Pakistan Economy - News & Updates - Archive

[Neo]

MoU for exploration of mineral deposits signed ​

KARACHI (October 30 2007): A private company named Zaver Mining Company (Private) Ltd would explore'Metallic Mineral' deposits in Nagarparkar district of Sindh with an initial investment of around 200 million dollars.

For the purpose, Directorate General of Mineral Development, Sindh Mines and Mineral Development department signed Monday Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Zaver Mining Company (ZAVER) to develop the deposits and produce gold and other minerals. The MoU was signed by Muhammad Khalid Mirza, Director General, Mineral Development Sindh on behalf of government and Naseer Khan, Vice President from ZAVER.

Initially, Mines and Mineral Development department will allocate an area of 1000 square kilometer to ZAVER to carry out reconnaissance operations for one year. ZAVER Mineral plans to start with satellite images and using the latest geological, geophysics and geochemical technology. The reconnaissance operations will lead to exploration and development of metallic minerals.

It may be noted that the Geological Map of Sindh reveals that east of Thar Desert has exposures of Geologically very old rocks, which have been found containing very large deposits of metallic minerals.

The minerals include iron, gold, silver and base metals, ie, copper, tin and zinc. Rajasthan district of India is already producing gold and base metals from the rocks, which extend upto Nagarparkar district.

Since in Nagarparkar district the infrastructure facility was not available, therefore, no serious attempts could be made to explore the metallic potential of the area some time back, said Irfanullah Khan Marwat while presiding over MoU signing ceremony.

"Present government has improved such infrastructure in Thar areas where exploration of minerals of any magnitude can be launched." Considering these facts and ideal law and order situation in the said areas ZAVER minerals which is part of renowned and financially sound Hashwani Group has come forward to explore the metallic minerals potential of Nagarparkar district The minister hoped that this bold step of the firm to explore this area of Sindh would be successful and open a new chapter in the history of minerals development in the province.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

Textile exports growth shrink to 4.9 percent ​

KARACHI (October 30 2007): The slowdown in the overall export growth was attributed mainly to textile exports growth, which declined from 14.4 percent to only 4.9 percent during last four years from 2004-2007 during last four years The State Bank of Pakistan, in its annual report, said that the country had missed export target, and pointed out just 3.4 percent growth witnessed in the exports as against the target of 13.1 percent and overall exports stood at 17.1 billion dollars during 2007 financial year.

The SBP report said that poor rice, fruit and cotton crops together with European Union (EU) ban on fish and fish preparation imports from Pakistan and industry's specific issues were considered as the main contributory factors behind the sluggish growth in non-textile exports during 2007 financial year.

On the other hand, slowdown in the textiles exports can be attributed to low quality of the textile products on account of contaminated cotton and unskilled labour, besides concentration of exports in the low and middle value-added textile items, report said.

In addition, frequent power failures in the country, and EU market specific issues such as the anti-dumping duty on the bedwear exports and only partial restoration of GSP facility were the other factor responsible for decline in exports, report said.

The rising cotton price, which was main input for textile industry, coupled with abolition of China's specific textile and clothing safeguards in 2008 by the EU and the US, along with accession of Vietnam to World Trade Organisation (WTO), were some factors that were likely to give tough time to Pakistan's textile industry.

While the rising cotton prices might not increase Pakistan's relative cost of production against its competitors as global cotton prices were also anticipated to rise, Pakistan's apparel exports to the US and EU markets might weaken following the end of the US and EU safeguard measures imposed on China, report added.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

Pakistan has 200bn tonnes of coal reserves: Marwat ​

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Mines and Minerals, Irfanullah Marwat has said that Pakistan retains over 200 billion tonnes of coal reserves and if every house in Pakistan utilises electricity even then the coal reserves won’t end for the next 300 years.

He put the blame on Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) for the industries’ poor performance. Addressing a press conference at the FPCCI, he said that Pakistan has coal companies which have capacity of 150MW but are using only 40MW because it is the responsibility of WAPDA to check on them which it is failing to do.

He added that the promised power plants have also not been set up due to WAPDA’s inconsistency which made the mining sector suffer. The minister accused WAPDA for making them lose a deal that was about to be with China. He said that foreign countries have an image that Pakistan is not serious in its dealings and therefore, they hesitate to invest.

He also complained that the coal mining sector is unaware of the tariffs that would be charged and they would also discourage investments as no one would like to make ‘blind deals.’ To a question he said that it was the task of the federal government to announce tariff charges and not of the Sindh government which limits powers.

Marwat also said that an international symposium was being held on October 30 and October 31 “Sindh Coal (Lignite) Mining-Challenges and Success” it would help to lessen Pakistan’s non-serious image and was going to be attended by several countries including Germany, Poland and Australia.

Irfanullah Marwat said that though his tenure was ending in a short while, the symposium was a part of his efforts to attract foreigners to pour investments into the country as he admitted that the problem with Pakistan was that though one governing body started with a project it would never completed it and it was either left pending or was accomplished by the next government.

He also said that a two-member committee had been made at the end of July to co ordinate with other bodies such as WAPDA and NEPRA to set up power plants of which he is a member as well.

Pakistan has 200bn tonnes of coal reserves: Marwat

 

[Spring Onion]

10-year PIB cut-off yield at 10.2195pc

KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan set a cut-off yield of 10.2195 percent on the benchmark 10-year investment bond on Tuesday, up from 10.1897 percent previously.
The State Bank of Pakistan also set a cut-off yield of 11.1597 percent on the 15-year Pakistan Investment Bond (PIB), up from 11.1494 percent in the last auction on October. 9.
For the five and three-year bonds, the cut-off yield was set at 9.8221 and 9.6495pc, respectively. In the last auction, the cut-off yields on the five- and three- year PIBs were set at 9.8024 and 9.6211pc respectively.
The central bank also set cut-off yields of 11.4132 and 11.6151 percent for the 20- and 30- year PIBs, compared with 11.4103 and 11.6142 set in the last auction.
The central bank said it sold a total of 14.66 billion rupees ($241.59 million) worth of PIBs, after receiving bids worth about 21.757b rupees.
It had set a combined pre-auction target 15 billion rupees. Dealers said the auction was in line with the market expectations.
"The result is according to market expectations and the slight increase in cut-off yields does not come as a surprise," said Naeem-ul-Hasan, chief dealer at brokers Invest Capital and Securities.
The three-, five-, 10-, 15-, and 20-year PIBs carry annual coupons of 9.1, 9.3, 9.6, 10 and 10.5 percent respectively, while the 30-year paper carries a coupon of 11 percent.
It was the third PIB auction to be conducted in the 2007/08 fiscal year, which began on July 1.
Pakistan launched its first long-term Pakistan Investment Bonds in December 2000 to tap institutional investment and set a benchmark for corporate bond yields. It issued a 30-year bond for the first time in December last year. - Reuters
---------

 

[Neo]

The long wait for market access​

Pakistan, it seems, will have to patiently wait for another six months before its economic diplomacy bears fruits and a breakthrough in terms of greater market access for its exportable merchandise in the western markets is achieved.

This was the subtle message that our able trade managers got when they put up the case of Pakistan, the umpteenth time, in Brussels to be treated at par, if not preferentially, with its competitors in the region. Of the seven South Asian nations four (Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan) have a freer access in the huge European market for being categorised as LDCs (least developed nations) that the union wants to support as its responsibility towards poor of the world.

Sri Lanka for reasons not very clear enjoys GSP+ (general system of preference plus) status. Nations covered under the scheme enjoy 15 per cent subsidy in tariffs on their exports. With India that like Pakistan does not get covered by these schemes, the European Union has initiated negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA). That leaves Pakistan high and dry, all by itself in the sub-continent.

Trade experts consider the trade discrimination by the West against Pakistan a policy gesture of western governments to express their displeasure over the country’s political system. “It will require more than skills of persuasion and marketing to get increased market access in US and Europe. They want to have closer trade relations with stable democracies. Our brand of democracy with a military general at helm affairs does not sell there. We will have to learn to behave like a civilised nation to be able to develop closer, cordial commercial relations with the advanced nations of the world”, an old time trade negotiator told Dawn.

“This has nothing to do with politics”, Humayun Akhtar Federal Commerce Minister told Dawn over telephone from Islamabad. “Yes, we have not been given any commitment so far that the European Union will initiate negotiations for a free trade agreement with Pakistan as a result of the study that has been initiated by the most powerful regional grouping to analyse the discriminatory impact of its trade policy in South Asia on Pakistan’s economy”, the minister accepted.

“Over the years, we lobbied hard to qualify for GSP+ status to secure better terms of trade for Pakistan in EU but did not succeed. We, however, cannot afford to give up. Now we are engaged in bilateral trade talks with EU and succeeded in persuading them to form a sub- group to look into Pakistan’s trade related demands. In May this year the sub-group met in Islamabad and on October 16 the second round was held in Brussels. We try to sell Pakistan as a high growth country with a promising economic future”, the minister worried for dwindling textile export growth disclosed.

He was sounding disappointed with the stubbornness of the West that refused to oblige to, what he calls, “just and logical demands of Pakistan”, despite its role in West sponsored ‘war on terror’.

“Pakistan’s tariff regime is liberal. Those are actually non-tariff barriers that are coming in way of achieving better terms of trade for Pakistan”, Tanvir Ahmed Sheikh, President Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry said responding from abroad to a call by this scribe.

He viewed the political system in place in the country to be the cause that earned Pakistan ire of leaders of powerful western countries with attractive markets. “The private sector is suffering from the discrimination meted out to them in developed markets. The government should do all it takes to get us terms that offer the manufacturers even playing field in the preferred markets with our competitors”, he said articulating his concern for the difficulties that the textile exporters are facing in Europe.

The trading partners are demanding restoration of democracy that local business class and other privileged segments did not find so comfortable to work with in the past. “It is their dilemma, they are not enthusiastic about democracy but need markets abroad to sustain their business that is denied to them because of the lack of democracy”, an expert said.

How the private sector reconciles its two positions is hard to understand? It is, for the time being, leaving no stone unturned and is reaching out to all relevant quarters to get assurance that rules of the game that are tilted to suit its interests, will not be changed with possible political changes in Islamabad.

The economic diplomacy has become a key element of a country’s foreign policy targeting to protect and promote her commercial interests in an era of globalisation and to face the challenges and exploit opportunities thrown up by a fast integrating world. The question is how far is it succeeding?

The long wait for market access -DAWN - Business; October 29, 2007

 

[Spring Onion]

SBP prepares guidelines for Internal Credit Risk Rating Systems

KARACHI: Keeping in viewimportance of internal riskrating systems in credit risk management and to further strengthen risk management functions in banks, DFIs, State Bank of Pakistan has prepared guidelines on Internal Risk Rating Systems. These guidelines will supplement Guidelines on Risk Management already issued vide BSD Circular No. 07 dated August 15, 2003.
Banks, DFIs are free to adopt any of rating systems, methodologies, techniques keeping in view their size, complexity of operations, clientele base and may have as many credit grades as they wish, a SBP circular said Tuesday.
However, for reporting purpose to SBP, banks are required to map their ratings to SBP grades defined in Annexure A of guidelines.
The mapping should be based on given definitions and bank's internal definitions of credit ratings.
All banks and DFIs are required to develop their internal credit risk rating policy duly approved by their Board of Directors and formulate a robust risk rating framework. Such developed policy may be made part of their credit risk or risk management policy.
The policy covering Obligor Ratings, as mentioned in Section 3.2(2) of attached guidelines, must be developed and all exposures must be rated in light of such developed policy latest by June 30, 2008.
A copy of policy should be sent to Banking Surveillance Department, SBP latest by 30th June 2008. Banks, DFIs are further advised to map their internal risk ratings grades to grades provided by SBP and report these mapped ratings in their regular eCIB reporting in the field IBRATING from July 2008.
All Banks, DFIs are encouraged to establish their systems for carrying out Facility Ratings as mentioned in Section 3.2 (2) as soon as possible. They are further advised to submit a plan, latest by 31st March 2008, mentioning therein detail of identified activities with timelines for establishing system for Facility Ratings.
Eventually all banks will be required to further strengthen their internal risk rating systems as per detailed requirements issued for Internal Rating Based (IRB) approaches of Basel II. - PPI
-------

 

[Neo]

Foreign investment seen as major tool of growth​

KARACHI, Oct 29: “Foreign investment has been a major growth driver of the Pakistani capital markets during FY07,” states the annual report of the State Bank of Pakistan for FY07.

On the one hand, equity markets in Pakistan offered an attractive price-to-earnings (p/e) value of 12.8 times and on the other hand, the market traded at a discount in comparison with regional markets, where the average p/e stood at 15.1 times.

As a result foreign investment flows (in SCRA account) saw a sharp rise from $354 million in FY06 to $980m in FY07. “However, the KSE-100 index still lags behind all major stock exchanges in Asia”, the report noted.

In overall terms, the benchmark KSE-100 index grew by 37.9 per cent in FY07, in spite of facing two “severe market corrections” in the first half of financial year: The first one in August and the next in November-December. The report traces factors that led to those set backs.

The Central Bank mentions: “One of the reasons for the robust growth in the KSE-100 index in H2-FY07 has been the increase in CFS limit”. With rising CFS investment, CFS volumes also rose sharply, “indicating investors’ interest in CFS”, the report stated and observed that besides the increase in CFS cap, the exemption from capital gains tax until June 2008 also augmented the market momentum in January 2007.

The SBP indicated that profit after tax (PAT) of companies listed on KSE had increased by 17.5 per cent in calendar year 2006 as compared to 2005.

Dilating on sector-wise performance at the KSE, the bank stated that the KSE was once dominated by oil marketing and exploration companies on account of the number of shares traded and market capitalisation. But owing to rising profitability, the commercial banking sector had managed to take the lead in the market in calendar year 2007. Technology and communications were other sectors which saw increased turnover.

Foreign investment seen as major tool of growth -DAWN - Business; October 30, 2007

 

[Neo]

ADB lists lacunas in success of projects​

ISLAMABAD, Oct 29: Pakistan increased its debt through foreign-funded development programmes in the last two decades in exchange for economic and social benefits that were less than expected — in some cases much less, according to the Asian Development Bank.

In five, out of eight ADB-funded sector loans, the outcome performance over the last 22 years has been either ‘unsuccessful’ or ‘partly successful’.

Delayed implementation, change in objectives and direction during the course of implementation due to inabilities, both of the bank and the government, also resulted in cost overruns and non-achievement of designed objectives for which loans with heavy repayment costs were obtained from lenders.

In areas that have a direct impact on social standards of the people, like health, nutrition, social protection, water supply, sanitation and waste management, the outcome has been described as ‘unsuccessful’.

Likewise, the outcomes in agriculture and natural resources, education and finance have been rated as ‘partly successful’.

In three major sectors relating to the country’s macro-economy, the performance has been rated as ‘successful’, says Operations Evaluation Department of the ADB in its first ever evaluation in Pakistan of its entire operation during 1985-2006.

“Delayed project implementation and extensions to loan closing dates are a perennial problem in Pakistan operations,” it said.

During this period, “85 per cent of closed loans required an extension, although this improved to 67 per cent for 2001-2006,” it added.

The report “Country Assistance Programme Evaluation for Pakistan” shows that Pakistan projects have a similar level of success as those in Bangladesh and Nepal but lower than those of Bhutan, India and Maldives.

By decade, the success rate of projects in Pakistan has been remarkably static, with no evidence of improving performance. “This should be cause of concern,” said the bank.

The performance of projects in Bangladesh, by contrast, has improved markedly. India is little changed, Sri Lanka is improving and Nepal has deteriorated.

ADB-wide success ratings have trended up from below 60 per cent for the approvals in the mid-1980s to above 80 per cent for those approved in 1999.

“The difficult development context in Pakistan probably contributed to the static performance of its projects over this period.”

The analysis of project success by sector shows major differences in performance for Pakistan projects.

Projects in the water supply, sanitation and waste management sector performed the worst, with only 20 per cent success rate overall, albeit on small numbers, and a 50 per cent success rate for projects approved in 1990s.

The next worst performing sectors were education with a 29 per cent success rate and 50 per cent success rate for projects approved in the 1990s.

Finance sector projects with a 30 per cent success rate overall, influenced poorly performing projects with development finance institutions in the 1970s and 1980s and a 50 per cent success rate for later projects.

Health, nutrition and social protection projects had a 40 per cent success rate, improving to 50 per cent for 1990s.

Although many of the balance projects not rated successful were assessed as partly successful (i.e. desired results were not fully or efficiently achieved, or not sustained), this performance is dismal, it said.

Agriculture sector, the largest group with 33 projects had an overall success rate of 55 per cent with no trend to improvement by decade.

Multi-sector projects had a 56 per cent success rate overall. However, the multi-sector success rate dived from 75 per cent for projects approved in 1980s to only 25 per cent for those approved in the 1990s, influenced by the poor performance of projects supporting the Social Action Programme (of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party).

The ADB’s most successful projects have been in the traditional infrastructure areas, with energy sector achieving 81 per cent success rate overall but with a falloff for 1990s approvals to only 50 per cent.

Transport projects had an 89 per cent success rate and consistently good performance for projects approved in 1980s and 1990s.

For the evaluation, the major sectors of ADB operations were defined as those with more than $1 billion of approved loans over 1985-2006.

During this period, ADB approved 171 loans for 127 projects for a total of $14.2 billion. The Asian Development Fund (ADF) accounted for 89 per cent of the loans but only 44 per cent of the amount.

The balance of 11 per cent of the loans and 56 per cent of the amount came from ordinary capital resources (OCRs).

The average level of lending has approximately doubled since 2001 compared with the previous five years.

ADB lists lacunas in success of projects -DAWN - Business; October 30, 2007

 

[Neo]

SBP’s Annual Report: Industrial sector stages modest recovery in 2006-07​

* Large Scale Manufacturing grows by 8 percent, Small Scale Manufacturing registers deceleration
* Construction, cement remain bright spots

KARACHI: The industrial sector witnessed a moderate recovery during fiscal year 2006-07, largely due to strong growth in the construction sub-sector and lower negative contribution from the electricity and gas distribution sub-sectors, the State Bank of Pakistan said on Monday.

In its review of the economy contained in its annual report, the central bank said large-scale manufacturing (LSM) sector witnessed a weaker performance in FY07 relative to the preceding year. The LSM sector grew by a little over 8 percent in FY07. The slower growth appears to reflect a broad moderation in external and domestic aggregate demand, as well as capacity and input constraints in some industries. Small-scale manufacturing (SSM) sector also registered deceleration in growth rates during the year.

Construction: Within the industrial sector, the highest growth was observed in the construction sub-sector during FY07, with value-addition rising by 17.2 percent. This was not only higher than the 7 percent target, but was also the second highest growth recorded by this sub-sector since FY76. The resurgence is mainly attributed to higher development expenditures by the government, increased foreign direct investment (FDI) in the construction sector and record workers’ remittances.

Although the construction sector has only a 2.3 percent share in GDP, its share of the employed labor force was disproportionately large at 6.1 percent in FY07. The higher demand for construction workers is also reflected in a continued double-digit rise in their wages since FY05. Their wages increased by 11.1 percent in FY07.

Mining and quarrying: Provisional data suggests acceleration in mining and quarrying sector with 5.6 percent year-on-year growth during FY07. The above target growth by the sector is impressive given a poor law and order situation in Balochistan and Northern Areas. This sector has tremendous potential to grow, and there is a need to improve infrastructure in mineral rich areas with security arrangements that would help attract foreign investment particularly in copper mining as well as in oil and gas exploration.

Electricity and gas distribution: This sub-sector continued to record losses in FY07, probably reflecting the increased cost of electricity generation as well as on-going distribution and transmission losses of the country’s two electricity utilities.

Textiles: The sector staged a strong recovery shrugging off the impact of a relatively disappointing domestic cotton harvest. The FY07 growth in textiles was the second highest since FY01 when the sector had benefited from the removal of export quotas and a substantial increase in investments.

The central bank says the textile industry needs to focus on technological up-gradation at all production levels; product diversification as well as exploration of new markets; improvement in the quality of products through better material, and design inputs and establishment of large garment industries with modern facilities and management styles.

Food, beverages and tobacco: Production in this sector also accelerated in fiscal year 2006-07. It grew by about eight percent. Growth in the sector received a significant impetus from the robust sugarcane and wheat harvests (that underpinned the remarkable recovery in sugar industry and acceleration in wheat and grain milling), satisfactory performance of beverages industry and significant FDI inflows.

Cement: The cement industry was amongst the few bright spots in LSM sector during fiscal year 2006-07. Production growth accelerated during the year, helped by the substantial capacity additions in recent years, a booming domestic construction industry and strong export demand.

It may be noted that the capacity additions in the cement industry during FY07 meant that at end-June 2007 the industry had excess capacity of about seven million tonnes. However, the industry’s prospects remain strong due to (1) the strong potential for exports to India, which faces an acute shortage for at least next two years; and (2) domestic demand is expected to increase in the backdrop of increase in public sector development expenditure, as well as (3) continued strength in the housing construction industry.

Automobiles: In contrast to a significant contribution from automobile sector in LSM growth in earlier years, the FY07 growth in this sector was a moderate 3.8 percent down from a healthy 25.8 percent growth in the preceding year.

Factors contributing to the softening demand for domestically produced vehicles include rising interest rates on consumer financing along with efforts of commercial banks to reduce credit risk and availability of various imported vehicles in market at relatively lower prices.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Neo]

SBP earns record profit of Rs 108bn in 2006-07​

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan earned a record profit of Rs 108.733 billion for the financial year ended June 30, 2007, posting a significant increase of 59 percent as against Rs 68.184 billion in the previous year.

Out of the net profit, Rs 78.301 billion was transferred to federal government. The central bank transferred Rs 30.422 billion to bank’s general reserve fund.

The elements contributing to the increase in profit included the income on foreign currency assets, discount on market treasury bills, mark-up income on loans and advances, and gain on sale of shares of United Bank Limited.

The total expenditure (excluding net provisions against impaired assets) for FY07 accumulated to Rs 15.677 billion as against the expenditure of Rs 12.041 billion in the previous year.

The major components of bank’s total income were represented by discount, interest/mark up and/or return earned on domestic assets and foreign assets held by the bank. The total earnings under the head increased by 32.3 percent to Rs 92.513 billion from Rs 69.94 billion in the last year. The interest income on foreign assets increased by 44.8 percent and on domestic assets increased by 25.7 percent.

The interest rate in the international markets also showed higher levels during current financial year as against previous year evidenced by increase in the discount rate of Federal Reserve Bank of New York which remained at 5.25 percent in current year as compared to the band of 3.25 percent to 5.25 percent in financial year 2005-06.

The factors contributing towards the increase in interest income on domestic assets included the increase in average holdings of market treasury bills and increase in discount rates.

The exchange income declined from Rs 4.376 billion n 2005-06 to Rs 1.958 billion in 2006-07. The decline is attributable to lower depreciation of Pak Rupee against the US dollar leading to lower exchange gain on US dollar denominated foreign currency assets.

The bank’s dividend income for 2006-07 stood at Rs 4.286 billion as compared to Rs 1.975 under the head last year.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Neo]

‘USAID to invest $750m in health, education in FATA’​

* Ward says US wants to ensure education, health facilities in backward areas
* US journalist gives lecture on reporting

PESHAWAR: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will invest $750 million in the health and education sectors of tribal areas, stated the agency’s Asia and Near East Bureau Head Nike Mike S Ward on Monday.

Ward said this while talking to a radio station during his visit to the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Peshawar (UoP). Senior US journalist Arnold Skip Issac and two staffers of the US Consulate Peshawar accompanied him.

The USAID official said the United States wanted to get the FATA people educated by setting up schools and colleges for them and to provide basic health and education facilities to people in the backward areas of Pakistan.

Journalist Arnold Skip Issac delivered a lecture to the journalism department students on how to report news stories.

“Journalism is search for ‘the truth’ and a journalist must always speak and write truth,” he said, adding: “If one does not has the ability to speak truth, no matter what the situation is, he does not deserve to be a journalist.” He also taught the students about how to write a perfect news story. “If you want to make your story perfect, always quote sources from where you got the information,” he said. “Even if you are present on a crime or accident scene, you should quote police, hospital officials and eyewitnesses to file a perfect story.” He said good journalists always had ‘critical’ minds.

To a question he said the print media were more reliable than the electronic media. “When you report for electronic media you always run out of time while verifying the story from all aspects. Whereas, you do have time in print media,” he added.

He also informed the students about various media organisations working in the US. The journalist also recorded an interview for the Campus Radio, FM 107, a community radio cannel owned by the UoP.

Issac said a good journalist should always be free of political, religious, and communal biases, and ended his lecture on the quote of Confucius that knowledge is “to know the thing and know you know it, not know something and you know you do not know it.”

Journalism and Mass Communication Department Lecturer Gul Wahab briefed the delegation about the department and thanked the guests, especially Issac, for sharing his experiences with the faculty members.

Later, the delegation members held a meeting with the faculty members and visited various parts of the department.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Spring Onion]

Neo this above news is old as the funds and plan had been approved about two months back.

Work was to be started in Mid October right after Eidul Fitr but unfortunatly the project has been halted for sometimes to be stared.

Now Neo Pleaeeeeeeeeees pray that the project sould commence soon as it will bring much much development to FATA ( and my future is also linked with it to a large extent

 

[Neo]

‘Pakistan should exploit coal for power generation’ ​

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

KARACHI: Pakistan needs political consensus and political will, it should utilise its indigenous resources of coal for power generation and in other projects for longer run rather than rely on short-term projects. This was the consensus of speakers presenting their views on the first day of a two-day international symposium and open house discussion on ‘Sindh Coal (Lignite) Mining Challenges and Success’ on Tuesday at a local hotel.

Affordability and profitability are the two main areas which should be put forward in any project in which coal is used. Pakistan must curb its dependence at present and start thinking its own which could be a very tough test but this will give the country strong foundation to envisage its future.

Siddique Sheikh of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry said: “We have been very late in realizing our mistakes and while emphasizing on the importance of the symposium he said we did all these efforts 20 years back. These symposiums should have been organized in 1987 to avoid this current energy crisis.” More and more companies come to Pakistan with their plans to use the coal reserves of Sindh using their technologies and professional skills. He said “We go on to ruminate about their pattern which is not well in any case.”

However, the inability of the government agencies to come to consensus on the issue of determination of the upfront tariff for the power produced by utilization of vast coal reserves remains the biggest hurdle, experts opined.

Countries in the world that use coal to generate electricity exploit their own reserves of coal and this is one of the reasons of their success. The government of Sindh should provide proper water supply, roads and security to investors to increase investment.

APP adds: Sindh Chief Minister, Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim has said that for over 13 years the people of the country and Thar have waited for the Sindh coal reserves in general and the Thar coal reserves in particular to bring energy and prosperity to people of the country.

“From the time John T Boyd’s team reported one of the richest coal reserves in Sindh, people have been told that these reserves will change the economic conditions of Sindh, provide energy to Pakistan, reduce the burden of Pakistan’s foreign exchange spent on oil, which is now being sold at above $80 a barrel and completely industrialize Thar and Pakistan”. He was speaking as chief guest at the symposium.

‘Pakistan should exploit coal for power generation’

 

[Neo]

Pakistan, China take initiative to solve trade imbalance ​

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

KARACHI: Shakir Ali smiles slyly as his friends rave about the ‘cool’ scent of his perfume while he boasts to them that it’s the latest in the line of CK fragrances and it had cost him a mint of money. His thoughts are far away at a certain shop though, where he paid Rs250 for the CK labelled bottle with ‘Made in China’ stamped at the back!

Bazaars in Pakistan seem to be flooded with Chinese-made goods ranging from accessories to garments to electronics items. People prefer them to branded products, as they are a cheap alternative despite being of a poorer quality. Chinese-made goods have no guarantee to them as the traders themselves admit that they have a short life span.

The most common consumer items found in the markets are children’s toys, electronics such as stereos, MP3 players, USBs and garments such as jeans and shirts. Home appliances and ladies accessories are also imported from China other than various commodities like plastic, leather goods, cell phones, cars and computers that are slowly being accepted by the local consumers.

Chinese imitations of almost every popular item have hit the markets around the world posing serious threat to brand leaders. People unable to afford the original version buy Made in China look-alikes.

The price difference between the original branded product and Chinese replica may vary from Rs40 to Rs3000 or even more divergence. Shumaila Riaz, a student says “There are times when I want something to show off to my friends so what I do is buy cheaper alternatives. I’ve noticed that they have mostly been manufactured in China but I’ve also seen goods from Taiwan, Indonesia or even India that are offered at low prices.”

A research of Institute of Conflict and Peace Studies (ICPS) India, said that Pakistan is China’s largest market in South Asia in terms of Construction projects. In 2005, Chinese construction projects and large-scale mechanical and electrical product export projects went smoothly, with 43 contracts signed, worth a combined $794 million.

By the year’s end, China had signed a total of 444 contracts, worth $7.76 billion. The turnover in 2005 reached $583 million, up 58.33 percent year on year. The accumulated turnover reached $6.16 billion.

According to a report in China Daily, China has also opened its first overseas joint economic zone in Pakistan in a bid to accelerate domestic enterprises’ overseas investment. The joint economic zone, covering 1.03 square kilometres at Manga Mandi, 40 kilometres south of Lahore, was established by China’s leading home appliance maker Haier and Pakistani firm Ruba.

The establishment of the economic zone is expected to further boost economic and technological co-operation and the Pakistani side has agreed to provide services to Chinese enterprises, in particular small- and medium-sized firms, to facilitate their investment. Besides manufacturing, Chinese enterprises will also help Pakistan by training staff and providing technological assistance.

The same source also informed that China Mobile is planning to invest $400 million to extend its network in Pakistan and that a wireless data transmission system will be built in the country soon.

While consumers may enjoy the products and the investment plans may seem rosy, there is a serious concern of trade imbalance between the two countries at the economic forefront.

At the macro level, China supplies the bulk of cheap commercial goods all over the world and in the process for Pakistan as well while the cost of goods plays a big role in increase of imports from China. Nevertheless, for Pakistan, China matters much as an import market but for China, importance of Pakistan as a market is almost insignificant.

In 2005, China exported goods worth a total of $3.43 billion to Pakistan but imported goods worth only $830 million, with the trade deficit on Pakistani side reaching $2.6 billion. Net investments from China to Pakistan also stood at $0.4 million only during 2004-05, which shows the disinterest that Chinese investors had in Pakistan.

China’s contractual investment to Pakistan in 2005 totalled $3.67 million, and Pakistan invested in 19 projects in China, with contractual investment hitting $28.12 million and actual investment reaching $7.68 million.

Subsequently, steps were taken to address the matter and in 2006, the Early Harvest Program was launched to encourage bilateral trade, under which China will extend zero-rated tariffs on 767 items while Pakistan would reciprocate by extending the facility on 464 items.

Nevertheless, despite efforts the situation hasn’t improved. Pakistan’s biggest export markets are the US, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and Germany. China does not even figure in the list of top ten export destinations.

The problem lies mainly because Pakistan is heavily dependent on the cotton and textile industry for its exports of which China itself is a major manufacturer and to improve on the trade volume, it needs to enlarge on its trade basket.

At the same time, Pakistan has tariffs on very few Chinese goods and has open quota for their products, which unfortunately is not the case vice versa. Though China has promised to reduce tariff on 767 Pakistani goods, the reduction does not make a significant impact.

Third, despite being neighbours, there is a lack of effective means of communication between them. The Karakoram Highway, which opened in 1978, could not be used to increase the volume of trade in any substantial manner.

Most importantly, the political situation greatly affects trade adversely. According to a data of the IPCS out of 400,000 Chinese private investors, only 31 are still present in Pakistan. The rest left after the threat of destabilization became prominent following the unrest in Balochistan and Waziristan and other parts of Pakistan.

Majyd Aziz, ex- President of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry added “Over the past decade India has swept away even our market because their private sector took the initiative. We should look at China as a buyer also rather than only a seller. Trade can increase over cross border deals just as India is doing and only then can this problem can be solved.”



Bilateral Trade

China’s Total Trade Volume with Pakistan and other countries

Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Pakistan* 1.07 (20.21) 0.915 (18.74) 0.971 (17.21) 1.09 (18.88) 1.30 (19.93) 1.80 (19.47) 2.43 (23.38) 3.1 (27.90) 4.26 (34.98)

India 1.83 1.92 1.98 2.77 3.60 4.94 7.6 13.6 18.73

SAARC 3.9 3.89 4.15 5.35 6.43 8.31 - - -

ASEAN 25.06 23.66 27.20 38.55 41.80 54.76 78.2 105.9 120

Japan 60.81 58.02 66.16 83.20 87.88 101.97 130 167.9 200

USA 49.03 54.99 61.49 83.30 80.61 97.31 126 169.4 211.63

(Billion Dollars)

* The figures in brackets refer to the Total External Trade Volume of Pakistan in

billion dollars.

(Sources: United Nations, Statistical Yearbook for Asia and Pacific,3 IMF, Direction of

Trade Statistics and various other sources4 and Economic Survey of Pakistan 2005-06)

Pakistan, China take initiative to solve trade imbalance

 

[Neo]

Computer market witnesses 5.7pc rise​

ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: The computer market — both in personal computer and server — in Pakistan increased by a modest 5.7 per cent as firms shipped 319,838 units here in the first half of (January-June) 2007 as compared to the same period last year.

According to a private research firm — Springboard Research — the lower than expected growth rate was mainly due to the government’s non-friendly IT policies and continuation of the 15 per cent general sales tax, as well as from increased terrorist attacks and unstable political conditions.

The research firm said the government has shown little support for the IT sector, with no new policies or allocations for IT announced.

The government is, however, continuing with its IT industry development plan, although its actions and policies do not seem to be in sync with desired growth for the sector.

“Pakistan’s IT market is in between a “growth” and “decline” stage, where the country’s political stability will play a major role in overall market performance, said Rehan Ghazi, Springboard Research Analyst.

“Also, before the imposition of the 15 per cent GST in June 2006, Pakistan’s PC/Server market was a “diamond in the rough,” but since then, a downward trend in the IT market has been noticed.

The government’s recent decision not to withdraw or reduce the GST has weakened the growing IT market in the country, he said.

Among the multinationals, HP continued to lead the market with 6.3 per cent share of total PC shipments in first half of 2007, followed by Dell and Acer.

The X86 server segments dominated the market during this period and experienced a growth of 7.7 per cent year-on-year, followed by the desktop and notebook segments. However, for the rest of 2007 and 2008, the portable segment is expected to lead overall PC market growth. This expectation is fuelled by the introduction of the Intel PC Classmate Programme in first half of 2007, which will drive procurement of notebooks from the education sector in upcoming quarters.

Apart from this, the adoption of notebooks from the home segment is also on the rise in the country.

In the application segments, the large enterprises, especially in the telecom, banking and finance sectors continued to be the largest procurers of IT solutions in the market, registering an annual growth of 21 per cent, followed by the government and medium enterprises.

The study said the grey and refurbished markets have continued to flourish substantially after the GST imposition and affected branded machine sales in Pakistan.

According to channel partners, around 15-20 per cent increase was seen in the grey market business in the past few quarters and this trend is expected to gain momentum in the future.

The negative spiralling effect created by unfriendly government policies, is expected to continue in the upcoming few quarters. Springboard Research also expects the second half of 2007 and beginning of 2008 to be politically turbulent.

Considering the current market scenario and political climate, Springboard forecasts a marginal growth for 2007. Nevertheless, from the fourth quarter of 2007 onwards (Oct-Nov), the market is expected to start picking up, as the Intel PC Classmate programme will perk up the portable market in the country. Pakistan’s government and large enterprises also expected to continue with their automation and IT up-gradation programmes.

The Springboard Research service tracks PC/Server market developments in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan on a quarterly basis and contacts IT resellers, vendors, component suppliers and end-users at the local and regional level for the research.

Founded in 2004, Springboard Research serves the needs of its clients globally through offices in the United States, Australia, Singapore and Japan, as well as from global research centres in India, Pakistan and Morocco.

Computer market witnesses 5.7pc rise -DAWN - Business; October 31, 2007