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Friday, 30 November, 2012
India desires mutual economic engagements NEW DELHI
I
ONLINE
NDIA on Thursday assured a high level Pakistan business delegation of steps to enhance mutual economic engagement, through setting up of bank branches in each other’s territory and opening up of more trade routes. “Let both the countries quickly establish two bank branches first. We may also look at the possibility of expanding and bringing in some private sector banks,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told the delegation reported PTI. He said India is keen to open more trade routes between the countries to boost bilateral commerce. “We are keen...In our state of Punjab, they want opening up of more border points and also in Rajasthan. I believe
‘D-8 summit was a failure’ ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Thursday said outcome of recently held D-8 Summit was nothing more than disappointment. The Summit produced a largely meaningless document that failed to address the challenges the block is faced with, it said. The 35-point declaration of the eighth Summit was as flawed as the outcome, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President PEW. The D-8 member states are facing challenges like energy scarcity, international pressures, food security, communal violence, terrorism, natural disaster and a tarnished image which needed to be addressed through joint efforts, he said. However, the Summit failed to announce any solid decision and relied on promises, claims and hollow commitments, he added. Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that stressing the need for joint efforts is not enough to justify the spending on such an event when country is relying on aid and loans. In fact, D-8 has done nothing since last 15 years therefore no one should pin any hope for betterment or change, he observed. He said that the summit has expressed intent to increase the bloc’s trade from $130 billion to US$507 billion by 2018 but it seems a difficult task in absence of any concrete plan. Declaration was disappointing from any standard and remained useless as it was focused on using language to please masses. Majority of the countries of the group have enormous natural and human resources but what they lack is sincere leadership, Dr. Mughal noted. ONLINE
there is a similar desire from the Pakistan side so that other states of Pakistan are also connected,” Sharma said. Meanwhile, according to an official, the Minister informed the delegation that India is working on a textile policy specifically for its neighbouring countries. “The ministry is working on the South Asia Textile Cooperation Policy,” an official said. This comes in the wake of allegations from a Pakistan delegation member that his country’s textile industry was given a different treatment by India as compared to other neighbouring countries. One of the member of the business delegation during the meeting alleged that India gives more concessions to Bangladesh textile firms compared to Pakistan and that it was a discrimination which should be removed, a source said. On the visa issue, Sharma said that
Pakistan should operationalise the process soon for smooth movement of businessmen from both countries. India and Pakistan signed a new visa agreement on September 8 in Islamabad. Once implemented, the agreement will lead to liberalising of the bilateral visa regime and introduction of a number of measures aimed at easing travel, including visits for business purposes. “The new visa Agreement has still not come into force. Pakistan needs to indicate its readiness to bring into force the new visa agreement. We are ready to do so,” Sharma told the delegation. On foreign direct investment, the minister asked the Pakistan business leaders to seek assistance from ‘Invest India’ — a vehicle to guide investments into the country. Meanwhile, Chairman of Pakistan
NCCPL revises yearly CGT fee to Rs 24,000 KARACHI STAFF REPORT
The National Clearing Company of Pakistan (NCCPL) has revised the fee it charges from the equity investors on trades and transactions used for the computation and determination of the Capital Gain Tax (CGT). The revised fee ranges form Rs 240 to Rs 24,000 depending on the annual value of trades and transactions. The move, a company statement Thursday said, was aimed at providing “relief to the investors”. The NCCPL would imple-
ment slab based annual CGT fee for the investors according to their values of trades and transactions. As per the revised schedule, the NCCPL said, if annual traded value of an investor is less than Rs 100,000, no fee would be charged to such investor. If annual traded value of an investor is between Rs 100,000 to Rs 5 million, fee of Rs 240 would be charged to such investor. If annual traded value of an investor is between Rs 5 million to Rs 10 million, fee of Rs 360 would be charged to such investor. If annual traded value of an investor is between Rs 10 million to Rs 50 million, fee of Rs 600 would be charged to such investor. If annual t r a d e d value of an investor i s be-
tween Rs 50 million to Rs 100 million, fee of Rs 1,800 would be charged to such investor. If annual traded value of an investor is between Rs 100 million to Rs 500 million, fee of Rs 3,600 would be charged to such investor. If annual traded value of an investor is between Rs 500 million to Rs 1.0 billion, fee of Rs 12,000 would be charged to such investor. If annual traded value of an investor is between Rs 1.0 billion to Rs 5.0 billion, fee of Rs 18,000 would be charged to such investor and if annual traded value of an investor is over Rs 5.0 billion, fee of Rs 24,000 would be charged to such investor. In an earlier statement, the company announced to have collected the tax on capital gains from the equity investments to the tune of Rs 310 million during the six-month period ranging form April 24 to September 30, 2012. The company said during the period under review it had collected CGT worth Rs 103.27 million during April 24-June 30 and Rs 206.35 million during July 1-September 30, respectively, on account of trades and transactions executed and settled at the country’s stocks market. “Whereas the collection of October is underway,” it said.
Business Council Ali S Habib said Sharma told the delegation that steps are being taken to remove non-tariff barriers. “We have been assured that steps are and will be taken (in this regard),” Habib said after the meeting. He said tremendous opportunities existed for business communities from both the countries. “In so many sectors we can cooperate. India produces all kinds of raw materials and products that Pakistan is importing. Pakistan is very strong in textiles,” he said. He said there is a need to focus on issues like logistics, transportation, better visa regime and more points for flow of goods between the countries. The 11-member business delegation is here on a three-day visit. The bilateral trade between the two countries currently stood at $ 2.7 billion.
‘Agribusiness is Pakistan’s future’ KARACHI: The Entrepreneurship Development Program is an initiative to create capacity in the educated youth of Sindh for self-employment and utilize the untapped resource base of agriculture of Sindh to its optimum capacity. This was stated by Chairman SBI Zubair Motiwala after a graceful launching ceremony and Orientation session of Entrepreneurship Development Program held at the Center for Entrepreneurship Development of Institute of Business Administration (IBA), here on Thursday. The ceremony was attended by the faculty of IBA Karachi led by Dean and Director Dr. Ishrat Husain as well as Sindh Board of Investment. The main purpose of the ceremony was to welcome the first incoming batch of the program consisting of 75 students fro the southern districts of Sindh, including Karachi. This is a unique initiative taken by Government of Sindh which includes 6-month training program conceived and funded by the SBI and being executed by IBA Karachi and Sukkur IBA. The vision behind the program has been highly appreciated at all levels in which heightened focus has been given to entrepreneurship and many advantages enterprise development like income generation, innovation and progress. It was further informed that EDP is a unique training program, which will be executed by IBA Karachi in lower Sindh and by Sukkut IBA for applicants from northern districts of Sindh. STAFF REPORT
Malaysia eyes Pakistani livestock, food products ISLAMABAD ONLINE
Pakistan and Malaysia have decided to further enhance bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture with Malaysia agreeing to import more livestock, fish, rice, beef, fruits and vegetables from Pakistan. “We are already importing a considerable amount of rice, fruits and other food products from Pakistan and we want this cooperation to grow further in the coming months,” said Malaysia’s Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar during a meeting with Pakistan’s Minister for National Food Security and Research Israrullah Zehri in Kuala Lumpur. During the meeting, Malaysia’s Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar recalled his visit to Pakistan in December 2009 and his meeting with the then Minister for Agriculture Nazar Mohammad Gondal. He also mentioned about 171 buffalos which were given to Malaysia by the Govern-
ment of Punjab and called for relaxing the procedure for importing more animals from Pakistan as Malaysia was in need of many more. He also appreciated the quality of Pakistani fruits specially mangoes and kinoos and hoped that the quantum of fruits being imported from Pakistan will increase with the passage of time. Datuk Seri Noh Omar noted that following his visit to Pakistan, three separate Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) had been signed between the two governments for exchange of scientific knowledge and technology cooperation as well as for the import and distribution of fruit juices, fruit-based consumer products and frozen beef from Pakistan to Malaysia. Similarly, a Letter of Intent had also been signed between the Government of Punjab and the Department of Veterinary Services Malaysia for expanding cooperation in the veterinary sector. Datuk Seri Noh Omar said the Malaysian government had moved swiftly on implementing these MoUs and it had
already granted license for export of Pakistani beef to Malaysia while a total of 171 animals, including Neeli Ravi buffaloes, had also been imported from Pakistan for developing “our buffalo industry and improving their gene pool”. He also referred to the growing import of Pakistani rice to Malaysia which imported 43,000 MT of Pakistani rice in 2009 but increased it to 123,000 MT in 2010 and to a sizeable 148,000 MT in 2011 respectively. Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Israrullah Zehri thanked his Malaysian counterpart for inviting him to attend the Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism Show (MAHA) 2012 and urged the Malaysian government to consider increasing import of beef and mutton from Pakistan as quality of meat was very good and the slaughtering of animals was in accordance with Halal standards. He also invited his Malaysian counterpart to visit Pakistan in February 2012 to attend the livestock fair held in Sibi Balochistan. Later, Israrullah Zehri visited various
pavilions and stalls set up at MAHA 2012. He evinced keen interest in various products, food items and livestock put on display. Later, he also spoke to the local media and shared with them various proposals and measures currently being pursued by Pakistan and Malaysia to enhance mutual cooperation in a diverse range of fields, including import of agricultural machinery and equipment; tech-
niques of horticulture fruit-growing and vegetable gardening; plant protection and fertilizers; livestock farming and breeding; Green House technology; feed and feedstuff production; veterinary medicine; fish farming; energy-saving technologies for agriculture; production of biomass fuel, biogas, biodiesel, renewable and alternative energies (Biofuel); and water management and forestry.
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BP faces temporary ban from new US contracts
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NEWS DESK
P has been temporarily suspended from new contracts with the US government, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said. While it is unclear how long the ban will last, it follows BP’s record fine earlier this month over the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The EPA said it was taking action due to BP’s “lack of business integrity”over its handling of the blowout. But BP said it had spent $14bn (£8.8bn) on its response to the spill. “The BP suspension will temporarily prevent the company and the named affiliates from getting new federal government contracts, grants or other covered transactions until the company can provide sufficient evidence to EPA demonstrating that it meets federal business standards,” said the EPA in a statement. “Suspensions are a standard practice when a responsibility question is raised by action in a criminal case.” ‘Resolve and lift’ ban The EPA and BP both said that the temporary ban would not affect existing agreements BP has with the government. The oil giant added that the suspension may in fact be lifted quite soon. “The EPA has informed BP that it is preparing a proposed administrative agreement that, if agreed upon, would effectively resolve and lift this temporary suspension,” BP said.
“Over the past five years, BP has invested more than $52bn in the United States - more than any other oil and gas company, and more than it invests in any other country where it operates. On top of this business investment, BP has to date spent more than $14bn in operational response and clean-up costs.” Since the Deepwater Horizon accident, the US has granted BP more than 50 new leases in the Gulf of Mexico, where the company has been drilling safely since the government moratorium was lifted. For now, BP is to be excluded from the lease of new exploration fields in the Gulf of Mexico, including some 20 million acres that was auctioned on Wednesday. ‘Reckless’ Congressman Ed Markey, a senior member of the Natural Resources Committee in Congress, said: “When someone recklessly crashes a car, their licence and keys are taken away.” “The wreckage of BP’s recklessness is still sitting at the bottom of the ocean and this kind of time out is an appropriate element of the suite of criminal, civil and economic punishments that BP should pay for their disaster,” he added. g 20 April 2010: Explosion of Deepwater Horizon oil rig, killing 11. Rig burns for 36 hours, before sinking to seabed g 30 May: Oil slick 9 miles off Louisiana coast, and US begins criminal and civil investigation g 16 June: BP agrees to put $20bn in an escrow
Business 02
fund to settle claims by fisherman and others whose businesses suffered g 1 July: The spill surpasses the 140m gallon mark, becoming the biggest offshore oil spill g 8 Sept: In a 193-page internal report into the disaster, BP accuses well contractor Halliburton and rig owner Transocean. The pair dismiss BP’s claims. All three blame one another over the years g 19 Sept: BP permanently “kills” leaking well g 15 Dec: US launches legal battle against BP and its partners g 12 Jan 2011: 380-page government-commissioned report says BP’s time and cost-saving decisions led to disaster g 2 March 2012: A few days before trial was to begin, BP and lawyers for plaintiffs reach a settlement g 15 Nov: BP agrees to pay $4.5bn fine to US government, two BP officials are charged with manslaughter and former executive charged with lying to authorities g 28 Nov: BP temporarily banned from new US contracts BP’s finance director Brian Gilvary told investors earlier this month that the group would have to rethink its entire US strategy were a blanket ban put in place. “How big this is depends on how long it lasts,” said Phil Weiss, an analyst at Argus Research. “It’s a negative that they can’t participate in (Wednesday’s sale), but it’s not a big concern. If it happens two times, or three times, or 10 times, it’s a much bigger concern.” Pentagon contracts The US is vital for BP, accounting for more than 20% of its global daily production. It has ploughed more than $52bn (£32bn) into US energy development projects since 2007, more than any other country BP invests in. The UK company was the biggest fuel supplier to the US Department of Defense, which awarded it contracts valued at about $1.35bn in 2011. BP’s contracts with the US military jumped 33% over a year in 2011, according to data from Bloomberg. The group was awarded a fuel contract in May from the Pentagon while it faced mounting legal costs over the disaster. The Deepwater Horizon accident, in which an oil rig exploded killing 11 people, caused one of the worst oil spills in history. BP has pleaded guilty to 14 criminal charges over the accident. The EPA is the lead agency for suspension and debarment matters regarding BP and has the authority to disbar individuals and companies under sections of the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.
Major Gainers COMPANY UniLever Pak Unilever Food Colgate Palmolive Island Textile Sanofi-Aventis Pak
OPEN 10185.00 4200.00 1300.00 864.15 332.00
HIGH 10694.25 4410.00 1365.00 907.00 348.60
LOW 10600.00 4351.00 1365.00 907.00 347.00
CLOSE 10694.25 4410.00 1365.00 907.00 348.60
CHANGE 509.25 210.00 65.00 42.85 16.60
TURNOVER 5,620 400 50 100 600
350.00 325.00 172.00 165.21 108.39
350.00 313.50 171.95 165.21 101.70
350.00 314.86 171.95 165.21 102.29
-16.00 -15.14 -9.05 -8.69 -4.75
200 5,000 1,000 600 219,500
16.68 55.25 6.99 16.05 11.05
15.67 53.96 6.81 15.10 10.30
16.65 54.20 6.84 15.22 10.62
0.97 -0.94 -0.10 -0.87 0.31
28,092,000 19,389,000 18,845,500 18,813,000 9,885,500
Major Losers Mithchells Fruit Exide (PAK) Sunrays TextileXD Sapphire FiberXD Attock Cement
366.00 330.00 181.00 173.90 107.04
Volume Leaders Jah.Sidd. Co. D.G.K.Cement Fauji Cement Maple Leaf Cement Byco Petroleum
15.68 55.14 6.94 16.09 10.31
Interbank Rates US Dollar UK Pound Japanese Yen Euro
96.6082 154.7084 1.1764 125.3684
Dollar East BUY US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal Australian Dollar
97.10 124.61 154.03 1.1649 96.53 12.27 26.20 25.70 99.92
SELL 97.60 126.19 155.94 1.1794 98.24 12.49 26.50 25.95 102.62
Stocks recover, euro pares loss on Boehner words NEW YORK: U.S. and European stocks rebounded to post gains while the euro pared losses on Wednesday as investors shifted into buying mode after perceived positive news on U.S. budget talks. U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said he is willing to put revenues on the table if accompanied by spending cuts. But he repeated his opposition to raising income tax rates. Boehner’s comments came as U.S. indexes were marking session lows and produced a sharp turnaround that reverberated through other markets. Investors remained skeptical over the plan agreed to late Monday by international lenders to reduce Greece’s debts, but they were more focused on the positive news. The Greek deal opened the way for more aid to Athens to avoid a chaotic default, but details remain unclear and analysts worry it will not do enough to make Greece’s debt viable. AGENCIES
CORPORATE CORNER PSO Street Support Programme at Thatta
THATTA: PSO CEO & MD, Mr. Naeem Yahya Mir visited Thatta to carry out the ground breaking ceremony for the PSO Street Support Program. Under this CSR initiative, the national oil giant will develop two streets in low income areas of each province with state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure. Through this program the company will engage its employees at a grass roots level in order to improve the lives of the inhabitants of these areas and provide for a better, brighter future for the people of Pakistan.
with United States Agency of International Development (USAID) to raise awareness and improve the livelihoods of children with special needs. The project nearing its completion has successfully provided training to 750 regular school teachers in Punjab and benefitted more than 100,000 students under the supervision of National Rural Support Program (NRSP). Expressing his views on the success of the project, Dr. Tawwab Khan, founder of Rising Sun Education and Welfare Society stated “There is a serious lack of awareness in Pakistan to matters pertaining to children with special needs and disabilities. As one of the first organization with immense experience of teaching and providing training to special needs children we feel it is our utmost duty to create community awareness.
BOK Raast Islamic Banking inaugurated
Rising Sun empowering 100,000 students with special needs LAHORE: Rising Sun Education & Welfare Society (RSE&WS) fulfilling its role as a stellar organization in the betterment of lives of children with special needs launched a series of 25 courses in “Special Needs and Inclusive Education” in November 2011. Having the experience of teaching and training special needs children since 1984, Rising Sun Education & Welfare Society partnered
BATTAGRAM: The Bank of Khyber (BOK) Raast Islamic Banking Branch oformally inaugurated at Battagram today. Mr. Bilal Mustafa, Managing Director BOK said BOK is committed to cater the Banking requirements of all segment of society, BOK providing Islamic Banking & Financial serv-
ices requirement as well as conventional in a befitting manner in order to encourage the economic developmental activities in the region. He was speaking at the formal inauguration of BOK Raast Islamic Banking branch at Main Bazzar, Battagram in a simple but graceful ceremony. The inaugural ceremony was also attended by notables of the area & business community.
Ufone announces winners of ‘10 Say 10 Lakh’ offer LAHORE: Ufone recently announced the winners for the“10 say 10 lakh” offer and the ten lucky recipients of Rs.10 Lakh got to experience a lifetime opportunity which would change their lives. It may be recalled here that Ufone had provided a chance for customers to win Rs 10 Lakh simply by consuming a balance of Rs.10 any day till November 10. Interestingly the more balance any customer consumed during this promotional period, the more chances accrued to the customer for winning cash prizes through a lucky draw. The lucky winners are Muhammad Usman ( Kohat ) , Abdul Rasool ( Shahdad Kot ) , Safeer Ahmed Sajan ( Multan ) , Khalid Iqbal Burney ( Karachi ) , Junaid Sukkur, Syed Khalid Hussain ( Lahore ) , Shahid Iqbal ( Jhang ) , Shabbir Hussain ( Gujranwala ) , Qasim Jan ( Swabi ) and Shabana Bano ( Karachi ).
11th Teradata National IT Excellence Awards KARACHI: Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC), the data analytic solutions company, announced that nominations for the 11th Teradata National IT Excellence Awards are being accepted until January 1st ,
2013. Nominations will be received for the period January 2011- December 2011. The awards program, sponsored by Teradata, was designed to acknowledge outstanding achievements by individuals in Pakistan’s information technology (IT) community.
8th UMT Convocation 2012 KARACHI: The 8th Convocation of the University of Management and Technology (UMT) will be held on Saturday, December 01, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. at the UMT campus. A total of 999 students are passing out from various disciplines/programs, while 42 students shall receive various medals including Patron, Rector and sponsor medals on the basis of outstanding academic performance. The Convocation will be attended by educationists, dignitaries, graduating students and their parents. Prof Dr Atta-ur-Rahman, former Federal Minister for Science and Technology and former Chairman, Higher Education Commission, will be the chief guest on this auspicious occasion.
NESPAK wins two dam projects in Afghanistan KABUL: NESPAK has won two mega dam projects in Afghanistan after an international open competition, which shows its recognition as a world-class consultant, not only in Pakistan but abroad as well. The two multipurpose dam projects i.e.; Bakshabad (Farah Rud) Dam Project and Pashdan Dam Project have been awarded by the Ministry of Energy and Water, Kabul, Afghanistan. Bakhshabad Dam Project consists of a dam, a powerhouse, appurtenant structures, a barrage 60 Km downstream of the dam, left and right main irrigation canals and irrigation command area.
Friday, 30 November, 2012