Wednesday, 10 October, 2012

Pakistan-Afghanistantrade balancereaches $1.5b

KABUL

ONLINE

Balance of trade between Afghanistan andPakistan has reached one and a half billionUS dollars. This was revealed by KhanjanAlekozai deputy chairman of the chambers ofcommerce and industries of Afghanistan anddeputy head of joint chambers of Afghanistanand Pakistan in a joint meeting of the Afghanand Pakistan traders held in Kabul, reportedBNA news agency. The aim of the meetingwas to seek ways for overcoming the prob-lems of traders’ further expansion of tradeand economic relations between Afghanistanand Pakistan. At the start of the meetingKhanjan Alekozai deputy chairman of thechambers of commerce and industries ofAfghanistan and deputy head of joint cham-bers of Afghanistan and Pakistan said thatthe balance of trade between Afghanistan andPakistan reaches one and half billion US dol-lars, the major portion of which is import ofPakistan goods to Afghanistan andAfghanistan’s exports makes around USD200 million. Zabeer Motiwal head of the del-egation and chairman of the chambers ofcommerce of Pakistan talked of the trade fa-cilities for foreign investments in Afghanistanand added that the Pakistan traders and in-vestors are prepared to jointly and individu-ally invest in Afghanistan. He added that thepresent problems in trade sphere can be re-solved by the government authorities.

Chopped! (again) IMF cuts global growth forecast; prods Europe, US

TOKYO

AGENCIES

The IMF cut its global growth forecast onTuesday for the second time since April andwarned U.S. and European policymakers thatfailure to fix their economic ills wouldprolong the slump. Global growth is too weakto bring down unemployment and what littlemomentum exists is coming primarily fromcentral banks, the International MonetaryFund said in its World Economic Outlook,released ahead of its twice-yearly meeting,which will be held in Tokyo later this week.“A key issue is whether the global economy isjust hitting another bout of turbulence inwhat was always expected to be a slow andbumpy recovery or whether the currentslowdown has a more lasting component,” itsaid. “The answer depends on whetherEuropean and U.S. policymakers dealproactively with their major short-termeconomic challenges.” For 2012, the IMF nowexpects global output to grow just 3.3percent, down from its July estimate of 3.5percent, making it the slowest year of growthsince 2009. It predicted only a modest pickupnext year to 3.6 percent, below its Julyestimate of 3.9 percent.

KARACHI

ISMAIL DILAWAR

INDIAN airlines, led by the Air India, wouldsoon be starting flights to and from Pak-istan as the two countries have achievednew milestones on the trade liberalizationfront in recent months.

Also, Pakistani traders and industrialists wantNew Delhi and Islamabad to connect Mumbai withKarachi through air and sea links as businesspersonson this side of the Line of Control were serious to im-port from India what they have been importing fromChina and other countries.

“Consequent to the commerce-secretary-leveltalks between India and Pakistan, air connectionsbetween the two neighbors would be increased,”said Naeem Anwar, Minister (Trade) High Com-mission of Pakistan in New Delhi, who visited theKarachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry(KCCI) on Tuesday.

Linking air frequency to visa issuance, the min-ister said since the policy was being liberalized, AirIndia would be starting flights to Pakistan in duecourse. While private Indian airlines had also showninterest to start operations in Pakistan, he added.

Minister (Trade) Pakistan High Commission inNew Delhi Naeem Anwer, while exchanging viewsat KCCI, recognized the vibrant role of KCCI andindustrial activities and for socio-economic devel-opment of Pakistan.

Highlighting latest developments by Indo-Pakgovernments on bilateral relations, he said the twogovernments had prioritized the opening of banksbranches across the border by March 2013.

The National Bank of Pakistan and United Bankwould open branches in India while branches StateBank of India, Bank of India and Punjab NationalBank would open branches in Pakistan.

New Delhi has allowed Pakistani investment inIndia through Indian Board of Investment Promo-tion. Investors across the LoC were keen to invest inthis regard, said Naeem.

He said the Secretary Commerce had instructedhim to brief the country’s chambers of commerceabout the latest developments on bilateral trade. Hesaid the negative list would be abolished by Decem-ber 2012 and in April 2013 current 800 tariff lines ofSAFTA would also reduce to 100 tariff lines.

Also, by year 2017 SAFTA sensitive list would bereduced to 100 items.

The government of Pakistan was also consider-ing to allowing all tradable items through Wagah,he said adding recently three agreements weresigned by the two governments on customs cooper-ation, mutual recognition and redressal of griev-ances that would be implemented after completionof all legal formalities.

He said according to new visa policy, businessvisa for small category businessmen having net in-come of five to 30 lacs would be given one yearvisa of five cities by four multiple entries with po-

lice reporting.For big category businessmen having net income

beyond 30 lacs would be given one year visa of 10cities by multiple entries with exemption of police re-porting. The authority to verify income was underconsideration.

Naeem said that potential Pakistani products forexport to India were textiles (home textiles, fabric),agricultural based products and agro processedproducts. Urging the manufacturers to capture theirshare of Indian markets, the minister said Islamabadhad urged to rationalize tariffs of products which areon higher sides.

Information on tariffs was available online onvarious Indian websites, he added. Consequent totalks of Indo-Pak commerce secretaries, air connec-tions would be increased.

Linking air frequency to visa issuance, Naeemsaid since the policy was being liberalized, Air Indiawould be starting flights to Pakistan in due course,while private Indian airlines had also shown interestto start operations in Pakistan.

He also sought proposals from KCCI to identifyproducts, logistics data, warehousing facilitates, in-formation on required infrastructure with regards totrade from Khokrapar Monabao border which wasunder consideration by two governments.

He informed that in India the role of chambershad transformed and they were less dependent onsubscription and were generating income in billionsof rupees from exhibitions, fairs and event manage-ment. He urged the chambers of commerce in Pak-istan to focus on research and development whichPakistani chambers were lacking as compared totheir Indian counterparts.

Naeem also elaborated on the role of NationalTariff Commission and educated the members ofKCCI to opt for legal formalities in case of anti-

dumping or injury to domestic industry.He said India was offering huge subsidies for ex-

portable items, therefore, Pakistani business com-munity should be cautious of influx of Indian goodskeeping in view viability and price competitivenessof identical domestic items.

He also asked the KCCI members to study the In-dian models of business joint ventures if they wereinterested for same with Indian counterparts.

The minister also assured support from PakistanHigh Commission in New Delhi on policy matters.One Indian company offered Karachi MetropolitanCorporation produce 8MW energy by processing thesolid waste here at Karachi, he said.

Earlier in his welcome address, President KCCIMuhammad Haroon Agar said fostering the processof regional trade and economic cooperation betweenthe two countries would augur well for peace andprosperity in the South Asian region.

The KCCI chief said it was the need of the hourthat both governments, besides opening new landroutes, should positively consider to connect Mum-bai with Karachi through air and sea links. He saidPakistani businesspersons were serious to importfrom India instead of China and other countries lo-cated outside the South Asian region.

Agar also urged to formalize the informal tradewhich is higher than formal trade of $2.7 billionachieved in year 2011.

Anjum Nisar, former KCCI President,stressed the need for successful branding of logos“Made in Pakistan” in India and capturing its po-tential market.

Majyd Aziz, another ex-president of KCCI, saidthere should be no discrimination of categories ofsmall or big businessmen with regard to issuance ofvisas. He also urged the need for opening Khokrapar-Monabao route for trade purposes.

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

The central bank Tuesday expressed its concern overthe availability of Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs)in the country that the regulator said was “quite low”.

“There are only 5600 ATMs in the country,” DeputyGovernor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Kazi Abdul Muk-tadir told journalists during his visit to Karachi PressClub. He also inaugurated at the KPC an ATM which wasinstalled by the Summit Bank. Flanked by Acting Presi-dent Summit Bank Asif Ali, President KPC Tahir HasanKhan, General Secretary Moosa Kaleem and TreasurerRizwan Bhatti, the deputy governor said presently therewere about one ATM against two bank branches whilein developed countries, there were three ATMs againstone bank branch. The SBP has recently issued policy in-structions to all banks which bind them to expand theirATM network in a phased manner so as to achieve a tar-get level of one ATM for each bank branch.

“Once this target is achieved, we have plans togradually raise the bar so as to meet the internationallevels,” he said. The deputy governor also expressedhis resolve to provide banking services to all segmentsof the society. “With the concerted efforts of all, we willbe able to achieve the desired goal of ‘Banking for All’,”he said. Emphasizing the need for an efficient andthriving banking system, he said that the State Bankwas providing regulatory environment to financial in-stitutions to enhance financial inclusion in the coun-try. “Providing people with access to finance is achallenging task, not just for the central bank but alsofor all the stakeholders,” he observed.

The central bank, he said, was trying to make thebanking services available at the door step of the peo-ple and that promoting access to banking services wasthe corner stone of SBP’s policy framework. He saidthe State Bank under its Branch Licensing Policy hadmade it compulsory for the banks to open at least 20percent of their new branches in rural and under-

served areas. The deputy governor said branchlessbanking was helping in reaching out to the low in-come, unbanked people through more than 30,000 ac-cess points throughout the country. Nearly 30 milliontransactions worth Rs 115 billion had been processedduring the fourth quarter of FY12 through branchlessbanking and the average daily transactions had beenreported at 315,178 while the total number of branch-less banking accounts had increased to 1.7 million.

“According to the World Bank’s ConsultativeGroup to Assist the Poor (CGAP), Pakistan is the fastestgrowing branchless banking market in the world,” saidhe. Abdul Muktadir said the banking industry of Pak-istan had tremendous growth potential to deliver lotmore than what it was delivering right now. “The sig-nificance of e-banking and m-commerce cannot be

overemphasized because of the fact that both havebrought about remarkable changes in the ways peoplethink and do their banking business today.”

He said the transformation from traditional tomodern ways of banking was taking place at a fastpace. A number of alternate delivery channels for pro-vision of banking services like ATMs, Credit Cards,POS terminals, Internet banking, Debit Cards were al-ready existed in Pakistan to benefit the masses. “Cur-rently, 93 percent of the total bank branches areoffering Real-Time Online services,” he said.

Earlier, Summit Bank Acting President Asif Alisaid his bank was planning to add more services likethe cash deposit and cheque deposit to its currentATM network. He said the “technology savvy” Sum-mit Bank was operating 168 online bank branchescountrywide to advantage its valuable customers.

“We are further improving our services throughATMs,” said Ali, who was officiating in place of Hus-sain Lawai, the chief executive and president of Sum-mit Bank who was presently abroad. President KPCTahir Hasan Khan also expressed his gratitude to-wards Lawai who he said had always been coopera-tive towards the journalist fraternity. Khan alsoannounced life membership of the KPC for Lawai.

Neighborly love in flight g Indian airline to operate in Pakistan in due course, trade HCP in New Delhi tells KCCI g Pakistani

businessmen want Karachi-Mumbai connected via sea, air links g Air India flights to Pakistan in due

course g Private Indian airlines keen to start operations g Negative list to go by December 2012 g Current

800 tariff lines of SAFTA to be cut to 100 tariff lines in April 2013 g Pakistan considering to allowing all

tradable items through Wagah g Textiles, agri based and agro processed products eyed as potential

Pakistani exports to India g Businessmen categorized as small, big ones under new visa policy

Not enough ATMs, we’re afraid… SBP says availability of ATMs “quite low” in country

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02

Wednesday, 10 October, 2012

Major Gainers

COMPANY OPEN HIGH LOW CLOSE CHANGE TURNOVERUniLever Pak 10000.00 10195.00 9600.00 10195.00 195.00 40Shezan Inter. 382.87 402.01 401.50 402.01 19.14 3,900Mithchells Fruit 382.20 401.31 382.20 400.00 17.80 2,600Packages Ltd. 133.91 140.60 133.01 140.60 6.69 133,000Murree Brewery 169.93 178.00 170.00 174.83 4.90 17,000

Major LosersUnilever Food 3500.00 3400.00 3400.00 3400.00 -100.00 20Indus Dyeing 450.67 428.15 428.15 428.15 -22.52 20,600National FoodsSPOT 296.53 310.00 281.71 281.71 -14.82 12,800Pak Gum & Chemical 210.52 204.99 200.00 200.00 -10.52 6,100Bata (Pak) Limited 1070.00 1060.00 1060.00 1060.00 -10.00 50

Volume Leaders

D.G.K.Cement 48.69 51.12 48.70 50.90 2.21 11,142,000K.E.S.C. 5.38 5.68 5.36 5.47 0.09 8,824,500Nishat Mills Limited 58.46 59.45 57.52 59.24 0.78 6,047,500Lucky Cement 133.81 139.48 133.70 137.79 3.98 5,422,100Nishat (Chunian) 24.83 26.07 24.65 26.05 1.22 4,787,000

Interbank RatesUS Dollar 95.5298UK Pound 152.8477Japanese Yen 1.2196Euro 123.4723

Dollar EastBUY SELL

US Dollar 95.10 95.60Euro 121.58 122.77Great Britain Pound 151.00 152.46Japanese Yen 1.2034 1.2147Canadian Dollar 96.19 97.61Hong Kong Dollar 12.07 12.25UAE Dirham 25.78 26.00Saudi Riyal 25.23 25.45Australian Dollar 95.82 98.19

Business

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

THE market observers have startedto come up with their views as thecountry is fast approaching whatthe analysts believe one of the mostcrucial junctions in its history with

9th general elections due in May next year.“We believe a broader timeframe for the

general elections comes between March to May2013,” said Nauman Khan of Topline Research.

The analyst said as the political canvaswarms-up, the elections related developmentswere expected to take center stage in the comingdays with market participants likely to welcomesigns of change in the ruling set-up.

Khan said the investors on the stocks market

were likely to cheer elections related develop-ments promising to hold solutions to country’sstructural issues that had marred the country’seconomic performance over last four years.

“We expect the benchmark KSE-100 indexto climb to new high of 18,000 points in therun-up to elections by May 2013, providing 14%return amid expectations that economic and po-litical issues may resolve as the new governmentsteps in,” said the analyst. This is close to aver-age gain of 13% seen 6-months before electionsin last 20-years, he said.

In addition to elections extravaganza, Khansaid, improving relationship with the UnitedStates and India and decent foreign flows werelikely to create positive sentiment in the market.However, external account financing would re-main a risk, he warned.

‘Lucky Cement bags awards for Corporate andSustainability Reports’

KARACHI: Lucky Cement Limited, Pakistan’slargest cement manufacturer and exporter, has re-ceived the Best Sustainability Report and the BestCorporate Report Awards - 2011. Lucky Cement se-cured overall Top position in the category for BestSustainability Report Award, whereas its CorporateReport received 1stposition in cement & sugar cat-egory. These awards for year 2011 were announcedin a ceremony by the Institute of Chartered Ac-countants of Pakistan and the Institute of Cost andManagement Accountants of Pakistan which an-nounces theses prestigious awards for Best Corpo-rate & Sustainability Reports every year.

ICI Pakistan clinches ICAP, ICMAPawards for Best Corporate &Sustainability ReportKARACHI: ICI Pakistan Limited clinched the‘Best Corporate Report Award’ and the ‘Best Sus-tainability Report Award’ at the ICAP & ICMAPBest Corporate & Sustainability Report Awards2011 held in Karachi on Monday October 08, 2012.These awards are organized by the joint committeeof the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pak-istan (ICAP) and the Institute of Cost and Manage-ment Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP) with theobjective of encouraging and recognizing excel-lence in annual corporate reporting. This is thesixth year in a row that ICI Pakistan has beenamongst the top five companies in the ChemicalsSector receiving the Best Corporate Report Award.

Intel holds ‘Intel SMBTechnology Day’ with LCCIISLAMABAD: Intel Pakistan in collaborationwith the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and In-dustries (LCCI) held a two-day event “Intel SMBTechnology Day” to showcase latest technology so-lutions for increasing business productivity of-fered by Intel. The session was inaugurated byNaveed Siraj, Country Manager, Intel Pakistan.Intel Technology Day provides the small andmedium business owners with access to a uniqueforum which showcases the latest products andtechnology solutions for increasing business pro-ductivity. The program included networking op-portunities with Intel partners along withextensive technology showcase.

APCMA re-elects AizazMansoor as chairmanKARACHI: All Pakistan Cement ManufacturersAssociation (APCMA) has re-elected Mr. Aizaz Man-soor Sheikh unanimously as Chairman of APCMA inits Annual General Meeting held at APCMA Secre-tariat, Lahore, names of other elected office bearersfor the year 2012-13 were also announced, it wasstated in a statement issued here today. Mr. SayeedTariq Saigol of Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limitedand Mr. Muhammad Ali Tabba of Lucky CementLimited were also unanimously re-elected as ViceChairmen of the Association.

Aizaz wins APCMA top slot for9th consecutive yearKARACHI: All Pakistan Cement ManufacturersAssociation (APCMA) has re-elected Aizaz Man-soor Sheikh unanimously as chairman of the asso-ciation in its Annual General Meeting held atAPCMA Secretariat, Lahore. The names of otherelected office bearers for the year 2012-13 werealso announced, said a statement issued here onTuesday. Sayeed Tariq Saigol of Maple Leaf Ce-ment Factory Limited and Muhammad Ali Tabbaof Lucky Cement Limited were also unanimouslyre-elected as vice chairmen of the Association.

Aizaz of Kohat Cement Company has served aschairman of APCMA for a period of 8 years since1992. The current term 2012-13 is his second con-secutive term as Chairman APCMA. MuhammadRaza Mansha of D.G. Khan Cement, AmerFaruque of Cherat Cement, Maj. Gen. (Rtd.)Rehmat Khan of Lafarge Cement Pakistan, Lt.Gen. (Rtd.) Muhammad Sabir of Fauji Cement,Brig. (Rtd.) Asmat Ullah Khan Niazi of Askari Ce-ment, Syed Asif Shah of Bestway Cement, BabarBashir Nawaz of Attock Cement Pakistan, MazharIqbal of Pioneer Cement, Muhammad TousifParacha of Gharibwal Cement were elected asmembers of the executive committee.

PTCL billing updateISLAMABAD: In continuation of its customercentric approach, country’s largest informationcommunication technologies service provider,Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited(PTCL) informs its customers that the bills for themonth of September 2012 have been dispatched toits valued customers through our delivery part-ners. The due date for submission of bills is Octo-ber 22, 2012. We have ensured that customersreceive the bills well before the due date. How-ever, in case of any delay, customers can also get acopy of their bills online at PTCL websitehttp://dbill.ptcl.net.pk or get a duplicate copyfrom any of PTCL’s One-Stop Shops located in 98cities and towns all over Pakistan.

PIA hajj update KARACHI: PIA ongoing Pre-hajj operation after20 days has carried 48,558 intending pilgrims toSaudi Arabia through 116 flights with an overallpunctuality of 96 percent. PIA Spokesman said hereon Monday.He said that the Pre-Hajj flights fromSialkot concluded with 07 flights to Saudi Arabiacarrying 3,498 intending pilgrims.PIA has so far car-ried 5,973 intending pilgrims through 12 flights fromKarachi, 8,910 through 18 flights from Islamabad,8,483 through 17 flights from Lahore, 10,065 in-tending pilgrims through 31 flights from Peshawar.

CORPORATE CORNER

KSE approaches apogee

RAWALPINDI: Hashoo Foundation organized a Graduation Ceremony for its Skills Development Program trainees at the PearlContinental Hotel in Rawalpindi. Mr. Manzar Khurshid Shaikh, President Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industries; Mr. AliAkbar, Country Director Hashoo Foundation Pakistan; trainees, stakeholders and dignitaries at the event.

KARACHI: Flanked by Qatar Airways cabin crew celebrating the announcementof the airline joining the oneworld alliance are from left, American Airlines’Chairman and Chief Executive Tom Horton, Chairman of the oneworldGoverning Board; Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker; IAG Chief Executive WillieWalsh and oneworld CEO Bruce Ashby.

KARACHI: Pakistan State Oil (PSO), the nation’s largestenergy company in the country was awarded 2nd position inthe Fuel and Energy Sector at the Best Corporate &Sustainability Report Award ceremony organized by ICMAPand ICAP on Monday 8th, October, 2012. Present in thepicture is Mr. Yacoob Suttar, Senior General Manager (F&IT)-PSO receiving the award on behalf of PSO.

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

The central bank Tuesday chided the commer-cial banks for not submitting to it hard copiesof the foreign exchange trade confirmations ina standardized form.

Also, the banks came under fire for not beingso cooperative in helping the regulator maintaina list of authorized signatories of domestic coun-terparts so any risk of unauthorized settlementcould be avoided. The central bank, through is-suing TOD Circular No. 01 on Tuesday, said asper existing practice the banks are required toprovide the FX trade confirmations in hard copyto the SBP’s Treasury Operations Departmentfollowed by SWIFT confirmation messages.

“It has, however, been noted that such hardcopy confirmations are not standardized,” the banksaid. This, it said, was posing special difficulty inlocating and sequencing the necessary informationsuch as value date, currency bought/sold, exchange

rate, Nostro correspondents etc.Further, the State Bank said its Treasury

Operations Department needed to maintain alist of authorized signatories of domestic coun-terparts to avoid any risk of unauthorized set-tlement. “In view of above, all commercialbanks are advised to use the attached standard-ized hard copy trade confirmations as per re-spective formats at annexure ‘A’ for FX Outrighttrades and annexure ‘B’ for FX SWAP trades,”it said. The banks have also been asked to pro-vide the SBP with their list of authorized signa-tories, along with contact details, for signing thesaid hard copy trade confirmations by the 15thof next month.

In case of any future changes of authorizedperson(s), the banks are required to “immedi-ately” notify the same to the SBP.

“All commercial banks are advised to aban-don their existing confirmation formats and usethe attached confirmation formats after 15thNovember 2012 deadline,” it said.

Slammed!

Index to hit new high of 18,000 points in run-up to general elections

Banks castigated for submitting poor record of FX trade confirmations

LSE ends flatLAHORE: Bearish trend prevailed in La-hore Stock Exchange on Tuesday as it shed3.61 points, following the LSE-25 indexopened with 3912.76 and closed at 3916.37points. The market’s overall situation alsodid not correspond to an upward trend asit remained at 2.370 million shares to closeagainst previous turnover of 4.294 millionshares, showing a downward slide of 1.923million shares. While, out of the total 88active scrips 26 moved up, 46 remainedequal and 16 shed values. D.G.Khan Ce-ment Company, United Bank Limited andNishat (Chunian) Limited were MajorGainer of the day by recording increase intheir per share value by Rs 2.08, Rs 1.78and Re 1.00 respectively. Attock RefineryLimited, Pakistan Oil Fields Limited andEngro Corporation Limited lost their pershare value by Rs 7.83, Rs 1.49 and Re0.99 respectively. The Volume Leader ofthe day included Fauji Cement CompanyLimited with 440,000 shares, Nishat(Chunian) Limited with 274,000 sharesand Pakistan Tele Communication Limitedwith 211,000 shares. APP

OGDCL achieves 4.6%growth rateISLAMABAD: Mr. Masood SiddiquiManagin Director / Chief Executive Offi-cer, Oil & Gas Development CompanyLimited (OGDCL) stated that the com-pany has achieved 4.6% growth rate inproduction of oil & gas, a significant in-crease in exploration and will drill 37new wells during the current fiscal yearagainst 17 wells drilled last year while ad-dressing the audience during the seminarorganized by Petroleum Institute of Pak-istan, (PIP) at OGDCL House yesterday.The seminar was presided by Dr. AsimHussain Advisor to Prime Minister onPetroleum & Natural Resources.

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