concept shop and Mr. Yasir Lone, Retail Manager Samsung Electronics at the inauguration ceremony of Samsung Concept shop in Karachi. PRESS RELEASE