Sunday, 13 January, 2013

Five years of democraticrule proved difficult formasses, economy: IWCCI

IslamaBad: Islamabad Women'sChamber of Commerce and Industry(IWCCI) on Saturday said the policiesand performance of the government inthe last five years had pushed the countrytowards total economic collapse. Thedemocratic government disappointed amajority as multiple crises left millionsinsecure and vulnerable, said IWCCIPresident Farida Rashid while speakingto businesswomen. Government failed toimprove situation of employment,education, energy, environment andequity which was part of its manifesto,she said. Rashid said policies to promotenobility and hammer the poor had leftthe economy half-dead while the rupeeeroded by 36 percent in five years, gettinga prominent position in the club of worstperforming currencies. Despite warnings,the government accumulated the biggestmountain of debt in the history of thecountry, pushing government debt from6 trillion to 13 trillion, she said. Theenergy crisis was used to meet personalgoals while CNG decisions left millionsjobless and starving as a majority of thosewho lost jobs at filling stations andworkshops have no other marketableskill, she said. ONlINE

Traders appreciate FBRfor appointing twodeputy chairmenlaHORE: The business communityappreciated Federal Board of Revenue(FBR) Board-in-Council for appointingtwo deputy chairmen and termed it as adecision in the right direction thatwould strengthen public-private sectorsliaison. In a statement issued onSaturday, the former LCCI vicepresident Aftab Ahmad Vohra said thenew Deputy Chairmen Shahid RahimSheikh and Malik Abdul Samad werenot only experienced but also had anexcellent track record that would helpsolve business community issues. Dueto the ongoing economic scenario andpressing engagements of the FBRChairman, it was very difficult to have adirect access to the body, he said. It isvery wise on the part of the FBR toappoint two deputy chairmen to lookafter day-to-day affairs, he added. ONlINE

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

BUSINESSMEN Group(BMG) Chairman SirajKassam Teli and KarachiChamber of Commerceand Industry (KCCI) Pres-

ident Muhammad Haroon Agar ex-pressed concerns over proposed changesin the Trade Organisation Act, 2012 anddemanded that the country’s businessand industrial stakeholders, especiallythe KCCI must be taken onboard beforeany changes were implemented.

They strongly urged that, for the sakeof Pakistan’s economy, no changes in thesaid Act be made without consultationwith the business and industrial commu-nity of Pakistan through their genuinerepresentatives. They said the true spiritof Trade Organisations Ordinance, 2007must not change in the Trade Organisa-tion Act, 2012. They demanded that ameeting be convened with all the tradebodies of the country for due deliberationson the Trade Organisation Act, 2012.

Teli stated after approval from Na-

tional Assembly, the Act 2012 had beensent to Senate for consensus and approvalbut the Senate’s Standing Committee onCommerce Chairman Senator Ghulam Alibelonged to a particular business groupand is himself a party in the matter whohas proposed several amendments in theAct. We cannot accept a unilateral decisionbased on vested interest at all, he said.

Teli said the Trade Organisation Act,2012 and its rules must be revisited inconsultation with all stakeholders owingto controversial new clauses.

The new Act, Teli said, was not at all inthe spirit of the Trade Organisations Ordi-nance, 2007 which was prepared with con-

sultation of genuine stakeholders acrossthe country. The prime objective of theTrade Organisations Ordinance, 2007 wasto eliminate fake and bogus associations,he said. He stressed that today’s world is aglobal village where economic power is ofutmost importance which made it imper-ative to have correct economic policies tosurvive in the comity of nations. Therefore,it is very important to have genuine repre-sentative trade bodies for interaction, res-olution, and formulation of right policieswith the government, said Teli.

Teli recalled that a neutral commit-tee headed by Justice (r) Saleem Akhtarof the Supreme Court consulted all

stakeholders of the business and indus-trial community of Pakistan and after de-tailed deliberations and meetingsstretching over a period of two years, theTrade Organisation Ordinance, 2007was promulgated with consensus. Imple-mentation of the 2007 Act, he said, putan end to irregularities in the process ofregistration of trade bodies which provedthe fact that the demand and promulga-tion of this Ordinance was genuine.

Agar said owing to reservations of thebusiness and industrial community onthe recently passed Trade OrganisationAct, 2012 by the National Assembly with-out consultation of all genuine stakehold-ers across Pakistan, KCCI had sent aletter to the honourable president of Pak-istan and the prime inister to interveneinto the matter and take onboard all gen-uine stakeholders. Speaker of NationalAssembly, Senate Chairman along withheads and members of Standing Com-mittees of National Assembly and Senateon Commerce were also requested fortheir involvement to remove the appre-hensions of the business and industrialcommunity in this regard, he said.

KCCI, BMG chiefs concerned over proposedchanges in trade laws sans industry input

FRANKFURT

INP

219 companies from Pakistan partici-pated in the Heimtextil Trade Fair inFrankfurt where Pakistan was ranked 4thin terms of numbers of exhibitors from asingle country.

Exhibitors of textile industry are op-timistic of substantial increase in exportsof their products this year as they madegood business contacts during the Heim-textil Trade Fair in Frankfurt. A goodnumber of buyers and professionals vis-ited the Pakistani stalls and appreciatedthe quality of products displayed by thePakistani exhibitors.

The exhibitors from Pakistan par-ticipated in the world’s largest tradefair of textile products which includedbed wears, towels, curtains, table wears,cushions, dresses and other related ac-cessories. About 2,600 exhibitors from80 different countries participated inthe fair.

Pakistan Ambassador to Germany

Abdul Basit in a visit to the fair, whichconcluded on Saturday, said Pakistanibusinessmen and diaspora were the back-bone of Pakistan's economy. Under themost difficult of circumstances they have

not allowed their commitment to Pak-istan waiver. He said without their un-flinching faith in Pakistan, our economywould have been in a far more difficultsituation. He advised the Pakistani entre-

preneurs to take full advantage of the EUtariff concessions on 75 items, valid thisyear. The Pakistan Ambassador visitedPakistan Pavilions and met with the ex-hibitors. He was apprised of issues being

faced by them. They informed him thatthe energy crisis in the country had beenaffecting production adversely and im-mediate measures were needed for sus-tainable development of the industry.The Ambassador assured them that theirconcerns and problems would be con-veyed to the authorities concerned for ap-propriate action. Basit urged them tospend a fair portion of their income onresearch and development (R&D) as onlyinnovative and trendy products couldkeep them in the market in this rapidlychanging world.

Basit also met with the director of theboard of Frankfurt Messe, In-charge ofHeimtextil Fair, Detlef Braun, and ex-changed views on the arrangements andfacilities provided by the management tothe exhibitors. He appreciated the role ofGermany for promotion of internationaltrade. Braun thanked the Ambassadorand assured the management would con-tinue to improve its facilities in the exhi-bition halls for both the exhibitors andthe visitors.

NEW DELHI

INP

Pakistan is most likely to announce the Most FavouredNation (MFN) status to India before the Annual Part-nership Summit later this month said Indian Com-merce Secretary SR Rao.

Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim andSecretary Munir Qureshi are scheduled to visit India toparticipate in the three-day Summit in Agra, beginningJanuary 27. Ministers and officials from several coun-tries are also expected to attend the annual summit.

Indian Commerce Secretary SR Rao said there is“every likelihood” that Pakistan will make an announce-ment “by that time”. Rao's comments were in responseto a question forth by reporters asking when the neigh-bouring country is expected to accord the much-awaited MFN status to India. Pakistan has missed thedeadline of December 31, 2012, for phasing out the neg-ative list regime, which would technically mean auto-matic grant of MFN status. However, Pakistan’s Foreign

Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani had on Friday said certainstakeholders in Pakistan had “some reservations” aboutgiving MFN status to India and the issue will be dis-cussed at an upcoming meeting between the sides.

Pakistan in March, 2012 had moved to a negative listregime for opening its market to trade for about 7,000 In-dian goods against about 2,000 under the positive list.Under the negative list regime, India cannot export 1,209items to Pakistan. Indian Commerce and Industry Min-ister Anand Sharma had expressed hope in December lastyear that Pakistan would honour its assurance of grantingMFN status to India. The bilateral trade between thecountries stood at about USD 2 billion in 2011-12.

Rao also said during April-November 2012, Pakistan'sexports to India jumped by about 50 percent in a year-on-year comparison. Responding to reports about Pakistanrefusing passage of Indian goods trucks at the line of con-trol (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, Raosaid, “That was closed for some repairs I believe. It standsopen as per our information”. He said that all land cus-toms stations are open and trade is flowing as usual.

“There are some infrastructure constraints on Pakistan’sside which they are trying to address,” he said, adding thePakistan trade minister and the secretary “has assured usthat they will take all possible steps in improving the in-frastructure on their side”. “We have close to 60 land cus-toms stations across our land border.

Pakistani exhibitors put up a good show at Heimtextil Trade Fair

Pakistan Ambassador to Germany Abdul Basit at Pakistan pavilion during his visit to Heimtextill Trade Fair in Frankfurt. INP

Pakistan may accordMFN status to Indialater this month: Rao

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Sunday, 13 January, 2013

Business

KARACHI

ISMAIl DIlAWAR

Haulers fear what theycall a ‘backbreakingloss’ worth billions ofrupees as PakistanState Oil (PSO) plans

replacement of hundreds of “old tanklorries” under the company’s new logis-tics’ standardisation roadmap.

PSO Managing Director (MD) andCEO Naeem Yahya Mir on Saturdayconvened and chaired a meeting at thePSO House, with the company’s logis-tics business partners that prominentlyincluded transporters, to take onboardall stakeholders on the company’s planto facilitate the transportation of POLproducts on a new logistics vision.

According to a PSO statement, themembers of all factions of Oil TankersCartage Association (OTCA) and AllPakistan Oil Tankers Owners Associa-tion (APOTOA) from Karachi and otherparts of the country attended the meet-ing. The new roadmap provides for re-placement of aging oil tankers forensuring transportation of POL prod-ucts according to international andlocal industry best practices.

PSO officials from internationalmarketing and logistics department

briefed the haulers, among other stake-holders, on the “depletion of old tanklorries and their respective replace-ment”. However, the proposed replace-ment plan did not go well with ownersof oil tankers who link materialisationof the proposal to devastation of theirbusinesses.

This replacement, according tohaulers, would leave some 1,500 oftheir 9,000 oil tankers, enlisted withPSO’s Karachi zone, out of work. “Theywant us to upgrade our vehicles mean-ing replacement with new ones. But wetold them that our vehicles are fit fortransportation,” APOTOA ChairmanAkram Khan Durrani told PakistanToday.

The APOTOA chief said the twosides had exchanged views on the pro-posed plan on Saturday but a final de-cision would be taken afternegotiations in the next meeting whichwas yet to be scheduled.

“We told them all we can do iscolour our vehicles uniformly,” Durranisaid, adding it would be unaffordablefor haulers to buy new lorries. One oiltanker, he said, costs over Rs 10 million.

APOTOA Senior Vice PresidentHazrat Ali Afridi said carrying out thereplacement would affect at least 1,500oil tankers and according to a rough es-

timate each of the ownerswould be losing at leastRs 5 to 6 million.

Rejecting theplan to changethe vehicles,Afridi said cur-rent marketvalue of one oldvehicle rangedbetween Rs 0.8million and Rs 1million. This meansif replaced, the com-bined loss to the affectedtransporters would be somewherearound the Rs 1.5 billion mark, he said.

The APOTOA officials said theymight consider the proposal positivelyif PSO compensated the loss incurred.“We, however, can think to go for thereplacement if PSO cooperates with usin the shape of compensation,” saidAfridi. The PSO, on the other hand, be-lieves Saturday’s meeting with thestakeholders was a move towards stan-dardisation of tank lorries and in com-pliance with best industry practices forsafe and secure transportation of POLproducts nationwide.

“This shall not only lead to safemovement but shall also help mitigateand address various issues,” a com-

pany statement said. At the meet-ing, PSO officials apprised

their business partnersabout the future require-

ments of the company aschalked out on the basisof international andlocal industry bestpractices.

PSO MD Mir high-lighted the need for con-

tinuous support fromcompany’s business part-

ners to ensure uninterruptedfuel supplies nationwide.

Mir also briefed stakeholders onthe company’s new vision to be a re-gional and global player. The MD re-quested transporters to be open tochange as it would be mutually benefi-cial for the company and all stakehold-ers. According to PSO, members ofAPOTOA and OTCA assured their sup-port and commitment to the firm andlauded its logistics team for holding themaiden consultative meeting withstakeholders.

“They put forward some sugges-tions to support the company’s visionof modernisation of its fleet. They alsorequested that the new logistics policybe designed with consultation of busi-ness partners,” said a PSO statement.

Haulers oppose PSO’s new logisticsplan to replace old oil tankers

Pakistan needs to be

active in global halal

market: Harvest

Trading CEOISLAMABAD

ONlINE

Government must give better exposure toPakistan’s exports by fulfilling therequirements of the global halal marketbecause Pakistan has great potential tobecome the ‘halal’ hub of the region due to itsgeo-economic position, said HarvestTradings CEO & ICCI Member ExportAhmad Jawad. He said Pakistan’s strength isa 100 percent halal production base from aMuslim country, with over 170 millionconsumers within Pakistan and a directaccess to a grand total of 470 million halalconsumers in Afghanistan, Central Asia andthe Middle East. Per latest research by theWorld Halal Forum, the total size of globalhalal food market was worth $632 billion in2009 and if we also include non-Muslimconsumers, the total figure will be muchhigher; Jawad said. Halal industry expertsbelieve the size of total global halal market(including all halal food, non food productsand services) ranges from a minimum of $1.2trillion to a maximum of $2 trillion perannum. Similarly, more than 80 percent ofthe world halal trade is done by non-Muslimcountries, both in the West and East, who usethe halal brand to their own economicbenefit, Jawad said. In the West, USA, Brazil,Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Franceare the biggest halal suppliers. In the East,Thailand is the biggest exporter of halalcertified products after which Philippines,Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and India arethe leading halal products suppliers to theworld, he said. Harvest Trading’s CEOfurther mentioned that Pakistan is stilldeveloping its own halal standards and thereis no official halal certification body inPakistan despite the fact that the countryanimal population is around 159 million. Thecountries with a Muslim majority are themost obvious target markets for halalproducts, especially for meat products.However, Muslims living outside the sub-continent and Middle East are more in needof halal products and services, which createsa big opportunity for suppliers of halalproducts, he said. In Europe, the market sizeof halal foods is estimated to be $66 billion,France having the largest share ofapproximately $17 billion. In the UK, halalmeat sales are worth over $600 millionannually, said Jawad. The American Muslimsspend around $13 billion on halal foodproducts annually. The GCC’s halal foodimports are worth approximately $44 billion.Annual halal food trade in India is worth over$21 billion. Indonesia’s annual halal foodexpenditure is over $70 billion; he added.

Transporters claim the move will result in losses worth billions of rupees

PIA arranges Lahore visit for special children

KaRaCHI: PIA’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Programarranged a visit of terminally ill children to Lahore in collaborationwith Make-a-Wish Foundation Pakistan. The children – Adnan,Kamil, Adnan Saqib, Iqra and Fiza flew from Karachi to Lahore onPIA flight PK 302 accompanied by Uzma Hasan, the WishCoordinator. On arrival the special children were greeted at theairport by PIA District Manager Umber Draz, Station Manager PIAManzur Junior, PIA CSR coordinator Saima Intekhab, PIA CSRvolunteers Shehbaz Tahir, M Ashraf and Asghar Virk and PublicRelations officials. The children desired to tour different areas inLahore and among them one child Adnan wanted to be a pilot. Hiswish was honored by dressing him in a pilot’s uniform, while PIADMD decorated pilot’s wing on Adnan’s uniform. The children visitedLahore Zoo, Minar-e-Pakistan, Lahore Fort, Badshahi Masjid, AllamaIqbal’s tomb and Lahore Railway Station. After a day’s tour of Lahorethese children joined other special children for an event organised byMake-a-Wish Foundation at the Governor’s House. PRESS RElEASE

PSO holds meeting with logisticsbusiness partners

KaRaCHI: A meeting was convened at PSO House by themanagement of PSO to take onboard all stakeholders thatfacilitate the transportation of POL products on the newlogistics vision and the roadmap to address future challenges.Members of all factions of Oil Tankers Cartage Association(OTCA) and All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owners Association(APOTOA) from Karachi and up-country attended the meeting.The basic objective and premise of the meeting with the logisticsstakeholders was to move towards standardization of tanklorries and compliance with best industry practices for safe andsecure transportation of POL products nationwide. This shallnot only lead to safe movement but shall also help mitigate/address the various issues. Speaking at the occasion, CEO & MDPSO appreciated the efforts of logistics team and thetransporters and highlighted the need for continuous supportfrom the business partners to ensure uninterrupted fuelsupplies, nationwide. PRESS RElEASE

Samsung introduces world’s first curvedOLED TV at CES 2013laHORE: SamsungElectronics Co., Ltd hasunveiled Samsung’sCurved OLED TV,breaking the barrier ofinnovation in homeentertainment. The OLEDpanel is curved, whichprovides depth to thecontent displayed for amore life-like viewing experience. Additionally, consumers willenjoy the Curved OLED TV for its immersive panorama effect,which is currently not possible with conventional flat-panel TVs.When watching captivating content such as vast landscapes andscenes from nature on the Curved OLED TV, they will feel like theyare surrounded by the beautiful scenery. PRESS RElEASE

CORPORATE CORNER

KARACHI: Abdul Kader Jaffer, chairman PJBF, hosted a dinner for his Canadian andPakistani friends at Jaffer House. (l-R) Counsel General of Germany Tilo Klinner,State Bank Governor Yaseen Anwar, Mrs. Tilo Klinner, US Consul General MichaelDodman, host Abdul Kader Jaffer, Mrs Abdul Kader Jaffer and Salim Abbas Jilani. PR

MFN status to India can raisePakistan’s GDP by 2%: IPP researchIslamaBad: Grant of MFN status to India could not only normalise trade relations betweenthe two countries but could also boost Pakistan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2 percentper annum according to research by the Institute of Public Policy. Former finance minister andInstitute of Public Policy vice chairman Dr Hafiz Pasha said their organization’s research reflectsthat trade normalisation, commonly known as granting the Most Favored Nation (MFN) statusto India, will also help trim down inflation on the back of availability of comparatively cheapIndian goods. Trade normalisation with India can also add to national funds by over Rs 470billion per annum in addition to benefits of Rs70 billion to consumers in the shape of cheapimported goods, but this would require outsmarting smart Indian negotiators, he said. Pashaadded that over a period of three years the country would achieve 700 million dollars in annualgains besides creating 200,000 new jobs. However, in comparison with Pakistan, India will onlygain 0.5% in its GDP. Pasha said the Pakistan government should go ahead with granting MFNstatus to India, but should also get meaningful concessions while negotiating further reductionsin the sensitive list maintained by India under the South Asia Free Trade Agreement. Thegovernment has not met its commitment of abolishing the negative list by the end of December2012, citing concerns over the grant of MFN. ONlINE

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