Tuesday, 14 February, 2012

KSE gains 18points amid narrow-range trading on SC’s conviction of PM Page 3

profit.com.pk

LAHORE

IMRAN ADNAN

Pakistan has finallydecided to award MostFavoured nation (MFn)status to india by removing

all trade barriers by December 31,2012. Ministry of Commerce (MoC)has recommended the governmentto progressively phase out negativelist, Profit learnt on Monday.Official summary made available toProfit shows that MoC has proposedthe government to allow theministry to replace the positive listof 1,963 tariff lines with a negativelist, comprising of 636 tariff lines at8-digit, for imports from india.the ministry has further asked thegovernment to empower it toprogressively phase out thenegative list in three installments onquarterly basis after approval of thecabinet with quarters ending onJune 30th, september 30th andDecember 31st, 2012. MoC hasindicated that the whole exercisewould be conducted in consultationwith institute of Business

administration (iBa), karachi, andother stakeholders.summary shows that MoC has alsosought government’s approval tomake appropriate changes in tradedefence laws in consultation withstakeholders to allay apprehensionsof the industrial sector for usingthese laws more effectively againstany unfair practices or injury to thelocal industry by indian imports.MoC would present theserecommendations to the federalcabinet for approval in its meetingthat would be held today.summary also shows that MoC hasrecommended 16 tariff lines relatedto food and agriculture sector; threefrom minerals; four from chemical;32 from pharmaceutical; 74 fromplastics; 24 from rubber; 55 frompaper and wood; 77 from textile andclothing; 15 from ceramics; 25 fromiron and steel; and 311 from autosectors for the negative list.MoC is of the view that World tradeOrganisation (WtO) tradingarrangement is based on theprinciple of MFn, which implies non-discriminatory treatment among

member countries. However, thetrading arrangement with india isstill discriminatory. although thetariff applied on imports from indiais the same as for any other WtOmember state, but Pakistan hasindia specific goods restriction interms of positive list that allowsimport of only 1,993 tariff lines fromindia. summary shows that federalcabinet in its meeting held onnovember 2, 2011 endorsed theefforts of the ministry of commercefor full normalisation of traderelations with india and directed theministry to complete the tradenormalisation process for grant ofMFn status to india. it points outthat during the sixth round ofcommerce secretary level talks heldfrom november 14-16, 2011 at newDelhi, it was agreed between indiaand Pakistan that move to fullnormalisation of trade relations willbe sequenced. First, the negative listwould be announced by February,2012 and then it would be phased-out after approval by the cabinet.the ministry has pointed out that theprocess to formulate the negative list

was initiated in april 2011. anextensive consultation process wascarried out by MoC, both with publicand private sectors of Pakistan. itrequested all the stakeholdersincluding industry, chambers ofcommerce and trade associations torecommend items with justificationto be included in the negative list.secretary commerce held meetingswith chambers of commerce andtrade associations across the countryto get their inputs. sector specificmeetings were also organised toprovide opportunity to thestakeholders to express their viewsand concerns.summary further states that for thesake of academic neutrality andtransparency, iBa – karachi wasassigned the task to examine thewish list/tariff lines recommendedby stakeholders and propose a finalnegative list of items for india aftercritical examination of all tariff lines.iBa examined the wish list given bystakeholders, held extensivediscussions with them and did notrecommend the inclusion of 699tariff lines at 8-digit.

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

tHe country’s only pilot projectof Underground Coal Gasifica-tion (UCG) has faced a seriousset back from the government

which has denied to provide agreed fundto the project despite a historic success ofburning of thar coal.

UCG project at thar which was facingfinancial constrains is now feared to befailed after the interesting development onmonday. the oil importers’ lobby onceagain succeeded to fail another important

project which was considered the only im-mediate solution of the country’s energycrisis, sources told profit.

According to the sources, the manage-ment of UCG project was informed in is-lamabad on monday that the governmentwould no longer be able to finance the proj-ect. the management, therefore, should in-vite the private sector to run gasificationprogramme. the project management wasdemanding the agreed funds from federalgovernment in order to carry on the devel-opment work of the important projectwhich has successfully started producinggas by ignition of coal 600 feet below

ground in December 2011. At least Rs5 bil-lion was required to purchase machineryand other required things. “once the oper-ation of the project is stopped, the entireachievement will be lost as the project tech-nically will not be able to restart after acomplete shut down,” sources feared.

through UCG of thar Coal, the genera-tion of 100 mW of electricity was expectedby the end of 2013 at a total cost Rs9.9 bil-lion. there was a powerful oil lobby behindthe denial from the government to providerequired fund for the pilot project, as UCG,according to sources, has started facing fi-nancial issues since the oil importers’ lobby

started lobbing against the project throughraising various questions about the gasifica-tion programme in media.

it is worth mentioning here that tocomplete power generation phase of theproject, renowned scientist Dr Samarmubarakmand, who is supervising the proj-ect, had requested prime minister YousufRaza Gilani to arrange immediate fundingof Rs2.4 billion this year and the remaining7.8 billion during the next financial year sothat the country can benefit from the gen-eration of 100 mW of electricity, before theend of 2013. At least Rs200 million out ofthe approved fund for the project was also

yet to be released by the provincial govern-ment. the team led by Dr Samar has alsoapproached the government for arrange-ment of $1.2 billion fund for 84 gasifiersaimed to meet expected demand of2200mm cft by 2015.

earlier, two meetings scheduled to beheld in islamabad to discuss the fundingissue of the project were postponed for un-known reasons. the previously postponedmeeting was to be held on January 16,among the ministries of petroleum, financeand other concerned authorities to discussand approve the financial requirements ofUCG programme at thar, Sindh.

Government denies funding of coal gasification project

MoC for phasing out negative list

CCP allows LDI operatorsto withdraw applicationfor exemption of ICHAgreement

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

Competition Commission ofpakistan (CCp) has allowed thetelecom operators having Long

Distance international (LDi) license towithdraw application for exemption fortheir proposed international ClearingHouse (iCH) Agreement to be enteredwith the pakistan telecommunicationCompany Limited (ptCL). A statementissued by CCp said upon application filedby ptCL and other LDis operators hasallowed withdrawal of the application filedunder Section 5 of the Competition Act,2010 for the purpose of seeking exemptionfor their proposed iCH Agreement to beentered into between ptCL and the LDioperators disposing the matter throughits order dated February 9, 2012. Whileallowing the withdrawal of the exemptionapplication, the CCp order said that if infuture the applicants enter into suchagreement or arrangement,notwithstanding, any authorisationobtained from any other authority suchagreement prior to its execution wouldrequire clearance from the Commission,as prima facie, it has serious competitionconcerns and would attract the provisionsof the Competition Act, 2010. through theproposed iCH agreement, LDis intendedto assign their rights, granted to them bythe pakistan telecommunicationAuthority (ptA) under the LDi license, toterminate incoming international traffic toptCL. During the period the iCHagreement were to be in effect, each LDiwere to suspend and keep suspended allinterconnection capacities in relation topakistan incoming traffic at its end. ptCLwere to act as the sole LDi operator withthe right to exclusively terminate allincoming traffic to the country. ptCL wereto sell its call terminating services toforeign carriers at the Approved SettlementRates (ASR) of ptA, and each LDi wouldget a pre-determined fixed quota fromptCL to terminate calls at its network, andreceive a fixed share of revenues generatedfrom all incoming international traffic. thearguments presented by the applicants tosupport the iCH agreement includedstabilisation of the international incomingtraffic rate as per ptA determination tocurb the grey traffic and to create a vitalimpact on the national economy in terms ofhuge influx of foreign exchange in thecountry, increased taxes for the governmentdue to the increase in revenue. theapplicants claimed that the iCH would notfix price, but only ptA’s approved ASRswould be implemented and it would haveno control on the production of voiceminutes towards pakistan thus having noimpact on telephone users in pakistan.

Pak-IndIa trade

PDF Profit_Layout 1 2/14/2012 3:28 AM Page 1

news02Tuesday, 14 February, 2012

ISLAMABAD

AMER SIAL

AFteR the top levelreshuffle in the financeministry hierarchy lastweek, Abdul Wajid Rana

assumed the charge of SecretaryFinance, Dr Waqar masud Khan tookcharge as Secretary economic AffairsDivision (eAD), while senior customsofficer mumtaz Haider Rizvi assumedthe post of Chairman Federal Boardof Revenue (FBR) on monday.

on February 11, the governmentshifted the incumbent SecretaryFinance Dr Waqar masud Khan toeAD. He was replaced with WajidRana who was previously SecretaryeAD. While member Customsmumtaz Haider Rizvi was assignedthe post of chairman FBR in place ofmahmood Alam, who was appointedsecretary federal tax ombudsman. Allthe officers remained busy onmonday receiving congratulationsfrom the public and private sector ontheir new charge. the establishmentdivision notified upgrading post ofmember customs to BS-22 alreadyheld by mumtaz Haider Rizvi and healso assumed the additional chargeof the Chairman FBR. Highlyrespected Rizvi is a senior officer ofthe customs group. mehmood Alam,

a BS-22 officer of the customs group,relinquished charge of the post ofmember strategic planning andstatistics and officiating charge ofChairman FBR with effect fromFebruary 13 to join elevated positionof secretary, federal taxombudsman’s office secretariat.

official sources said the topofficials will be faced with thedaunting task of strengthening theeconomy and will be requiring strongsupport of each other to face thechallenges. the immediate taskbefore the new secretary finance andchairman FBR will be to strengthenthe tax recovery to retain the fiscaldeficit in the budgetary limit. theirperformance will set the newrelationship with the internationalmonetary Fund (imF), whichremains highly skeptical of thegovernment’s economic policies.

Giving the charge of FBR to acustoms group officer is verysignificant as it will help addressmany concerns of the tax officialsdue to the posting of other cadreofficers mainly those of DmG. A taxofficial on the top post knows theloop holes and will be helpful inbridging the gaps required to meetthe ambitious revenue target ofRs1952 billion for the current fiscalyear, the source said.

top finance officials assume new charges

KARACHI

ZAIN ALI

on the inaugurationceremony of the freepassenger ferry boats atmanora, here on Sunday,

minister for ports and ShippingSenator Babar Ghouri named themFB Arfa Karim and FB Afza Altaf as hestressed upon on the importance togive due respect to national heroeslike, Arfa Karim. Federal minister saidthe passenger boats were built byWestern marine Shipyard Limited,Chittagong, Bangladesh and each oneis capable of carrying 200 passengersat a time, he added. Babar Ghauri saidKarachi port trust (Kpt) hasprocured these 55 Dead Weighttonnage (DWt) vessels at $2.345million, having an over all length of30-metres and 1.3-meters draught.these have the net weight tonnage of10-tonnes and their year ofconstruction is 2011. Also, engineswith models KtA 19 m-3 andpropellers fixed pitch (ni-Al-Bronze)are used in these boats. these ferriesare imported from Bangladesh, hehighlighted while talking to the media.

He said we have named thepassenger ferry boats, FB Arfa Karimand FB Afza Altaf, to give due respectto our national heroes like Arfa

Karim, being the youngest microsoftCertified System engineer of theworld; her name must continue tolive on in our memories, added BabarGhauri. Chairman Kpt mohammadAslam Hayat said commissioning ofthese ferry boats will provide anopportunity to members of the publicto conveniently travel betweenmanora and Karachi. He said inaddition to the ferry boats, Kpt alsohas the privilege to request thefederal minister to commission theDebris Collection Boat (DCB), nizafa.this boat has been procured bymarine pollution control departmentat the cost of Rs1.4 million and it hasbeen locally developed in Karachi. ithas the load capacity between 1,000-15,000-kilogram and is powered byan engine possessing 25 to 35 Hp. “ithas been our constant effort tomodernise Kpt to meet the modernchallenges,” Aslam Hayat added. theport has already acquired two state ofthe art 60 tonnes bollard pull tugsand one beaver cutter suctiondredger from abroad, in addition tothe two acquired pusher tugs and onedredge tender from KarachiShipyard, he added. He said we areactively pursuing acquisition of fourhopper barges, two pilot boats, twoshipping tugs of 65 tonnes bollardpull and one survey boat.

Baber Ghauri commissionspassenger ferry boats

seCP takes action against unfair practicesISLAMABAD: As a part of its mandate to regulate thecapital market and to safeguard the investors’ interest, theSecurities and exchange Commission of pakistan (SeCp) hastook enforcement actions and penalised the marketparticipants for non-compliance with the regulatoryframework in January. A statement issued by SeCp said anorder was passed against a former fund manager of an assetmanagement company under Section 15 of the 1969 Securitiesand exchange ordinance. Another order was issued against abrokerage house of KSe wherein the broker along with itsinstitutional client was reprimanded for indulging in unfairtrading practices. Further, in probable instances of frontrunning and insider trading show cause notices were served toa commercial bank, an asset management company, anemployee of a listed company and an individual client underSection 15 of the above-mentioned ordinance. STAFF REPORT

turkey shows interest in steel sectorISLAMABAD: Foreseeing the immense demand of steel inpakistan during the next few years due the government’splans to construct mega hydel power projects andinfrastructure projects, turkish investors have started lookingfor opportunities for investment in the country. A twomember turkish delegation of steel sector visited islamabadChamber of Commerce and industry (iCCi) and exchangedviews with pakistani counterparts for exploring opportunitiesof mutual cooperation in the steel sector. CommercialCounsellor of turkish embassy Cezmi Besogul alsoaccompanied the delegation. A statement issued by iCCi saidthe delegation was on a visit to explore the potential of themarket for import and export of steel products. STAFF REPORT

Zong and Polar Wireless of Canada sign LoIISLAMABAD: one of pakistan’s leading cellularcompanes, Zong, subsidiary of world’s largest mobilecompany, China mobile, and polar Wireless Corporationof Canada signed a letter of intent for cooperation inadvance international roaming service here on monday.Chief executive officer Zong Fan YunJun and Vicepresident-international Business Development polarWireless Corporation, Canada Abdullah Hashwanisigned the Loi. Chairman Board of investment (Boi)Saleem H. mandviwalla witnessed the signing ceremony.A statement issued by Boi said the cooperation willprovide an opportunity to explore a new market intelecom sector enabling foreigners traveling to or frompakistan to optimize the value and variety of every callby selecting the appropriate partner provider on Zong orpolar roaming services. STAFF REPORT

rs137b tFCs to have positive impact for energyKARACHI: the federal government has decided to issueterms Finance Certificates (tFCs) worth Rs137 billion in,what the analysts believe, another attempt to easeliquidity problems of the energy sector. However, theindustry grapevine is suggesting that the transaction islikely to be exhausted within couple of days. thetransaction would clean the balance sheet and reduceshort-term borrowing of the energy sector companies byRs109 billion, while another Rs28 billion would be freshinjection in the system. For the banks, it would slightlyreduce the non-performing loans in short-term and maylead to one time positive impact on earnings. overall, thetransaction aims to revitalise the lending capability of thebanking sector to the energy chain. STAFF REPORT

tahira raza becomes seVP of nBPKARACHI: tahira Raza, Senior executive Vice president(SeVp), Risk management Group at national Bank ofpakistan (nBp) has become the first woman in the history ofthe bank to reach SeVp position. A business graduate frominstitute of Business Administration (iBA), tahira Razajoined nBp in 2003. prior to joining nBp, she worked withFirst Women Bank and mCB. Qamar Hussain, presidentnBp congratulated ms tahira Raza and said there is aparadigm shift in the role being played by women in thesociety, in general and corporate world in particular. it is veryheartening to see women being empowered in our society andnBp is not behind on this front as well. STAFF REPORT

President Bombay chamber visits kCCIKARACHI: president Bombay Chamber ofCommerce and industry (BCCi) Ashoq Kumar Bharatsaid a single episode cannot disturb the largerpurpose; Karachi and Bombay are the financial hubsfor both the countries. He said that during his visit toKCCi here on monday.He added there is a strong relation between thepeople of india and pakistan, we are businessmen notpoliticians, we have to do work together. AshoqBharat said initially we have to pressurise thegovernment to open mobile connectivity servicesbetween pakistan and india, he added. While talkingat a meeting, BCCi president said Bombay chamber isthe largest chamber of india, with 4,000 members inBCCi and these members want to promote all sectors.He said the traders of pakistan and india shouldcreate a good relationship and we should do work onindia-pak shipping as well. monra port is the deepsea port and there is a lot of potential in other portsas well, he added. ZAIN ALI

LAHORE

GHULAM ABBAS

inDiA and pakistan, which aremoving forward to enhancetrade ties through the presentmove started by two countries,

are required to at least end the indirecttrade to reduce the high freight cost.

Since both countries are importinggoods via a third station, the freight costcould have been reduced drastically ifthe same were allowed to be traded di-rectly, thereby, reducing the price of im-ported goods. this was expressed byleading indian exporters here at Lahoreexpo Centre on monday. the represen-tatives of at least 100 companies wereattending the three day, the indianShow 2012, being organised by Feder-ation indian Chambers of Commerceand industry (FiCCi).

indian exporters who are hopefulto get maximum share in the pakistanimarket after the expected develop-ment regarding grant of most

Favoured nation (mFn) status toindia said, despite the past unfriendlyenvironment for trade between thetwo South Asian neighbours, manygoods produced/manufactured atboth sides have been traded indirectly.

talking to profit, Assistant DirectorSpices Board ministry of Commerce andindustry india, Sopal Ram, said variouskinds of spices were being imported inpakistan from india which is the largestproducer/exporter of these items, but inan indirect way. the country has at least2,000 registered exporters who were al-lowed to trade after meeting the ap-proved standards of the government.the quality of indian spices could onlybe questioned when the value additionwas made in the product by the countrythat is importing it.

He claimed the spices had a hugedemand in pakistan and the productscould be cheaper if these were allowedfor imports/exports directly. “the vis-iting people at expo centre haveshown great interest in the highly

qualitative products,” he said, addingthat his country could make the entiredemand of spices in pakistan.

tom Jose, manager marketingand Business Development of theGem and Jewellery export promotionCouncil of india said, pakistan couldexport the raw material/unfinishedgems and jewellery to india, whichhas recorded exports worth $43.14billion during financial year 2010-2011. He said that india has compar-atively better technology for finishingand value addition of products.

A Surender. Sr Regional manager,Hindustan petroleum Corporation,said india is exporting various fuelfurnace oil, lubricants, diesel, etc,with competitive prices and freightcosts to meet the energy crisis of pak-istan. the corporation was a fortuneof global 500 company engaged in thebusiness of refining and marketing ofpetroleum products in india with aturnover of $23,390 million and mar-ket sale of 27 mmt.

A representative of tea develop-ment board of india informed that asuccessful negotiation was going on atgovernment and concerned associa-tions level to start direct tea export topakistan. islamabad, which is import-ing a large quantity of tea from theAfrican region especially Kenya, couldobtain the same products at competi-tive prices and freight costs, if the im-port was formally allowed in pakistan.

“india can meet the tea demand ofpakistan, as the former is already ex-porting to various european, Asianand African countries,” he said, addingthat despite a preferential tradeAgreement with Kenya, pakistan wasnot benefiting from the reduced tariffof tea due to the high freight cost. Bothexporters in india and importers frompakistan were negotiating the issue,while the matter was also under dis-cussion at the government level. thefirst ever exhibition organised by indiawas attended by thousands of visitorsfrom all walks of life.

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

AS pakistan and india, attempt tonormalise their trade relations, animportant meeting of the SAFtAministerial Council (SmC) to

promote trade of goods and services withinthe region will be held here on February 16.

An official source said the meeting islikely to be attended by all the commerceministers of the contracting states. SmC isthe highest decision-making body of SAFtAand is responsible for the administrationand implementation of the agreement andall decisions and arrangements made withinits legal framework.

SmC meets at least once every year or

more often as and when considerednecessary by the contracting states. eachcontracting state chairs the SmC for a periodof one year on rotational basis inalphabetical order.

to finalise the agenda for the meeting anexpert group on SAARC agreement on tradein services on monday discussed theschedules of specific commitments by eachmember country on services to be traded inthe region. A statement issued by theministry of Commerce said the meetingreviewed status of ratification of SAARCagreement on trade in services, negotiationson schedules of specific commitments,including initial request list, election ofchairperson, dates and venue of nextmeeting of expert group on SAARC

agreement and adoption of current agendaand report.

the agreement on trade in services wassigned during the 16th SAARC summitheld at thimphu, Bhutan on April 28-29,2010. the aim of the agreement is to openup new vistas of trade cooperation and tofurther deepen the integration of theregional economies.

it was decided that the meeting onSAFtA Committee of experts (Coe) will beheld on February 14 and 15 to discussmatters related to sensitive list, tradeliberalisation programme and non-tariffbarriers. Coe monitors, reviews andfacilitates implementation of the provisionsof SAFtA and undertakes any task assignedto it by SAFtA ministerial Council (SmC).

Indian exporters hopefulto end indirect trade

sAFtA ministerial council moot on Feb 16

PAk-InDIA trADe tIes

PDF Profit_Layout 1 2/14/2012 3:28 AM Page 2

news

Tuesday, 14 February, 2012

03

CORPORATE CORNERBeacon Housecelebrates Annual sports Day

ISLAMABAD: Beacon House KindergartenBranch F-8/2 celebrated its Annual Sports Day onSaturday 11thFebruary, 2012 at Bmi H-8/4 schoolplay ground. parents and teachers enjoyed abeautiful sunny morning cheering the students asthey participated in a wide array of sportsactivities. they sports day was declared open bythe Chief Guest mrs. Silvat Ali Rtd principalBeaconhouse Kindergarten Branch. PRESS RELEASE

Food processors to attend world'slargest food, drink exhibitionKARACHI: tetra pak, the world leader in foodprocessing and packaging solutions, today unveilsits plans for Anuga Foodtec, the world’s largestand most important food and drink exhibition,which takes place in Cologne, Germany from 27 to30 march 2012. pakistan’s top food processorswill join industry giants from world over and gainknowledge of the latest developments shaping theinternational food and beverage industry.previous iterations of the prestigious event havedrawn more than 1,200 companies from 39countries worldwide covering the entire spectrumof the food processing chain, from processing topackaging and distribution. PRESS RELEASE

MeGAGAte opens firstapplication store ‘sWAPP’KARACHI: meGAGAte is the first pakistanicompany that has worked and launched an onlineapplication store for its mobile phones. “SWApp”which is the name of its online store currently has

some 20 applications mostly related to gamingcategory. the online store has been developed inassociation with mBounce, a Hong Kong basedmobile application development company. At themoment SWApp is available for meGAGAtemAXimUS W750, company’s premium phone.According to meGAGAte’s representative, “We arestriving to change the dynamics of local mobilephone brand landscape and continuously coming upwith innovative products and services to improveconsumer user experience”. PRESS RELEASE

LUMs hosts AnnualAlumni, Donor Dinner

LAHORE: the LUmS Annual Alumni and DonorDinner was hosted in the LUmS lawns onSaturday, February 11, 2012. the LUmSmanagement Committee, Senior management andFaculty as well as staff all joined in to greet theLUmS Alumni and the generous donors whosupport the various initiatives at LUmS. ZahidKhan, LUmS alumnus and president of SDSBAlumni Association welcomed the guests followedby an Address by the LUmS Vice Chancellor, Dr.Adil najam who also announced the Dr. AbdusSalam Chair at LUmS. pro Chancellor Syed BabarAli in his address highlighted the importance ofgiving back to LUmS. A brief documentary on theLUmS national outreach programme was shownto the audience highlighting the initiative whichgives scholarships to the underprivileged talent ofthe country. PRESS RELEASE

tahira raza becomesfirst woman seVP in nBPKARACHI: tahira Raza, Senior executive Vicepresident (SeVp), Risk management Group atnational Bank of pakistan has become the first

woman in the history of the bank to reach SeVpposition. A business graduate from institute ofBusiness Administration (iBA), tahira Raza joinednBp in 2003. prior to joining nBp she worked withFirst Women Bank and in mCB. Qamar Hussain,president, nBp congratulated ms. tahira Raza andsaid that there is a paradigm shift in the role beingplayed by women in the society in general andcorporate world in particular. it is very hearteningto see women being empowered in our society andnBp is not behind on this front as well. in therecent past many women have joined the bank andare given important roles to perform for the growthand prosperity of the bank. PRESS RELEASE

Women empowerment tobreak ground on February 23LAHORE: mazars in pakistan is organizing a“Women empowerment Conference” on 23February 2012 in islamabad. the conference willinclude female public representatives, Ceos, nGoactivists, media celebrities and entrepreneurs whowill share their experiences cherishingwomanhood and the everyday professionalchallenges they face. ms. muriel de Saint Sauveur,international marketing and CommunicationDirector at mazars, who has worked extensively toidentify the needs and to suggest the ways toempower today’s women, will share her thoughtsat the event. « A Women’s World, A Better World», a compilation of interviews of successfulwomen by muriel would also be show-cased at theevent. please visit www.mazars.pk for moredetails and registration. PRESS RELEASE

Citi celebrates 50 years ISLAMABAD : As Citi pakistan celebrates its50th anniversary in pakistan and its 200thanniversary worldwide, it reiterates itscommitment to the field of microfinance byannouncing that the Citi Foundation will continueits support to the microentrepreneurship AwardsCmA) program again this year, highlighting theachievements of some of the most innovativemicroentrepreneurs in pakistan. this year, theCiti Foundation is committing $2,000,000 to theCiti microentrepreneurship Awards program. in2010, the awards took place in 28 countriesincluding pakistan. the awards will take place incollaboration with the pakistan povertyAlleviation Fund, for the 8th year in a row in

pakistan this year. PRESS RELEASE

soneri Bank opens new branchSIALKOT: Soneri Bank Ltd opened its newbranch in Sialkot Cantonment. the branch wasformally inaugurated on January 27, 2012, bythe bank’s Chairman, mr Alauddin J Feerastaduring a simple ceremony, attended by leadingcustomers, senior executives and bank’s stafffrom Sialkot, Gujranwala and Wazirabad. SoneriBank now has over 200 branches in the countryand with a rapidly expanding network and anarray of diverse products; this is the bank’s thirdbranch in the city of Sailkot. Soneri Bank is wellpoised for becoming a leading bank by offeringcomplete solutions to individuals, Smes andCorporate. Also seen in the picture are mr Aftabmanzoor, president, ms mehreen Ahmed, Headof Retail Banking and mr Amin A Feerasta, Headof establishment. PRESS RELEASE

Warid brings amazing karachi offerKARACHI: Warid telecom recently announcedits Karachi offer ‘Bol Utha Karachi’ in whichpeople in Karachi can make free and unlimitedcalls to all Warid numbers from 12am till 12pmwith the daily rental of only Rs 3.99+t. thisamazing offer can be subscribed by both existingand new Karachi based subscribers by sending“KHi” in SmS to 4337. this limited time offer isfor prepaid subscribers only and willautomatically be renewed daily at midnight. Beingreputed for its quality and reliability, Waridalways brings amazing tailor-made offers for itsvaluable customers. PRESS RELEASE

LAHORE: Haji Muhammed Rafiq Giga – EmaarPakistan present at the Mirador Villa handing overoccasion in Canyon Views Islamabad. PRESS RELEASE

Major Gainers

Company Open High Low Close Change turnoverUniLever Pak Ltd. 5312.77 5578.40 5211.00 5553.47 240.70 2,988Unilever Pak Foods 1700.00 1750.00 1750.00 1750.00 50.00 50Island textile 160.04 168.00 152.11 167.49 7.45 273eFU Life assur 76.84 80.68 78.40 80.67 3.83 9,616Sanofi-aventis 143.23 148.00 145.01 146.78 3.55 187

Major Losers

UniLever Pak Ltd. 5312.77 5578.40 5211.00 5553.47 240.70 2,988Unilever Pak Foods 1700.00 1750.00 1750.00 1750.00 50.00 50Island textile 160.04 168.00 152.11 167.49 7.45 273eFU Life assur 76.84 80.68 78.40 80.67 3.83 9,616Sanofi-aventis 143.23 148.00 145.01 146.78 3.55 187

Volume Leaders

Jah.Sidd. Co. 7.47 8.47 7.22 8.47 1.00 28,468,245azgard nine 4.97 5.97 4.71 5.93 0.96 18,953,536JS Bank Ltd 3.29 3.99 3.20 3.92 0.63 6,120,742Fauji Cement 4.55 4.64 4.42 4.56 0.01 6,052,964engro Foods Ltd. 37.55 39.42 35.68 35.68 -1.87 3,874,072

Interbank RatesUS dollar 90.8329Uk Pound 143.5705Japanese Yen 1.1684euro 120.4807

Buy Sell

US dollar 90.40 90.90

euro 118.99 120.17

Great Britain Pound 142.08 143.40

Japanese Yen 1.1588 1.1690

Canadian dollar 89.76 91.21

Hong kong dollar 11.46 11.72

Uae dirham 24.58 24.77

Saudi riyal 24.08 24.24

australian dollar 96.25 98.72

kSe gains 18points amid narrow-range tradingKARACHI

STAFF REPORT

t He stocks closed higher atthe Karachi bourse mondayamid what the analysts saidtrading in narrow rangewith lower trades after the

Supreme Court handed the two-pagecharge-sheet to the prime ministerin the nRo implementation case.First day of the week saw the bench-mark 100-share index gaining 18.40points or 0.15 per cent to close at12,250.00 points against 12,231.60points of Friday last week.

“Stocks closed higher at KSeamid trading in narrow range withlower trades after Supreme Courtbench framed charge against pm Gi-lani for non compliance on nRo im-plementation,” said Ahsan mehanti, asenior analyst and director at ArifHabib investments.

the trading volumes at theready-counter, however, closedhigher at 116.090 million sharesagainst 107.14 million shares of

the previous day. the tradingvalue was recorded low at 2.315billion compared to Rs2.915 bil-lion of the previous session. theindex hit the intraday high and lowof 12,287.51 points and 12,156.14points, respectively.

the market capitalisation uppedslightly to 3.191 trillion from Fri-day’s Rs3.185 trillion. of the total328 traded scrips, 154 gained, 91 lostand 83 remained unchanged. theKSe-30 index, which was recom-posed on monday with Bank Alfalahreplacing the nishat Chunian Lim-ited, set in the green zone gaining37.92 points to close at 11,453.12

points against the previous 11,415.20points. “institutional support onstrong valuations in banking, fertil-izer and oil stock helped the indexrecover from its day low despite un-certain political outlook and fall inrupee value,” said mehanti.

the investors remained hopefulahead of formal notification on Capi-tal Gains tax issues at the KSe andmonetary policy announcement bythe central bank on February 11 wasaccording to investors’ expectations,the analyst added. Jahangir SiddiquiCompany appeared as a volumeleader of the day and counted itstraded shares at 28.468 million with

the opening and closing rates, respec-tively, standing at Rs7.47 and Rs8.47.

other scrips that did well on theday include, Azgard nine, JS Bank.Fauji Cement, engro Foods, CheratCement, Descon oxychem, pakelektron Limited, national Bank ofpakistan and Lafarge pakistanwhose traded shares accounted, re-spectively, fir 18.9 million, 6.1 mil-lion, 6.0 million, 3.8 million, 3.8million, 3.5 million, 3.4 million, 2.8million and 2.6 million shares. theturnover in the future howeverposted a negative trend and declinedto 4.139 million shares as against6.024 million shares of Friday.

Indian commerce minister in LahoreLAHORE: indian Commerce minister Anand Sharma has said both india and pakistan have principally decided to resolve bilateral issues withdialogue. His visit to pakistan is a result of this agreement and follow-up of pakistani Commerce minister makhdoom Amin Fahim’s visit toindia. Fahim led a pakistani businessmen delegation to india in September 2011. He invited his indian counterparts to visit pakistan, whoarrived through Wahga border here on monday morning. Sharma pointed out his visit to pakistan has been quite significant as it has happenedfor the first time in the history of india-pakistan relations that commerce ministers of the two neighbouring countries visited each other’scountry on reciprocal basis. Addressing a joint briefing to the media, he further stated it has also happened for the first time that commercesecretaries of both countries have remained in close coordination during this period to pave way for enhancing bilateral trade throughdialogues. Delivering his welcome speech, Amin Fahim said it was a great opportunity for the two countries to resolve their trade related issuesthrough deliberations. He indicated the process of increasing bilateral trade was initiated through his visit to india and the follow-up visit ofindian commerce minister to pakistan would expedite this effort. Both countries had targeted to move ahead on bilateral trade in minimumpossible time, he underlined. STAFF REPORT

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