Epaper Profit 12th May, 2012

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Urea prices down by Rs145 per bag

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Saturday, 12 May, 2012

Car sales up 14pc in 10MFY12 KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Expoters lament politicisation of EU trade package KARACHI ZAIN ALI

T

He Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and exporters Association (PRGMeA) has said that the eU Trade Concessions Package announced for Pakistan has been severely politicised during the recent eU Parliament meeting and it seems that the package will either be further diluted or scrapped altogether.

PRGeMeA Central Chairman Shehzad Salim underlined that according to his sources, a compromise package is being redrafted under which the number of items under quota have been increased from 20 to 26 with a quota ceiling of 120 per cent of past trade based on 2007-09.

Furthermore, on the remaining balance 49 items a ceiling has been proposed based on 130 per cent of past trade of 2007-09.

Therefore, in essence, all 75 items will be under quota. It is expected that the package will now be implemented from second half of 2012 till the end of 2013, which will further retard our efforts to boost exports.

The package is being redrafted because of objections by Spain and Portugal and now Germany has also started opposing this package due to the recessionary fears in europe. Salim further added that if this packages fails implementation it will have severe detrimental effect on Pakistan’s bid for GSP Plus which is going to start from January 1, 2014. This is very dangerous development for Pakistan and our textile industry and we can expect further drop in our exports if this

packages does not go through.

Besides, the eU offered this one-time facility to Pakistan and approached WTO in October 2010 to seek a waiver on trade preferences to Islamabad on these products amounting to almost 900 million euros in import value, or 27 per cent of imports from Pakistan for a two-year period from January 2012 to December 2013.

The eU package materialised following humanitarian appeals from the United Nations. The UN estimates the floods affected some 20 million people and 20 per cent of Pakistan’s land area, about 160,000 square km, with 12 million people need urgent assistance.

However, countries like India, Brazil and Bangladesh and textile lobbies within the eU had blocked the implementation of

NA BODY DIRECTS FBR TO IDENTIFY NEW POTENTIAL TAXPAYERS ISLAMABAD APP

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance recommended the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday to coordinate with National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) for identifying new potential taxpayers in the country.

The Committee directed the FBR to offer incentives to the taxpayers and in this regard, special counters in airports, railway stations, hospitals and other public places should be set up for their facilitation and motivation.

The meeting of the Committee held here under the chairpersonship of Fozia Wahab with its members including Kashmala Tariq, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Abdul Rashid Godil and Arif Aziz Shaikh.

The committee also directed the finance ministry to arrange detailed

briefing on auto sector and the detail of subsidy on fertiliser. Besides, the ministry was directed that the committee should be briefed on current and last year's development budget allocated to MNAs and also on development schemes and allocation of plots by ministry of housing and works.

The committee was informed that budgetary tax proposal was not still finalised but in the progress and all stakeholders were taken in the confidence.

Moreover, the committee was told that about 0.7 million new potential tax payers were identified and of total, 0.5 million tax non-filers were served the notices for filing taxes.

In addition, fiscal deficit was recorded as 4.3 per cent of GDP during July-March of current financial year while during the previous year the deficit remained at 4.6 per cent of GDP.

The committee was also informed that the government had taken initiatives for empowering the workers in the institutions and transferred 12 per cent shares to 0.5 million employees in 80 State-owned entities under Benazir employees Stock Option Programme (BeSOS).

The committee was told that about 100,000 interns were benefitted under Internship Program and in addition, grant of Rs119 billion was also given to Railways.

The government has also provided about Rs42 billion for support of flood affected people in the country.

"To keep prices of essential items affordable for common man, the subsidies of Rs1,122 billion, Rs104 billion, Rs110 billion, Rs137 billion and Rs136 billion were given to Power sector, Petroleum sector, Fertiliser sector, food and Petroleum levy forgone respectively", the committee was informed.

the preferential package originally scheduled to be effective from January 2011.

To get the package approved through WTO, a well-placed source in the commerce ministry told Pakistan Today that a revised document after consulting all the member countries was submitted to the WTO secretariat on January 20, 2012.

As a result, all opposing countries dropped their objections following the amendments made by the eU in the original documents by introducing tariff rate quotas (TRQs) on 20 products rather than full liberalisation. The eU estimates the preferences would increase Pakistan’s exports by 100 million euros. At the same time, the eU was planning to drop high tariff on ethanol from Pakistan subject to an annual quota of 100,000 tons.

The sale of cars, including light commercial vehicles (LCVs), vans and jeeps, during 10MFY12 rose by 14 per cent to 143,374 units as against 125,766 units sold in the corresponding period last year. The growth arise from deferred sales from June to July due to reduced tax structure announced in Federal Budget FY12, Punjab government yellow cab scheme, 20 per cent increase in workers’ remittance in 10MFY12 and escalating fiscal deficit creating monetization phenomena, said Zeeshan Afzal of Topline Research. In April, car sales stood at 14,798 units, depicting an increase of 6 per cent from 13,914 sold in April last year but are down 11 per cent from 16,678 units sold in last month. The MoM decline is on account of reduced Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC) sales that declined by 21 per cent to 8,837 units as against 11,198 units last month. “We believe the decline is on account of reduced demand by the customers after the non availability of CNG fitted cars,” said Afzal. Furthermore, he said that the decline in sales was expected and would bear on the overall sales number at least in the short term. As compared to same month last year, the company has been able to sell an additional 18 per cent units. During 10MFY12, PSMC continue to post strong growth of 30 per cent to 90,197 units versus 69,203 units seen in same period last year primarily due to yellow cab scheme.

Indus Motors sold 5,203 units in April that is 16 per cent up from last month sales of 4,492 units while are an improvement of 11 per cent from 4,278 units in same period last year. During 10MFY12, the company sold 44,061 units compared to 41,940 units in same period last year, up by five per cent.

Coure sales due to discontinuation effect are down 30 per cent and 7 per cent increase has been in company’s flagship product Corolla. With overall strong growth seen in volumetric sales and improved margins on account of rupee’s gaining 1.2 per cent against the Japanese Yen, is expected to bode well for sector’s profitability but we flag that the sector operates in high regulatory risk environment, said the analyst.

OGDCL cuts LPG price LAHORE STAFF REPORT

State owned liquid gas producer, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), has reduced its LPG base stock price for the third time this month to Rs58,000 per ton (exclusive of duties and taxes).

The latest price reduction of Rs7,000 per ton came in the wake of piles of unsold stock and a mounting domestic production, which is up by 25 per cent since the start current year.

“LPG demand typically begins to slacken with the onset of summer. However, this year demand has also been affected by an over supply of product both locally and from cheap and under invoiced Iranian imports,” said Belal Jabbar, the spokesman for the LPG Association of Pakistan (LPGAP).

The current producer price is $225 or Rs20,000 per ton below the Saudi Aramco Contract Price (CP) with which LPG prices have remained indexed. The

drastic reduction in price is effectively a de-linkage from the international price benchmark and augurs well for the LPG sector as the product has become cheaper than petrol, diesel and even CNG. “In light of the increasing domestic production which has made imports altogether redundant, we urge the Federal Minister Dr Asim Hussain to immediately notify de-linking of LPG producer prices from Saudi Aramco CP as this will keep the product affordable for the common man,” said Jabbar.

The revised price of LPG companies for their distributors will be Rs970 for domestic and Rs3,732 for commercial cylinders. Similarly distributor price for consumers will be Rs1,125 for domestic and Rs4,320 for commercial cylinders.

Retail prices in different parts of the country are expected to be Rs90 per kg in Sindh and Balochistan, Rs95 per kg in Punjab, Rs100 per kg in KP, Rs105 per kg in Azad Jammu Kashmir and Rs115 per kg Northern Areas.

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AIDP-II

New investment needs stable policies: Indus Motors CEO KARACHI

S

GHULAM ABBAS

INCe Pakistan is facing the drought of investment in almost all sectors, mostly due to unstable policies, the government should support the local auto industry that will contribute about 5.5 per cent in the national GDP by 2022. Talking to media person here at a local hotel on Thursday Indus Motor Company (IMC) Chief executive Parvez Ghias said that with the help of government the local auto industry can fetch the investment up to Rs250 billion by 2022, along with the exports of $1 billion. “It will also double the direct employment of the industry from current 192,000 to 400,000,” he underlined.

But, he adds, there is a dire need of stable policies, especially a 10-year Auto Industry Development Program (AIDP) because the current AIDP is expiring by the end of June. He said the 5-year AIDP-II plan proposed by the engineering Development Board (eDB) for the year 2013-17 is not too far from what the industry has suggested.

“There should be gradual decrease in import duties: 30 per cent in the first two years, 27.5 per cent in the third and fourth years and 25 per cent in the fifth year, for it will not only encourage investment but also to safeguard the interests of local vendors,” said IMC CeO. The import duty reduction and tariff rates for localised and non-localised CKD kits are the actual reasons of the current conflict of interests between the eDB and local auto industry. eDB suggests reducing the duty on non-localised CKD kits from current 32.5 per cent to 20 per cent over the next five years.

Parvez further said that in order to increase the annual output of the local auto industry from the current 160,000 units to 500,000 units by 2022, there should be a complete ban on the import of used cars because they are hurting the industry more than imagined.

The import of used

cars is likely to exceed the number of 43 thousand units this fiscal, which is the 25 per cent of total industry volume.

“To safeguard the current investment (Rs92 billion) and employment (192,000) in local auto industry, the imports of used cars should be discouraged, like other Asian countries,” he said, adding that relaxation in policy should be reversed back to three years and one per cent allowable depreciation, with maximum cap at 36 per cent.

As per the current trends of the industry, volume of the auto market in the next fiscal year is expected to remain almost equal to the current level with projected sales of 220,000 vehicles, including 160,000 locally assembled units. earlier, Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers’ Association (PAMA) and Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) held a meeting with eDB on May 7 to table their suggestions in response to the board’s proposals that 40 per cent tariff should be imposed on CBUs of up to 1,000cc. But, the tariffs on different ranges of cars the auto industry proposed are: 50 per cent for the cars up to 800cc (should be retained till 2017); 55 per cent for the cars from 801cc to 1,000cc; 60 per cent on the cars of 1,001cc to 1,500cc; 70 per cent for the cars of 1501cc to 2,000cc; and 90 per cent on the cars of above 2,000cc power. Parvez Ghias further said that the government should be clear in its aims and objectives and must decide whether they want to make Pakistan a trade-based country or a country with heavy manufacturing industry.

SBP revises guidelines on stress testing for banks, DFIs KARACHI The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Friday issued the revised guidelines on stress testing to further strengthen the risk management capacity of the banks and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs).

The revised guidelines, which are in conformity with international standards and improved capacity of banks and DFIs to perform such analysis, have been divided into three sections.

According an SBP circular, Section 1 of the revised guidelines prescribes standards for designing and implementing the stress-testing framework. Section 2 delineates the mandatory set of stress tests for credit, market and liquidity risk factors using sensitivity analysis.

While Section 3 provides guidance on optional stress tests for operational risk, Islamic banking, and advanced approaches, including scenario analysis, and reverse stress tests.

The central bank has advised the banks and DFIs to submit the results of the stress tests as specified in Section 2 on the prescribed format of these guidelines to its Banking Surveillance Department on quarterly basis, starting from quarter ending June 30, 2012, within 30 days of the close of each quarter.

LCCI asks parties to team up with private sector LAHORE The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged all the political parties to join hands with the private sector to bring the economy out of the present state of doom and gloom.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, the LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that political debate and economic policy considerations require convergence at this critical juncture when the country is witnessing closure of businesses and resultant layoffs, sharp decline in all sorts of investment, surge in crime rate and inflation.

The LCCI President said that Pakistan, at this point in time, is in dire need of stability in policy making and strong institutions and to achieve the very objective, both the politicians and the business leaders would have to join their heads for finding out a common economic agenda.

To compete head-to-head with the great nations of the world, Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said, the country needs a selfless and visionary leadership at all tiers who has the ability to think beyond tomorrow to tackle all the governance-related issues and for the sake of future generations.

The LCCI President said that all the

political forces should, without any further delay, initiate consultations with the economic leadership, including the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, to chalk out an elaborate plan of action, aimed at reducing dependence on external assistance and achieving the long-cherished economic goals.

“This is a prerequisite to help reduce dependence on International Financial Institutions (IFIs), like International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank and for paving way for self-reliance in coming years.”

He said that in a bid to bridge fast widening fiscal deficit, the government should immediately stop all borrowings, foreign or domestic and draw up a strategy to push exports.

“Heavy and unprecedented government borrowings in the yester years have pushed the process of industrialisaton to the wall.” Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that availability of cheaper equity, by curtailing high mark-up rates and highest-ever banking spread, is a prerequisite to help expedite the process of industrialization in the country that in turn would also bring down the graph of unemployment.

“Unemployment is mother of a number of social ills being witnessed by the country today and the private sector has the solution provided it is

UREA PRICES DOWN

BY RS145 PER BAG

STAFF REPORT

ENDING ECONOMIC CRISIS

STAFF REPORT

AD HOC RELIEF

facilitated through a proper methodology.”

He also stressed the need for an early consensus in all the provinces for early initiation of work on mega water reservoirs, including Kalabagh Dam to overcome electricity shortage and the power tariff issue. They said that huge coal reserves and existing potential to produce electricity through solar means also needs a workable and timebound strategy after due consultation of public and private sectors.

He said that the country’s export base could be widened by encouraging especially the local investors and then the foreign investors who have lost their trust in existing policy framework. “The local investors have the ability to convince the foreign investors for investment in various sectors.”

The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry President said that the lack of proper planning and half-heartedness to harness the marvelous resources the country owns, Pakistan has become one of the most economically and socially challenged nations.

The LCCI office-bearers said that if the political forces in the country failed to respond to the wake up call of the private sector with true intentions, external uncontrollable factors some day would roll over us.

KARACHI STAFF REPORT

F

AUJI Fertiliser has decreased urea price by Rs145 to cut the differential of Rs50 per bag with imported urea after which its price has been settled at Rs1,650 per bag. engro has followed the suit by cutting the same amount from its prices. “The reduction in prices is due to huge urea inventory pile up in the market 0.8 million tons, inclusive of 0.264 million tons of imported urea,” said the analysts at InvestCap. As per managements of both companies, Fauji and engro, the price reduction will be reverted back to previous levels in June this year as local producers believe that the demand of both urea and DAP fertilisers will pick up by mid-May with the start of Khariff season. Developments on further .03 million tons of urea imports and prospects of barter trade with Iran for wheat (export) vs urea (import) seems to be losing pace with government deemed poised to buy from local producers to build their inventory which will be sold through NFML. The phos acid contract of FFBL has settled at $905 per ton for the period of Apr-Jun 2012, declining by $55 per ton (six per cent) from $960 per ton contracted for the period of Feb-Mar 2012. The company is of the view that international phos acid prices will remain in downward pressure due to strong demand of Indian fertilizer manufacturers to decrease the phos acid prices. On the other side, local DAP prices are expected to remain stiff at the level of Rs3,700 per bag owing to better demand expected

for the coming Kharif season. The FFBL held analyst briefing on Thursday to discuss 1Q-CY12 performance in which company posted the net loss of Rs0.41 per share. The management viewed that decline in earnings was due to low production as DAP plant remained shutdown for 20 days, while urea plant remained shut down for 50 days due to turnaround activities.

As a result, urea production remained low declining by 69 per cent YoY to 26,000 tons and DAP production also declined by 28 per cent YoY to 87,000 tons. Urea off-takes of the company declined by 90 per cent YoY, while DAP off-takes also followed the suit declining by 76 per cent YoY. Relatively off season during 1QCY12 along with low cost imported urea piled in the market, the delay in inventory purchase by dealers in line with expectations of decline in urea prices was a major reason for low urea off-takes from local producers, industry urea and DAP off-takes declined by 16 per cent YoY and 46 per cent YoY to 1.03 million tons and 86,000 tons, respectively.

During 1Q-CY12, the company generated the revenue of Rs1.9 billion compared to Rs8.0 billion during corresponding period last year, showing decline of 76 per cent YoY. The company posted the gross loss of Rs265 million compared to the gross profit of Rs2.7 billion during corresponding period last year. The repairs and maintenance cost posted the increase of 21 per cent YoY due to expense on turnaround activity conducted during the period.

After tax loss of the company stood at Rs387 million (LPS of Rs0.41) compared to PAT of Rs1.5bn (ePS of Rs1.67) during same period last year.

Government should harness true potential of natural resources: ICCI ISLAMABAD NNI

There is a need to develop a sound strategy to explore and utilise the natural resources because these resources have immense potential to contribute towards the economic development of our country.

Government should take all possible measures to exploit the huge potential of natural resources as it is the right time to take advantage of country’s outstanding natural resources for its self sufficiency and viable economic development, Shahid Zaman Shinwari, Acting President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has stated this in a statement.

ICCI Acting President said that Pakistan is blessed with vast land, natural gas reserves, petroleum, extensive coal, iron ore, copper, salt, limestone and gold besides other natural resources. He expressed deep concern over underutilisation of these resources which have not been exploited due to technological backwardness and lack of innovative policies.

He was responding to a survey report in which it was highlighted that

Pakistan has the second largest salt mine, second largest coal reservoirs, fifth largest gold mines, seventh largest copper mines, the country is the 11th largest wheat producer, 12th largest rice producer and seventh country of the world with nuclear power. Therefore, he urged the Government to explore these natural resources as properly explored and managed natural resources could become instrumental in national income and its growth, he maintained.

Shahid Zaman Shinwari said that concrete steps should also be taken to harness the hydropower potential of the country because it has the potential of producing 40,000 MW of electricity.

ICCI Acting President said that the second largest treasure of coal in the world is left unexplored as it contributes only 2 percent of electricity generation, whereas countries like US, China and India generate electricity by almost 60 percent from coal due to its lower cost. To meet the growing demands of energy, Government should exploit its domestic coal reserves which would make the country self-reliant in energy sector, he emphasised.

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KSE 100 index Brokers must establish plunges by 189pts KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The day saw the benchmark 100-share index plunged by 189.70 points to 14,230.49 points against 14,420.19 points of Thursday. Ahsan Mehanti, Director at Arif Habib Investments Limited., said that the Stocks closed bearish on investor concerns over new restrictions on US aid and approved bill prohibiting goods and services procurement from Pakistan until resumption of NATO supplies. Total numbers of Shares of 357 companies were traded on last working day of the week, and at the end of the day total 79 stocks closed higher, total 223 were declined while 55 remained flat. The overall value of shares traded during the day was Rs 8.788 million. The trading volumes at the ready-counter were recorded lower at 2.369 million shares against 2.688 million shares of the previous day. The trading value decreasing to Rs 8.788 billion compared to Rs 11.478 billion of the previous session. The intraday high and low respectively, stood at 14,445.72 and 14, 210.81 points. Market capitalization declined to 3.635 trillion from 3.683 trillion. “Limited foreign interest, fall in global stocks and commodities on euro zone debt crises, power outrages to industrial sector and outstanding circular debt issues in Pakistan energy sector played catalyst role in bearish sentiments.” viewed Mehanti. KSe All share-index ended the day at 9,983.28 points, down 133.52 points or 1.32 percent, KSe 30-index stopped the day at 12,373.39 points, decreasing 185.55 points or 1.48 percent while the KMI 30-index slumped by 248.15 points or 1.00 percent to end the day at 24,519.59. P.T.C.L.A was volume leader of the day, 43.586 million shares and up by Rs 0.75 paisa to close at Rs 16.08 followed by D.G.K Cement, Fatima Fertilizer Company XD, engro Corporation, Lotte Pakistan PTA, Jahangir Siddiqi Company and Hub Power Company with turnover of 25.036 million, 16.359 million and 10.374 million, 10.324 million, 10.131 million and 9.238 million shares respectively.

source of income for ‘high risk’ customers KARACHI ISMAIL DILAWAR

T

He Securities and exchange Commission of Pakistan (SeCP) has clarified that the stock investors’ exemption from declaring source of income under the recently-promulgated Presidential Ordinance on Capital Gains Tax (CGT) does not apply on the incomes derived from criminal activities.

The apex regulator, through issuing a notice numbering SMD/Se/2(20)2012, has asked front regulators at the country’s three stock exchanges in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore that the stock brokers must establish the source of income for the “high-risk” customers. The brokers have also been asked to obtain sufficient information to determine the expected source of funding for the account. The SeCP notice said the provisions of the Finance (Amendment) Ordinance 2012 shall only be applicable under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 (ITO) and does not bar asking source of income under any other law including Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010 (AMLA).

“The exemption under these provisions is not available for income derived from a criminal activity under any other law for the time being in force,” said the notice issued by Musarrat Jabeen, Direc-

tor at Policy, Regulation and Development Department of the SeCP. It said that the requirements of AMLA and the rules and regulations made there-under were not affected by these provisions of the ITO and no exemption, in whole or in part, was available for any AML/CFT preventative measures under the AMLA. The KYC/CDD and Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) reporting required vide stock exchange regulations and guidelines dated February 1, 2012 shall continue regardless of this amendments. “(The) brokers shall take reasonable measures for establishing the source of wealth and source of funds for high risk customers,” the regulator said.

It said that the Financial Monitoring Unit may refer any STR to the tax authorities, notwithstanding, the provisions of ITO and tax authorities would continue to cooperate with law enforcement agencies on AML matters.

The commission also reminded the brokers of Section 33 of the AML Act 2010, inter alia that specifically provides for criminal sanctions on failure to file STRs and for providing false information.

“In case any member/broker is found to be in violation of above legal requirements, a simultaneous regulatory action shall be initiated,” it warned.

CORPORATE CORNER SMX to hold seminar on defence equipment manufacturing LAHORE: SMe Subcontracting exchange (SMX) will hold a seminar and exhibition on “Opportunities for SMes in Defense equipment Manufacturing” on Monday at Gujranwala Business Centre (GBC). Small and Medium enterprises Development Authority (SMeDA) CeO Yousaf Naseem Khokhar, in a press statement issued here on Friday, termed this seminar of vital significance in exploring new business prospects for SMe triangle comprised of three industrial cities, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Gujrat. Advisor to the Prime Minister on Industries Muhammad Basharat Raja will be the chief guest on the occasion. PRESS RELEASE

Germany announces Rs1.8 billion for PGDC ISLAMABAD: Germany has announced additional funds of Rs1.8 billion for the Pakistan-German Development Cooperation (PGDC), which will be used in support of Afghan refugees and hosting communities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and to strengthen the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and to support the implementation of tax reforms at the federal and provincial levels. It was announced after the conclusion of the Pakistan-German government consultations on the joint bilateral development cooperation. The Pakistan-German Development Cooperation exists since 1961, and focuses on good governance, energy, health and education. With the additional funds, Germany’s total financial contribution for the years 2011-12 amounts to Rs15 billion. STAFF REPORT

ABF welcomes visa relaxation initiatives by India, Pakistan LAHORE: American Business Forum President Salim Ghauri has welcomed visa relaxation initiatives by India and Pakistan and expressed the hope that this single step would trigger the process of bilateral trade in positive direction. He was reacting to the statement of Indian High Commissioner Sharat Shabarwal saying new Indo-Pak visa policy would be signed soon by the two governments. “It is a historic milestone and business community should get united to cash the mo-

ment of growth and prosperity in the region,” he maintained. ABF president said finalisation of bilateral trade investment treaty, including signing of flexible visa policy, would hit the nail to the coffin of mistrust between two sides and business community would be more open to each other in the follow up situation. He underscored that encouraging business community to reap the benefits of free market mechanism was need of the hour, especially when Pakistan economy had successfully absorbed the shocks of Chinese phenomenon. He said the business community should take the upcoming challenges from the horn to lead the economy of South Asia in changing international scenario. The potential was fantastic, as time had come to open all trade routes with India and benefit from each others’ strength, like the world economies around us, he said and added that both countries should open their minds and come out of fear of unknown. PRESS RELEASE

NADRA achieves CMMI Level III ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has successfully achieved CMMI Maturity Level III of Software engineering Institute's (SeI), Carnegie Mellon, USA. The Standard CMMI Appraisal Method for Process Improvement (SCAMPI), Class 'A' appraisal method was conducted and Project Management, Technology, Development and Quality Management activities were found to be in accordance with the laid down processes.

NADRA Deputy Chairman Tariq Malik, while expressing his accolades, said that this achievement will tremendously boost Pakistan's image in the global IT arena. CMMI represents a major step forward for our organisation in particular and for Pakistani IT Industry in general. This is indeed a hallmark achievement and milestone for us as well as our nation. NADRA has always laid great emphasis on delivering quality solutions and services by employing innovative technology and global best practices. STAFF REPORT

Samsung Smart Cameras to be introduced with great fanfare KARACHI: Samsung electronics to organise a captivating road show at the Hyperstar Mall in Karachi starting from Sunday – 13 May, 2012 to 22 May, 2012. This thrilling road-show will showcase a new range of pioneering, feature-rich Digital cameras including; WB 150 F

(Long Zoom Smart Camera), DV300 (2 View Smart Camera) and the MV800 (Multi-View Smart Camera). Samsung electronics, the global leader in home appliances, telecommunications and imaging technology aims to provide its customers with the opportunity to get hands-on experience with these cutting-edge cameras that are designed to provide totally connected lifestyle solutions and an amazing quality of images and videos. These state-ofthe-art imaging devices allow the user to instantly share images and videos with their personal smartphones, Tablets and Laptop computers or their friend’s devices using Samsung’s “Smart-Sharing” functions. PRESS RELEASE

Pakistan to attend Intertextile Shanghai fair KARACHI: Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) will organise participation in Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles - Autumn edition 2012, to be held in Shanghai, China from August 28-30. According to the organisers here Friday, Pakistan is the oldest pavilion at Intertextile Shanghai Home with participation from both the TDAP and direct exhibitors.

Besides Pakistan there will be pavilions from Turkey, Greece, Italy, Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Belgium. "Pakistani exhibitors have been exhibiting the show for a number of years now each year they are increasing their stand size and their product range. Gul Ahmed, Gohar Textile, Indus Home, Nishat Chunian and others are regular exhibitors at Shanghai. We are confident that in 2012 we will have an increase in the number of Pakistani exhibitors in China" According to Omer Salahuddin – Marketing Director Messe Frankfurt Pakistan. APP

ISLAMABAD: Intel Pakistan Corporation held an interactive briefing session with 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) finalists to showcase their hard work and to boost the morale of these students who will be representing Pakistan at Intel ISEF, which is scheduled for next week in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. PR

Major Gainers Company

Open

High

Low

Close

Change

Turnover

UniLever PakSPOT Colgate Palmolive Shezan Inter.

National Foods Sanofi-AventisXD

7240.00 918.75 159.64 160.13 175.61

7449.00 964.68 167.62 168.13 184.39

7056.00 910.00 155.01 162.00 167.25

7201.23 964.21 167.62 166.68 180.82

-38.77 45.46 7.98 6.55 5.21

617 1,697 48,702 89,449 2,934

Major Losers Nestle Pakistan Ltd. Unilever FoodSPOT Mithchells Fruit Island Textile Engro Corporation

4174.00 3195.65 205.00 207.00 113.67

4275.00 3190.00 215.25 207.05 114.17

4130.01 3035.87 194.75 196.75 107.99

4160.49 3183.00 194.75 199.43 107.99

-13.51 -12.65 -10.25 -7.57 -5.68

166 21 17,755 266 10,374,971

Volume Leaders PTCLA DGKC Fatima Fert.

Engro Corp Lotte PTA

15.33 46.83 26.14 113.67 9.77

16.33 47.25 26.20 114.17 9.86

14.49 44.49 24.90 107.99 9.35

16.08 44.51 25.06 107.99 9.53

0.75 -2.32 -1.08 -5.68 -0.24

43,586,846 25,036,284 16,359,275 10,374,971 10,324,020

Interbank Rates US Dollar UK Pound Japanese Yen euro

90.8170 146.2971 1.1401 117.8351

Dollar East US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal Australian Dollar

Buy

Sell

91.10 117.58 146.45 1.1358 90.38 11.58 24.78 24.28 91.02

91.80 118.40 147.43 1.1433 91.49 11.75 24.92 24.41 93.09

Korea urged to enhance investment in Pakistan ISLAMABAD APP

Secretary Industries Aziz Ahmad Bilour urged South Korean Ambassador to enhance Korean investment in Pakistan. "The Korean investment in Pakistan is much lower than its potential which in 2010-2011 stood at $7.7 million", Aziz Bilour said here in a meeting with Ambassador of Korea in Pakistan Choongioo Choi on Friday. Both discussed the prospects of enhancing investment in the energy, steel, consumer goods, domestic appliances, electronics, auto sector and relocation of Korean industries in Pakistan. Aziz Bilour said that the government would facilitate the Korean investors and they should explore new avenues of investment in Pakistan. Korea's bilateral trade with Pakistan is around $1.1 billion whereas with India a stand at $16 billion and it has a trade of $1 billion a day with China. The Secretary said that Pakistan has a diversified market of consumer durables, where a number of units are engaged in production of wide range of domestic appliances like washing machines, TV sets, Deep Freezers, Refrigerators, Split AC and Microwave oven etc. He said that South Korea has a sufficiently developed consumer durable sector and Pakistan is looking forward to establish joint ventures with Korean companies. Aziz Bilour further said that with the growing manufacturing, engineering and construction sector, there is a huge demand of steel in Pakistan and investments in the steel sector will be beneficial for both the countries. At present South Korean steel giant POSCO, world's third largest steel maker is in joint venture with Tuwairqi Steel Mills in Pakistan.

SECP registers 422 companies in April ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Securities and exchange Commission of Pakistan (SeCP) registered 422 companies in March as compared to 370 companies during the previous month, showing an increase of 14 per cent. An increase in the incorporation of companies has been witnessed, which is a sign of healthy growth and development of the corporate sector. The private companies have the highest share in new incorporation totaling to 385, followed by 26 single-member companies, four public unlisted companies, four non-profit association and three foreign companies. Of the three foreign companies, each belonging to the Turkey, the UK and South Korea were registered in Karachi. Foreign investment by France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Australia, U.K., Germany and Denmark nationals was witnessed in four new local companies registered in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad in trading finance and banking, engineering and power generation. As for the sector-wise breakdown, with 64 companies the Hajj and Umra services’ sector has the highest number of new incorporations, followed by services and trading with 56 companies each, information technology with 24 companies, construction with 22 companies, food and beverages with 20 companies, communications with 18 companies, tourism with 14 companies, broadcasting and telecasting, power generation and textile with 11 companies each, and education with 10 companies.