E-paper Profit 7th April, 2012

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The sad saga of rental power plants Page 2

profit.com.pk

Saturday, 07 April, 2012

cOmmENt

BUILDING BRIDGES

Opening the gate to Emerging South Asian prosperity markets Pakistan, India near accord on issuing business visas, opening second gate of Wahga border g India to help Pakistan install rice steaming plants, brow oil plants and rice refineries g Over 60 Indian exhibitors due in Karachi in July g First Lifestyle Pakistan shipment reaches India g

KARACHI

h

ISMAIL DILAWAR

OPeS for a sustainable peace thus prosperity in the poverty-stricken South asian region can be refreshed India and Pakistan, the two traditional nuclear-armed arch-rivals, are all set to mend the decades-old dents in their bilateral ties through promoting trade and cultural exchanges.

New Delhi and Islamabad, perhaps having developed a longawaited regional approach, are working vigorously on trade liberalization and other positives that, officials across the Line of Control (LoC) are upbeat, would not only help the two countries bridge the ages-old mutual “trust deficit” but also from each other’s huge but still untapped trade and business potential. having decided to open the “second gate” at Wahga border sometimes during this month, Pakistan and India have almost concluded negotiations on the issuance of business visas, a major stumbling block for the businessmen and traders on two sides of the LoC.

Further, a group of over 60 Indian exhibitors would arrive in Karachi in July, most probably on 12th, to look for ways to promote trade and investment between the two countries. “the second gate of Wahga border would be opened in april to make the mutual exports more facilitated,” tariq Puri, CeO trade Development authority of Pakistan (tDaP), told a “curtain raiser” press briefing of tDaP’s initiative Lifestyle Pakistan, the country’s first mega lifestyle exhibition cultural program being held in India on a government-togovernment level. the event is due from april 12 to 15 in New Delhi’s Pragati Madan at, what Puri said, a “customized area” stretching over 8000 square kilometer where more than 100 top of the line Pakistani exhibitors would showcase the “Best of Pakistan“. also, Friday marked a sort of startup in the mutual trade as the tDaP chief said two 40-feet containers, carrying 70 percent of the goods to be stalled at the exhibition, crossed the Wahga border to reach India. Whereas the exhibitors claimed to have sold out all of the exhibit-able stuff, Puri

said the Indian government had allowed Pakistani exhibitors to retail their products which would be subject to applicable taxes. according to Puri, the event was being held with cooperation of tDaP and Indian trade Proportion Organization in reciprocity to the “Made in India Show” held recently by the Indian side in Lahore.

Led by tDaP, the Pakistani delegation would comprise an organized team of traders, businessmen, fashion designers, models, cooks and other related to cultural and trade sectors. the exhibition would formally open on april 12 in the presence of Makhdoom amin Fahim and anand Sharma, the commerce ministers of Pakistan and India. the Pakistani brands to be showcased include Gul ahmed, alKaram, hub Leather, Khaadi, Chen One, Bonanza, Junaid Jamshed Lawn, Orient textiles, Nishat textiles, Faiza Same, honey Waqar, asim Jofa and others. “We have a lot to offer to India where Pakistani lawns, Khaadi and shoes are more popular,” said tehmina Khalid.

Others who termed the neighboring country as a huge

market for Pakistani goods include Nadia hussain, asad Sajjad, Farrukh, Farida Qureshi, Nasr, Rahat, Younas Basher, Salman Junaid, Faiza Samee, Shehzad, Zeba hussain, and Ziad Basher of Gul ahmed.

Puri said 32 of the Pakistani delegates were from the rice sector who would discuss with the Indian side’s cooperation on the utilization and installation of rice steaming plants, brow oil plants and rice refineries. asked if the two sides had a will to permanently overcome the traditional bottlenecks like issuance of visas etc, Puri replied in positive. “the business visas would be issued within a month or so,” he told Pakistan today. earlier, he said two special bank branches at Pragati Madan would be facilitating the Pakistani delegates on their remittance related issues. the first delegation would leave for India on Monday, april 9, in a big plane to be chartered by tDaP. Sidra Iqbal of tDaP told the briefing that a similar curtain raiser media would also be held on april 10 in India’s ItC Moria hotel where most of the Pakistani delegates would be staying.

W

hat good is wisdom, when it brings no profit to the wise? If only the government had employed its ambitious trade outreach (displayed of late) in earlier years, the revenue situation would not have been so tight.

Yet dwelling in the past is hardly any more rewarding. Which brings us to the present, which betrays a clear understanding in Islamabad that without reorienting trade markets, deficits will make survival near-impossible. the downside is that the initiative to expand market outreach is not matched by an equally spirited drive to leverage industry and manufacturing to add value to the present export basket. after China, India and Russia, australia is indeed the ideal market for Pakistan to penetrate. It has formed an integral part of the emerging market complex, asia’s expanding economies that led the initial bottoming out of the ’08 recession. It is the centre of the global commodity trade, whose symbiotic relationship with China’s furious growth sustained increased production and employment across the continent. For Pakistan to gain easy access to its market can ideally be reciprocated by opening our markets for its commodity endowment, an exercise that can work to ideal mutual benefit. to even think of such an arrangement, Pakistan will have to initiate serious fiscal expansion programs, which will then tap the all important asia-Pacific commodity trade.

Fiscal expansion, of course, works only when complemented by an appropriate monetary policy. that in turn implies that the government will have to overcome some of its more blatant excesses, or the entire sequence of events stemming from expanding markets will fall off track. So long as the government is borrowing in bulk, the central bank’s policy is compromised. and so long as it fails to check needless leakages in the real economy, there will be little fiscal elbow room for corrective adventures. Once we take some essential steps, not only will we engage more with emerging markets, but also stand among them.

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Saturday, 07 April, 2012

news

Wheating the appetite Seriously? of farmers, industrialists g

Thar Coal projects facing govt’s lack of seriousness KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

g

Govt approves Rs 200b guarantee for procurement of 7.7m tonnes of wheat ISLAMABAd

a

AMER SIAL

S expected, the government approved a massive financial guarantee of over Rs 200 billion for procuring 7.7 million tons of wheat from influential growers, in an election year, even though the commodity purchase issue stand transferred to the provinces after the devolution. the decision was made at the agriculture lobby dominated, economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (eCC) which met under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Dr. abdul hafeez Shaikh. the committee also approved unprecedented incentives for kick starting natural gas import projects by exempting from sales tax and federal excise duty on imported natural gas through pipelines and LNG. Collection of applicable taxes, duties and any other levies were deferred till the commencement of commercial operations of the natural gas and LNG import projects, on the analogy of such facility provided to power projects by eCC in July 2009. ePC contractors involved in the gas import projects were exempted from sales tax, while custom duties were exempted on hR coils, line pipe, pylons piles. While temporary importation of plant, equipment, machinery, LNG terminals and peripheral infrastructures were allowed for the projects duty free on import cum export basis. eCC also approved the summary for the extension of date of completion of BYCO oil Pakistan Limited to avail 7.6 years tax holiday. It also ap-

proved low BtU gas pricing policy under which the price has been increased from $ 2.5 mmBtU to $ 8.75 mmBtU. this will promote investment in low BtU reserves and estimated 800 mmcfd supplies are expected to be utilised mainly by the power sector. It also approved fortnightly price adjustment of petroleum products, even though Oil and Gas Regulatory authority had reservations over the move and it was stressing maintaining prices on quarterly basis to protect the people from high inflationary impact. the meeting also decided to lift ban on the public sector institutional investment in the national saving schemes. the move is expected to attracted Rs 150 billion investment from the public sector institution in the short term. according to the official press release, eCC discussed at length the summary of the Ministry of Food Security and Research on the public sector procurement of wheat crop. after devolution the provinces were allowed to lift the wheat to maintain strategic reserves. the meeting debated on the extension of credit cash guarantees to the provinces for purchasing wheat after the increase in the support price of wheat from Rs 950 to Rs 1050 per 40 kg. after much deliberation eCC agreed to approve the summary. an official source said that the federal government was under pressure to give the credit guarantee, as procurement of 7.7 million tons of wheat from influential farmers in Sindh and Punjab will guarantee favourable support from the growers in the upcoming general elections.

Pakistan is expected to harvest a

bumper wheat harvest of 25 million tons. the public sector procurement is usually carried out to maintain stability in wheat prices during the harvesting season. In the past the wheat procurement has remained limited to 5 million tons but for garnering political support in rural areas the procurement had been enhanced to 7 million tons during the last few years. the government already has faced billions of rupee loss in subsidize selling of procured stocks of last year to make room for new procurement. Due to the low international prices there were no chances of exports and the government would have to provide additional subsidy to dispose off its stocks next year. eCC also approved the summary for the extension of date of completion of oil refinery BYCO limited to avail 7.6 years tax holiday. the refinery was given tax holiday for 7.6 years and had as to complete by the end of 2011, however the refinery could not be commissioned by the stipulated time. the Ministry of Petroleum recommended that the company may be granted extension of the facility up to the end of 2012, which was approved after much deliberation. the meeting among others was attended by Minister for Petroleum Dr. asim hussain, Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Production anwar Cheema, Minister for Privatization Ghaus Baksh and Minister for Railways Ghulam ahmad Bilour, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Secretaries for Railways, Finance, economic affairs Division, Petroleum and other concerned officials.

T

he thar Coal projects which can reduce the energy woes of the country are facing the federal government’s lack of seriousness and coordination with the provincial government. the Sindh engro Coal Mining Company which has successfully reached the thar coal project to the level of financing during the last around two years were unable to achieve the Project Financing and Financial Close of the project due to delay in accomplishment of infrastructure development and unresolved circular debt(of around RS 400 billion)in power sector. this was said by Khalid Mansoor President engro Fertilizers in presentation to media here on Friday. according to him the other challenges faced by the company were the low investor and financial institutions confidence for new initiatives by engro due to gas curtailment for its newly

commissioned Fertilizer Project including world’s largest urea plant with single largest private sector investment of $1.1 billion.

Gas supply to the plant suspended by 55 percent of the time by SNGPL since commissioning, in spite of the contractual commitment of the government incurring huge losses to production. Only 75 percent of the agreed quantity was supplied

by SNGPL during the supply period. he informed that despite the approvals from various bodies, there was no movement on practical grounds as projects like installing transmission lines, raw water supply, road network and effluent disposal were needed to have both federal and provincial governments’ serious considerations. Presently many questions were being raised from various corners that why the government was failed to generate power from the thar coal and where did the announced and approved money go. the circular debt issue was one of the key hurdle in the way

of inviting investments from investors as even the Board of Investment and thar Coal Board were citing the debt issue as the big problem in raising investment for thar coal projects. the government’s credibility, he said, was another issue as many projects such as IPPs have called in their sovereign guarantees and other government contractual obligations were just not being met in a number of sectors. engro Power would have difficulty raising financing for thar project due to gas curtailment on its new plant. talking about the current status of the engro project, the president said that, the bankable feasibility study of the project which will supply coal to at least 1200 MW mine-mouth power plant to be set up by engro Powergen by 2016.

SeCMC has engaged several international consultants such as Sinocoal China and RWe-Re Gmbh of Germany which has completed the technical feasibility of the project. the expected date of completion of the coal mining and power project is 2016 at a cost of $3 billion. the SeCMC project was ready to commence and close to getting into the project execution stage being able to attract financing and investors.

DR YES

Take a bow, doc! g

LCCI chief pats Hafeez on the back over SRO 191 suspension LAHORe STAFF REPORT

T

he Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Friday welcomed the suspension of controversial SRO 191(I)2012 and appreciated the Finance Minister for giving patient hearing to all the LCCI demands.

In a statement issued here, the LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that the decision to suspend

the SRO 191 would go a long way in giving boost to economic activities in the country as seeking Computerised National Identity Card numbers or National tax Numbers of the unregistered buyers, manufacturers, importers and exporters was practically impossible. the LCCI President said that the Federal Finance Minister Dr abdul hafeez Sheikh had also promised to look into the other LCCI budget proposals including reduction in

turnover tax from existing 1 per cent to 0.5 per cent. he said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry had conveyed to the Minister that the SRO 111 pertaining to whitening of capital through telegraphic transfer (tt) should be withdrawn in order to promote tax culture and broaden the tax net.

Withholding tax for commercial importers should be equivalent to manufacturers. annexure D of the Income tax Return should also be withdrawn. Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that the Lahore Chamber has also demanded the withdrawal of Sales tax on Local and Imported machinery to strengthen and rejuvenate the process of industrialization in the country.

The sad saga of rental power plants

P

Syed OvAIS AKHtAR

aKIStaN has been plagued with power generation problems since decades. Due to the continuing power deficit, our industries have been brought to the brink of collapse and the common people suffer non-stop. energy is the driving force behind national development but sadly Pakistan lags far behind on this front. the country has, for years, not been able to crack the electricity riddle and the situation has gone from bad to worse over the years. the country’s leaders have never grasped the idea of sustainable development in its true spirit and the people have been led to unending anguish due to their lack of vision.

One intelligent scheme that seemed perfect in theory was the introduction of rental power plants (RPPs) that was considered feasible to bridge the demand-supply gap. It was near the end of the Musharraf era when RPPs emerged as a viable option as opposed to further investment in IPPs. however, the actual implementation of the scheme took place under the present PPPled government. Many experts had pointed out in the beginning, when RPP licences were in the process of being issued, that the RPPs would turn to be just another way of taking corruption to the next level. as it turns out, they were absolutely right.

On March 30, 2011, the Supreme Court declared the Rental Power Plants as illegal and all functioning RPPs were ordered to be immediately shut down. the decision was historic in the sense that it will now discourage corruption through such means and also force the government to invest in long-term solutions to cap the energy crisis.

In principle, if they had been imple-

mented correctly, RPPs would have helped Pakistan in meeting the energy shortfall.

Rental power plants are typically installed within 4 to six months and are ideal for meeting short-term electricity needs. they utilize resources in the optimum manner while involving little or no land. Local employment generation is another positive aspect of RPPs. however, plant costs keep on increasing when expensive fuel is used to run these plants. Pakistan stood to benefit from these projects as technically only the amount of electricity supplied would be liable for payment. But bad decision-making and gross mismanagement on the government’s part made the whole scheme a complete mess.

In 2008, a committee headed by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani agreed to the installation of 14 rental power plants that would produce 1,500 MW of electricity. a year later in September 2009, RPPs with a collective production capacity of 2,250 MW were approved by the cabinet. Unsolicited offers were also entertained which led to the acceptance of 5 more projects by the economic Coordination Council (eCC). In the end, a total of 19 RPPs with a collective capacity of 2,734 MW were sanctioned.

Renowned banker Shaukat tarin, who assumed charge as Finance Minister in October 2008, had strongly opposed the government’s idea of installing RPPs at such high cost. though the federal cabinet had already approved issue of RPP licences in august 2008, it was on his insistence that the Prime Minister asked the asian Development Bank to conduct an audit of the entire RPP scheme. as a result of the audit, it emerged that out of a collective capacity of the almost

2,800 MW that had been sanctioned only 800 MW offered operational feasibility.

It is quite distressful to know, however, that while it was Shaukat tarin who tried to wean away the government from issuing licences to RPPs as it spelt disaster from day one, he now seems to have been ‘punished’ for his good advice and put on eCL in wake of the probe that the Supreme Court has ordered NaB to conduct in the RPP scam. according to news reports, the Government of Pakistan ended up paying Rs. 21.8 billion to the RPPs in mobilisation advance with bank loans taken against assets of the National transmission and Dispatch Company (NtDC). even after such huge sums were transferred to the RPPs, none of these power plants functioned at their full capacity and only produced 120 MW of electricity in total. Karkey was producing an average of 48 MW compared to its actual capacity of 231 MW and that too at an expensive rate of Rs.35 to 50/unit. another RPP,

Gulf had a capacity of 62 MW but was generating only 50 MW while Reshma Power Plant was producing a measly 14 MW compared to its actual 201 MW capacity.

What had started as a promising project simply drowned in a sea of corruption. the electricity they produced was purchased by the government at exorbitant rates. the country spent billions of rupees on the RPPs but ended up getting literally nothing in return. a few megawatts of electricity were not worth the huge and unreasonable amount spent from an already overburdened treasury. time and again a huge hue and cry was raised over the inefficient production of these RPPs. along with the lacunae pointed out by Finance Minister Shaukat tarin, other quarters also described the whole scheme was rife with corruption but the Government of Pakistan failed to take notice and the high cost of the plants was passed on to the unfortunate consumers.

With increasing electricity shortfall, protests against load shedding became commonplace. the current violent protests in Punjab are witness to the poor state of affairs. RPPs were a continuing burden on the national exchequer and because of them, production of the exist-

ing Independent Power Plants (IPPs) suffered. It is certainly unfortunate that instead of using Pakistan’s rich hydel resources as well as gas and coal reserves to produce electricity, we use the most expensive fuel – furnace oil. according to experts, the government should have focused more on providing gas to the independent power producers (IPPs) rather than investing in quixotic projects. there would also be hope in future energy production if new projects had been established by the present government when it assumed power. the government instead spent precious resources on the failed RPPs while high ranking officials managed to steal billions of rupees for their personal gain. the Supreme Court has declared all Rental Power Projects (RPPs) in the country illegal in its verdict. In the court’s learned view, the agreements between the Pakistan government and the owners of RPPs were ‘non-transparent’, ‘illegal’ and ‘ultra vires of the Constitution’. the Supreme Court has observed that there was massive corruption taking place and it was never the purpose of those indulging in this corruption to bridge the demand-and-supply. the Chief Justice especially noted that Genco, Pepco, Wapda, Nepra and the federal government were responsible for the corruption of billions of rupees. the Supreme Court in its ruling has directed the government to take effective measures to arrest corruption and pilferage in the power sector. If properly implemented, this landmark decision will surely benefit Pakistan for years to come. Whether or not the implementation is carried out remains to be seen but one does hope that our government will now wake up and, for once, will think about the future of Pakistan.

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Saturday, 07 April, 2012

03

news

Bulls tumble 14,000pt barrier, lift index up 44pts

Major Gainers Company

Open

High

Low

Close

Change

Turnover

Nestle PakXD Bata (Pak)SPOT Island Textile Sanofi-Aventis Lucky Cement

4319.29 623.01 214.65 159.61 121.95

4499.00 654.16 225.38 167.59 128.04

4276.00 644.99 215.00 165.99 120.88

4421.30 654.16 225.19 167.59 127.57

102.01 3,417 31.15 1,166 10.54 1,265 7.98 4,598 5.62 4,765,139

Major Losers UniLever Pak LtdXD Tri-Pack Films XD Philip Morris Pak. Gillette Pak EFU General InsXD

5676.80 206.91 114.10 69.87 93.96

5899.99 207.00 108.40 67.00 94.90

5511.00 201.00 108.40 66.40 90.05

5572.80 201.15 108.40 66.55 90.91

6.72 4.01 3.90 4.78 21.98

5.80 3.46 3.32 4.00 20.75

6.70 3.96 3.71 4.63 20.93

-104.00 21 -5.76 3,050 -5.70 400 -3.32 400 -3.05 10,960

Volume Leaders Dewan Cement WorldCall Telecom Pace (Pak) Ltd. Summit Bank Ltd Jah.Sidd. Co.

KARACHI

F

STAFF REPORTER

RIDaY witnessed a bullish activity at the Karachi stocks market where the benchmark index hit the intraday high of 14,000 points on the back ofrenewed institutional and foreign interest.

Last trading day of the week saw KSe 100-share index gaining 44.06 points to close at 13,875.53 points against 13,831.47 points of thursday. “the stocks closed bullish as KSe 100 crossed the record 14,000

level on intra-day activity,” said ahsan Mehanti, director at arif habib Investments. the intraday high and low was recorded, respectively, at 14,020.34 and 13,831.12 points.

Mehanti said renewed institutional and foreign interest lead by blue-chip oil and cement stocks led the market on a bullrun ahead of key quarter end earning announcements due next week.

“Report of expected approval of rise in natural gas by 30 percent and hopes for early announcements on revised CGt implementation affected the

sentiments,” viewed the analyst.

Other attributable that played as a catalyst for the day’s bullish sentiments at KSe include higher global commodities, rising local and export cement prices and expectations for stronger quarter-end results. the trading volumes at the ready-counter were recorded at 433.01 million shares against 457.944 million shares of the previous day. the trading value decreased to Rs 7.439 billion against Rs 9.375 billion on Wednesday. the market capital increased to Rs 3.565 trillion from thursday’s

Rs 3.549 trillion. Of the total 362 traded scrips, 179 gained, 115 lost and 68 finished as unchanged. the free-float KSe-30 index also shed 2.21 points to finish at 12,183.37 points against 12,181.16 points of a day earlier.

Dewan Cement appeared as the day’s volume leader by having its traded shares counted at 36.58 million with the opening and closing rates standing, respectively, at Rs 5.72 and Rs 6.70. the trading volume on the future market also slid to 23.252 million shares compared to 26.382 million shares of thursday.

KARACHI: Pakistan telecommunication Company Limited (PtCL) has been honored with the “10 th teradata National It excellence award” for its 3G eVO Wireless Broadband Internet project by world’s leading analytic data solutions company , teradata. at a gala event recently held at Karachi Golf & Country Club, PtCL’s Senior Manager Wireless Products, Shafqaat h.

Shah received the award from chief guest on the occasion U.S. Consul General Karachi, William Martin, and MD teradata Pakistan, afghanistan & Bangladesh, Khurram Rahat. the award recognizes PtCL’s effective program ma nagement and product launch of Pakistan’s strongest brand names in the telecom world PtCL 3G evo Wireless Broadband Internet. this project resulted in the fastest, most comprehensive and innovative telecom product launched by PtCL, which has revolutionized the lives of Pakistani people and has put the country on the path of progress. PRESS RELEASE

OIccI facilitates mUFAP’s Public Awareness Seminar in association with the cDc KARACHI: In order to facilitate members understanding of options for personal tax benefits and retirement funds investment avenues, the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), in collaboration with the Mutual Funds association of Pakistan (MUFaP) organized a seminar on the subject of “Mutual Funds and Voluntary Pension Schemes”, on Wednesday 4th april, 2012 at the OICCI office. this customized event for OICCI members was attended by a large number of senior executives of OICCI member companies and MUFaP members. PRESS RELEASE

Samsung Galaxy Note Studio – A creative extravaganza in Karachi LAHORE: the Samsung GaLaXY Note Studio kicked off at Park towers, Karachi after its tremendous success in Lahore. the event showcased multiple hi-tech features of the first tablet and smart phone hy-

brid from Samsung - “the Galaxy Note”. Using this device, one can draw caricatures and compose music with multiple instruments. the event revolved around the revolutionary digital “Caricature feature”. as the excited visitors thronged the splendid ceremonies, skilled artists were engaged for drawing caricatures, using the Galaxy Note. these caricatures were also printed on mugs and t-shirts, for presenting as souvenirs. Samsung’s “S Pen” technology fascinated the visitors. Various media personalities and celebrities also graced the occasion, and special discounts were also offered on the purchase of the smartphone. Samsung Pakistan’s head of hhP & It, Mr. Roy Chang said; “after receiving an overwhelming response at the Lahore and Karachi Studio events, we are inspired to introduce more creative galaxy Note fans. this device simplifies the capturing and sharing of creative ideas, through images, designs and text.”

cGmA Global Economic Forecast shows cautious optimism for year ahead KARACHI: the CGMa Global economic Forecast, a quarterly survey of more than 600 senior management accountants from around the world, has found a cautious level of optimism for the global economy over the coming 12 months. the overall index score is up seven points to 65, from 58 in the last quarter, according to research from the Chartered Institute of Management accountants (CIMa) and the american Institute of Certified Public accountants (aICPa). the Index is compiled as an aggregate of ten economic dimensions on a scale from 0 to 100, with 50 considered neutral and numbers above that indicating positive sentiment. the ten factors include: global economic optimism, domestic economic optimism, organisational optimism, plans for expansion, revenue, profits, headcount, spending on It, other capital and training and development. PRESS RELEASE

Women made marble mosaic products in EXPO 2012 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Stone Development Company (PaSDeC) will display the marble mosaic products in eXPO 2012, which are made by women trainees at marble mosaic workshop. PaSDeC in collaboration with UNIDO is promoting marble mosaic skill development in women. In this connection, the marble mosaic and Inlay training sessions have been completed successfully. On the occasion of inaugural ceremony of exhibition, PaSDeC will also distribute the course completion certificates among marble mosaic trained women who have completed their training during current sessions. the UNIDO-Women entrepreneurship Programme is organizing a national expo in the federal capital on april 7 and 8 in collaboration

0.98 36,584,683 0.50 34,388,080 0.43 32,114,201 0.48 22,468,625 -0.85 19,209,585

Interbank Rates US Dollar UK Pound Japanese Yen euro

90.5350 143.5162 1.0978 118.3293

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

CORPORATE CORNER PtcL honored with 10th teradata National It Excellence Award 2012

5.72 3.46 3.28 4.15 21.78

with the Islamabad Women Chambers of Commerce and Industry and PaSDeC. this year’s expo titled as “Women in Creative Industry” and envisages the idea of brining together the women entrepreneurs from across Pakistan on one platform. UNIDO’s WeD Programme will be displaying its marble mosaic, inlay, gems and jewelry and homes textiles products that have been prepared by its trained women. STAFF REPORT

Buy

Sell

90.50 120.16 144.11 1.0839 90.15 11.49 24.56 24.06 93.15

91.10 121.48 145.73 1.0957 91.65 11.67 24.83 24.30 94.61

How much should a 20kg flour bag cost?

British High commissioner visits PBIt LAHORE: British high Commissioner to Pakistan adam thomson visited the office of Punjab Board of Investment & trade(PBIt) and held meeting with senior officials. Vice Chairman PBIt, Dr. Miftah Ismail informed the distinguished guest that Punjab presents a good investment proposition with expanding consumer base, improving domestic and foreign investment and growing trade intensity. Dr. Ismail said Punjab Government’s liberal and investment friendly incentives pave way for large scale investment projects whereas the margins of small and medium investment are also very high. Chief executive Officer PBIt, Dr. Sajid Yoosufani gave a detailed briefing on investment opportunities in Punjab and highlighted investments from the UK in Pakistan which includes ICI, Premier Oil, Barclays, Pakistan tobacco Company, hSBC, Unilever, Reckitt & Benckiser and Standard Chartered Bank. the British high Commissioner was also apprised of the number of British Companies facilitated by PBIt in Punjab. adam thomson said that Pakistan and Britain have longstanding relationship spread over decades and some common traits; both the countries need to develop better economic and social ties. he said Pakistan is suffering from image and perception problem which is hindering foreign investment in this region. he said his visit to PBIt has been fruitful in terms of gaining more clarity towards investment opportunities and understanding overall economic climate of Punjab .he appreciated the positive attitude of PBIt’s leadership towards bringing investment in Punjab and catering to investor needs. STAFF REPORT

tEDxmargalla inspires the twin cities ISLAMABAD: teDxMargalla was organized at a local cinema, bringing together some of the brightest minds in Pakistan to share ways in which we could ‘Rethink Pakistan’. teDxMargalla featured some of Pakistan’s most prominent personalities, including asad Umar (CeO engro Corp), Prof. adil Najam (Vice Chancellor LUMS), Sami Shah, Khalida Brohi and others, who shared their vision on the way Pakistan could work towards a more prosperous future. the event was attended by over 100 people belonging to various walks of life, who came together to hear innovative ideas to reform Pakistan. PRESS RELEASE

LAHORe STAFF REPORT

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he Punjab government has constituted a special committee to determine the new price of 20 kilograms flour bag keeping in view the increase in the price of electricity and petroleum products. the committee comprises of MNa Saud Majeed, Secretary Punjab Food Department, Secretary Industries, Director Food Punjab, senior officials of the provincial finance department and Punjab Flour Mills association (PFMa) Chairman abdul Jabbar, asim Raza ahmad, Liaquat ali Khan and others. the committee will meet on april 07, 2012 to submit its recommendations in this regard and it is hoped that the new price of twenty kilograms flour bag would be fixed at Rs 625 per bag, said a spokesman of the PFMa here on thursday evening. earlier PFMa Punjab in a meeting this morning attended by its Chairman Ch. abdul Jabbar, asim ahmad Raza and others decided to enforce new price of 20 kilograms bag at Rs 625 per bag due to increase in electricity and petroleum products. the association had to increase the prices on March 26, 2012 and later on further increased decided to enforce new price from today.

Nevertheless, Punjab government sensing the situation called another meeting today which was chaired by the Senior advisor to the Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Zulfikar ali Khan Khosa and participated by both flour millers and government departments to discuss the issue. Flour milling industry presented their case quoting increase in electricity and petroleum products prices as the reason behind raising flour prices. the government constituted a committee to discuss the issue and submit its recommendations in a meeting to be held on april 07, 2012. Flour millers are hopeful that the new price would be announced in this meeting.