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Investment Analysts Bullish on Pakistan

Nothing happened to that edifice of a building.
Abu Dhabi Group, property tycoon to build world's tallest building in Pakistan.It just turned out to be the "World's Tallest Story"!! :lol:

I thought so. We seem to have a national trait of believing tall stories without verification.
 
World's tallest building for Karachi is back on track with Bahria Town's Malik Riaz signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with German-American real estate tycoon Thomas Kramer. Riaz brought in Kramer after his earlier deal with Abu Dhabi Group collapsed soon after signing about three weeks ago. Both Riaz and Kramer have an established track record for developing upscale properties; Riaz in Pakistan and Kramer in Florida and Germany.


The $20 billion plan is to develop 12,000 acres of land over a period of 10 years on Bundal & Buddo Islands about 3 kilometers from Karachi's Clifton district. The first residential units be completed as early as 2016. In addition to housing, the plans also include world’s tallest building, world’s largest shopping mall, mosques, cinemas, spas, golf courses, schools and hospitals, all with modern amenities and associated infrastructure. The two islands will be connected with each other and the mainland by a six-lane bridge. The entire city will be a “high security zone”, with its own desalination and power generation plants to enable it to be self sufficient for water and power.

South+Beach.jpg


South Beach, Florida, USA



Speaking to the media after signing the MOU, Thomas Kramer said, “I have full confidence in the people and economy of Pakistan. In 1970 when I started my project in Germany it was the worst era of their history. Likewise when Miami Beach project was started, the area was in full control of Cuban criminals, different mafias and gangsters. Dead bodies used to be scattered on the beaches. I completed my projects successfully. Today they are the world’s most secure and advanced regions. Current situation in Pakistan is much better than those areas. Further I am confident that this project along with boosting the economy will also eradicate terrorism from Pakistan. This is a once in a lifetime chance to bring Pakistan back on the map to the leading nations in the world.”


Sharing the podium with Kramer, Bahria Town's Malik Riaz said, “Our slogan is ‘Bahria Town Commits – Bahria Town Delivers’ and Alhamdulillah we have fulfilled all our promises made with Pakistan and Pakistanis. We know that the construction sector has played a key role in transforming the USA, Malaysia, Japan, Turkey and Germany into developed nations. In the same manner, Insha Allah, Pakistan will also become a developed nation, which is our vision. This project will not only provide 2.5 million jobs but will help revive 55 national industries and provide housing to 1 million Pakistanis. It will also help eliminate terrorism and crimes.”

Haq's Musings: Successful South Beach Developer Eyes Karachi Real Estate
 
Here's a Bloomberg story on Sharif victory raising investors' hopes:

Pakistan’s stocks climbed the most in two months to a record as unofficial election results showed a party led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif winning the most seats in parliament.
The benchmark KSE 100 Index gained 1.8 percent, the most since March 12, to 20,272.28 as of 2:10 p.m. Karachi time, taking its rally this year to 20 percent. Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League will probably lead a government that will support the nation’s business community, said Farrukh Hussain, who oversees about $110 million as chief investment officer at BMA Asset Management Co.
Sharif, who served two terms as Pakistan’s prime minister in the 1990s, will face the challenge of bolstering an economy hampered by a power crisis and quelling a Taliban-led insurgency that has killed 151 people leading up to the elections. The KSE 100 rallied 8.5 percent in February 1997 when Sharif won his second term. The gauge could rise between 3 percent and 5 percent this week, and 15 percent by the end of the year, BMA Asset’s Hussain said.
“With a Nawaz Sharif-led government, we can see a lot of support for the economy,” Hussain said by phone from Karachi yesterday. “Investors would feel much more comfortable with the incoming government.” BMA Asset’s Pakistan Opportunities Fund has beaten 98 percent of its peers this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Sharif’s party had won 127 seats in the lower house of parliament, according to a tally by state-run Pakistan Television. President Asif Ali Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party, which headed the previous administration, took 31 seats, a third of its previous total.
Slowing Growth
The results set the stage for the longer-term stability of the country’s sovereign rating of B minus, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said in a statement from Singapore today. That’s six levels below investment grade.
Sharif, whose family owns steel and sugar mills, ended state monopolies in shipping, airlines and telecommunications when in office. Pakistan’s $210 billion economy grew an average 3.8 percent each year during Sharif’s terms as prime minister, according to data on the World Bank’s website. Under Zardari’s five-year administration, growth slowed to an average 3 percent, less than half the annual pace of the previous five years.
The KSE 100 Index (KSE100) surged this year as higher commodity prices and consumer spending boosted earnings of the gauge’s companies by 43 percent in the past 12 months, the most among 17 Asian equity indexes, data compiled by Bloomberg showed as of May 9. That profit growth lured $202 million of stock purchases from overseas investors this year, the most since the same period in 2010, the data show.
Attractive Valuations
The stock rally has driven the gauge to trade at 8 times estimated earnings, the most expensive level in almost two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The last time the gauge traded at this level -- in June 2011 -- the measure slumped more than 10 percent in two months. The current valuation is still 44 percent below the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index’s 14.2 multiple.
“Valuations are still attractive,” Muhammad Imran, who oversees about $203 million as chief investment officer at ABL Asset Management Co. in Karachi. “People will take this election positively. Foreign inflows have been driving the market and this will continue.”
Seven stocks advanced in the KSE 100 today for each one that declines. MCB Bank Ltd., the country’s largest by market value, gained 4.9 percent to 261.60 rupees, poised for the highest close since May 2008. Pakistan State Oil Co. jumped 5 percent to 221.86 rupees....

Pakistan Stocks Rise to Record as Sharif Approaches Win - Bloomberg
 
Here's a Bloomberg story on Sharif victory raising investors' hopes:

Pakistan’s stocks climbed the most in two months to a record as unofficial election results showed a party led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif winning the most seats in parliament.
The benchmark KSE 100 Index gained 1.8 percent, the most since March 12, to 20,272.28 as of 2:10 p.m. Karachi time, taking its rally this year to 20 percent. Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League will probably lead a government that will support the nation’s business community, said Farrukh Hussain, who oversees about $110 million as chief investment officer at BMA Asset Management Co.
Sharif, who served two terms as Pakistan’s prime minister in the 1990s, will face the challenge of bolstering an economy hampered by a power crisis and quelling a Taliban-led insurgency that has killed 151 people leading up to the elections. The KSE 100 rallied 8.5 percent in February 1997 when Sharif won his second term. The gauge could rise between 3 percent and 5 percent this week, and 15 percent by the end of the year, BMA Asset’s Hussain said.
“With a Nawaz Sharif-led government, we can see a lot of support for the economy,” Hussain said by phone from Karachi yesterday. “Investors would feel much more comfortable with the incoming government.” BMA Asset’s Pakistan Opportunities Fund has beaten 98 percent of its peers this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Sharif’s party had won 127 seats in the lower house of parliament, according to a tally by state-run Pakistan Television. President Asif Ali Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party, which headed the previous administration, took 31 seats, a third of its previous total.
Slowing Growth
The results set the stage for the longer-term stability of the country’s sovereign rating of B minus, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said in a statement from Singapore today. That’s six levels below investment grade.
Sharif, whose family owns steel and sugar mills, ended state monopolies in shipping, airlines and telecommunications when in office. Pakistan’s $210 billion economy grew an average 3.8 percent each year during Sharif’s terms as prime minister, according to data on the World Bank’s website. Under Zardari’s five-year administration, growth slowed to an average 3 percent, less than half the annual pace of the previous five years.
The KSE 100 Index (KSE100) surged this year as higher commodity prices and consumer spending boosted earnings of the gauge’s companies by 43 percent in the past 12 months, the most among 17 Asian equity indexes, data compiled by Bloomberg showed as of May 9. That profit growth lured $202 million of stock purchases from overseas investors this year, the most since the same period in 2010, the data show.
Attractive Valuations
The stock rally has driven the gauge to trade at 8 times estimated earnings, the most expensive level in almost two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The last time the gauge traded at this level -- in June 2011 -- the measure slumped more than 10 percent in two months. The current valuation is still 44 percent below the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index’s 14.2 multiple.
“Valuations are still attractive,” Muhammad Imran, who oversees about $203 million as chief investment officer at ABL Asset Management Co. in Karachi. “People will take this election positively. Foreign inflows have been driving the market and this will continue.”
Seven stocks advanced in the KSE 100 today for each one that declines. MCB Bank Ltd., the country’s largest by market value, gained 4.9 percent to 261.60 rupees, poised for the highest close since May 2008. Pakistan State Oil Co. jumped 5 percent to 221.86 rupees....

Pakistan Stocks Rise to Record as Sharif Approaches Win - Bloomberg

See the powers of Nawaz Sharif. Even he can bring such great buoyancy to Pakistan's Capital Market!!
Nawaz Sharif must be an "Economic WunderMann"........ time that the Pakistani "Awaam" recognises that! :D
Thank god for the Capital Markets that Kommandu Mushy could'nt stand for elections. ;)
 
Here's a Reuters' report on Templeton and Goldman Sachs bullishness on Pakistan:

After 18 years as a banker at firms such as Citigroup and Nomura, Shaheryar Chishty took a different direction in late 2011, starting an investment firm that, among other things, helped guide Chinese and South Korean money into Pakistan.

While Pakistan is probably not the first place the average investor would choose to park cash, Chishty's timing was spot on. The country's stock market surged 49 percent last year to become one of the five best performing markets in the world.

The victory by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan's general election lifted the stock market to an all-time high on Monday, in a sign that investors, which include Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Mark Mobius of Templeton, are betting on the prospect of further market gains through a stable government.

"I'm not under-estimating the challenges, but we have one party with a simple majority," Chishty, the Pakistan-origin chief executive of Asiapak Investments Ltd, told Reuters in an interview in Hong Kong on Monday. "A lot of the market's rise happened despite the previous government."

Risks, especially violence by Islamic militant groups, remain constant, yet Pakistan's market is up another 21 percent this year, behind only Japan and the Philippines as Asia's top gainers, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Pakistan's uncertain security environment and a deteriorating economy have failed to keep emerging market fund guru Mobius and Goldman Sachs Asset Management out of the country.

Mobius invested 4.6 percent of his $18.5 billion Templeton Asian Growth Fund's assets in Pakistani shares as of the end of March, more than his exposure to shares in Hong Kong, Singapore or Taiwan, according to data from Thomson Reuters Lipper.

"Pakistan is not a small country and it is strategically significant. However, with the negative press surrounding the country, it has tended to be ignored by investors," said Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group.

Last year, 15 equity funds from Pakistan were among the world's top 100 performers, the Thomson Reuters Lipper data show....

Pakistan election bolsters bull market case for Mobius, Goldman | Reuters
 
....... In addition to housing, the plans also include world’s tallest building, world’s largest shopping mall, mosques, cinemas, spas, golf courses, schools and hospitals, all with modern amenities and associated infrastructure. The two islands will be connected with each other and the mainland by a six-lane bridge. The entire city will be a “high security zone”, with its own desalination and power generation plants to enable it to be self sufficient for water and power. ....l]


Dudes!

Where is the casino in this project?

A good casino can bring millions of rich chinese in to invest and live and work here.


But I don't see that as a "main attraction".

These islands are off the coast, so no Mullah bazi there.

Make this an international destination please.

Thank you
 
Here's a Businessweek story on Nawaz Sharif's win:

Sharif’s election is the first of an expected wave of changes in Pakistan and in the region. The Pakistan Army chief with whom the Americans have been dealing for more than five years is scheduled to retire later this year and Sharif will be responsible, in part, for naming a successor. There are elections on the way in Afghanistan, India, and Iran. As the U.S. looks to withdraw its forces and a decade worth of equipment from Afghanistan next year, Pakistan’s roads and infrastructure are going to be vital. And with Sharif, says Ayaz Amir, a former Noon League parliamentarian, “that stuff”—building, cutting deals—”runs through his blood.”

He is, after all, the scion of a powerful Punjabi family, owners of the Ittefaq steel mills. Several members of the Sharif family have served as elected officials at different levels of government. During two terms as prime minister in the 90s, he oversaw the construction of hundreds of miles of eight-lane highways, initiated a new deep sea port on the Arabian sea and a dam on the Indus river, tested nuclear weapons, built airports, and flooded the streets of Pakistan with yellow taxis. He has also been accused of using these mega-projects to pad his family’s fortunes. But in a country that struggles to get enough electricity, the promise of a candidate who can build is no small thing.

The headquarters of the Pakistan Muslim League (also called just Nawaz, or the Noon League) is in a well-guarded mansion, which takes architectural cues from palaces and monuments of the ancient central and South Asian kings, a cocoon of fine leather and polished wood. Despite the setting, the election didn’t feet like an inheritance. Only days before, Sharif and his family were warding off allegations of corruption again. The most talked about political ad on TV, paid for by a rival party, was a captioned audio clip from what appeared to be a secretly recorded conversation between Mian Shahbaz Sharif—Nawaz’s younger brother—and a high court judge. The two men spoke in clipped sentences about fixing a court judgment in favor of a Noon League loyalist. Around the same time, the interior minister from the previous government called a press conference to present what he said was evidence of money laundering by Nawaz Sharif. The former minister had let a fat stack of evidence land with a heavy thud, claiming that he would quit politics if any of his accusations turned out to be false.
----------
People, it turns out, are ready for an economic explosion, especially if it includes things like decent public transportation. Sharif’s younger brother, Shahbaz, who was the chief minister of the Punjab province for the past five years, inaugurated the Lahore Metro Bus service just in time for the election. It is an elevated bus network that runs some 20 miles along one of the city’s main arteries, connecting Lahore’s Old City to modern residential neighborhoods such as Model Town. Like many of their mega projects, it happens to use a phenomenal amount of steel, the Sharif family specialty: the footbridges are all metal; the twenty mile length of the bus lane is guarded on each side by a six foot high iron grill, encased for good measure by another, taller metal frame. The floor is made of steel.

A few days before the election, a man who works as a clerk at a government office rode the air-conditioned bus. He said that while he felt seduced by promises for sweeping change and a more “just” political system that was being promised by the Movement for Justice, he loved the fact that his commute had been shrunk from multiple hours to less than half an hour. That was reason enough to vote for Sharif. Millions of votes like his, along with millions of other votes cast along patronage lines ....

With Steel Magnate Sharif Back in Power, Pakistan Looks to Build - Businessweek
 
@RiazHaq

Any idea why this chap, Sakib Sherani, someone who has worked in all this ,Ministry of Finance,Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (EAC), ABN AMRO Bank N.V. is saying this?

After a landmark election, and a comprehensive win for PML-N, there is yet another opportunity to ‘fix’ Pakistan’s economy. How the challenges are perceived by the leadership of the PML-N and its advisors will determine, of course, the new government’s policy response to the serious issues at hand.

This article is an ‘open letter’ of sorts to this group of senior leaders and advisors, urging them to view Pakistan’s economic problems from a perspective that is perhaps different and perhaps more longer term (beyond the election-cycle) than the plans they have made so far for running the economy between now and 2018.

The condition of Pakistan’s economy, as opposed to that of many Pakistanis we interact with, is far worse than what even many economists realise. The comforting narrative of ‘resilience’ and ‘a hardy country’ is meeting up with the ugly reality of unchecked population growth, fraying institutions, capital flight, brain drain and declining water tables.

Fixing the economy | Opinion | DAWN.COM
 
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Here's an excerpt of Express Tribune report on LG Electronics investment in Pakistan:

“We have decided to expand our operations by enhancing production capacities to capture growing consumer demand in Pakistan,” said DY Kim, President of LG Electronics Gulf, while talking to The Express Tribune on Thursday.
“Currently, our production in Pakistan is only limited to televisions and LCDs, but in a couple of months we will start producing other household items like microwaves and washing machines,” he added.
LG Electronics is a global leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics, mobile communications and home appliances with 117 operations around the world.
LG achieved global sales of $49 billion in 2011. It is offering products in four segments – home entertainment, mobile communications, home appliances and air conditioning & energy solutions.
In Pakistan, LG is increasing investment to enhance production capacity, but Kim did not divulge exact figure and only said it would be in billions of rupees.
The company is looking to compete with Samsung, which has increased its market share in recent years.
“We want to give consumers with some other option and we are hopeful this will not take much time,” Kim said.

LG to invest billions to capture Pakistan market – The Express Tribune
 
Dudes!

Where is the casino in this project?

A good casino can bring millions of rich chinese in to invest and live and work here.


But I don't see that as a "main attraction".

These islands are off the coast, so no Mullah bazi there.

Make this an international destination please.

Thank you

I do not want to see Casinos in Pakistan.
 
I respect your right to "not be forced to casino" 5 times a day.

You gotta respect others rights to "go to casino" however many times they want.

--- It is just important to know the difference between your rights and others'


peace
 
I respect your right to "not be forced to casino" 5 times a day.

You gotta respect others rights to "go to casino" however many times they want.

--- It is just important to know the difference between your rights and others'


peace

There shouldn't be any Casinos in Pakistan. Period.
 
There shouldn't be any Casinos in Pakistan. Period.

That's very strong statement about a business.

Such statements about stuff that we do not know,

have already wrecked havoc on our economy,

So please try to avoid it as much as you can.


you can say "no casino" within 1 mile from my home. I can understand that.


But saying "There shouldn't be any Casinos in Pakistan. Period" is reflecting a primitive thought process.


peace
 
That's very strong statement about a business.

Such statements about stuff that we do not know,

have already wrecked havoc on our economy,

So please try to avoid it as much as you can.


you can say "no casino" within 1 mile from my home. I can understand that.


But saying "There shouldn't be any Casinos in Pakistan. Period" is reflecting a primitive thought process.


peace

Yes there should not be any casinos in Pakistan at all. Any casino built needs to be destroyed by the State. I hope we pass a Bill for it.

InshAllah
 
Yes there should not be any casinos in Pakistan at all. Any casino built needs to be destroyed by the State. I hope we pass a Bill for it.

InshAllah


warning warning.

Fundamentalist alert.

Fundamentalist alert
 

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