Ministry rejects

APCNGA’s

claims about LPG

Air Mix projects

KARACHI

PR

The LPG Air Mix projects have been ap-proved by the ECC after a period of duediligence and strict adherence to all Gov-ernment including PPRA rules over a pe-riod of twelve months. These projects arenecessary to be able to bring an additional100 MMCFD of natural Gas equivalentwithin the shortest possible time and fromassets that already exist within the publicsector. This project is part of a quick shortterm solution that has been developed bythe Ministry with the help of the naturalGas utilities and other energy experts.How can the APCnGA support this loss fig-ure of Rs 60 billion? It is patently incorrectand only being articulated to create a falseimpression and agitation in the mind of thereaders.Lack of natural Gas had led to the unem-ployment of nearly 4 million people in theSialkot/ Faisalabad and Lahore areas. Thedesire of the APCnGA to not increase nat-ural Gas and LPG Air Mix as a substitutefuel was paradoxical.The cost of LPG Air Mix will be applied toindustry only and will not affect the domes-tic consumer thereby not impacting theprice of ‘roti’. Mr. Paracha was borderingon defamation and statements issued witha malafide agenda.This additional fuel will be supplied by thenG utilities which were regulated by theOGRA and totally operate in the public in-terest and were owned by the public sector.The LPG Air Mix projects have been oper-ating in Pakistan since the early 1970’swhen it was a global pioneer by setting upthese alternative fuel projects in Quettaand Larkana. SSGC was providing a cleannatural Gas alternative to Gwadar, nushki,Kot Ghulam Mohammed and Suhrab. Theproposed large LPG Air Mix plants atKarachi bin Qasim can deliver an addi-tional 100 mmscfd within six months. Inaddition to the mentioned LPG Air Mixprojects, there were well over 3 dozen LPGAir Mix projects that have been operatingin the private sector in Pakistan for the pasteight years. This clearly refutes Mr. Per-acha’s contention that LPG Air Mix proj-ects will put people out of work. To thecontrary, the injection of LPG Air Mix inthe system will create more employmentopportunities as the currently natural Gasstarved industry will have a constant sup-ply of fuel available ensuring enhancedproductivity, leading to greater exports,improved tax revenues and generation offoreign exchange.These projects have been developed bypeople who understand the energy sectorand have several decades of experience.Mr. Peracha was clearly misinformed andbuilding an entire argument based on anincorrect understanding of the project andtechnology. The LPG Air Mix solution wasan elegant means of delivering a fuel to in-crease supply of natural Gas as it requiresno transportation by road but provides anatural Gas alternative in Karachi throughthe existing pipeline network. The LPG canbe easily imported into Karachi as an alter-native fuel for SSGC while Punjab can getthe additional 100 MMCFD natural Gasthrough SnGPL for its industry throughswap arrangement.

Tuesday, 22 January, 2013

ISLAMABAD

APP

The Acumen Fund and JS have launchedPakistan Fellows Programme aiming todevelop the social change leaders of nextgeneration who are building innovativebusinesses and strong institutionsacross the country.

The Acumen Fund, a pioneeringnonprofit global venture firm address-ing poverty across Africa and in SouthAsia, hosted an event on Sunday to in-troduce the first class of Acumen Pak-istan Fellows, said a statement issuedhere on Monday.

In partnership with JS Bank, theMahvash & Jahangir Siddiqui Founda-tion and the Edmond de RothschildFoundations, Acumen was working todevelop the next generation of socialchange leaders who were building inno-vative businesses and strong institutions

across Pakistan.Twenty individuals have been se-

lected out of over 500 candidates to par-ticipate in this year-long training, whilesimultaneously continuing to pursuetheir social impact initiatives.

Fellows’ initiatives range from creat-ing an interest-free microfinance institu-tion, to a disaster relief project and to ateaching training programme. In addi-tion to a presentation given by the newlyselected Pakistan Fellows, the launchevent featured remarks by Jacquelinenovogratz, Founder & CEO of AcumenFund, and Edmond de Rothschild Foun-dations Executive Director Firoz Ladak.

“Pakistan today faces many chal-lenges, and we need new leaders who arededicated to creating a better future forthis country,” said Acumen Fund Pak-istan Country Director Farrukh Khan.“It is exciting to help develop a commu-nity of leaders with the financial skills,

operational excellence and moral imag-ination to address pressing social issuesand we’re humbled by the support andinterest we’ve received from our part-ners and local community.”

“The depth and breadth of talent inthe applicant pool size is evidence thatthe people of this nation want to seekways to improve the prevailing condi-tions and challenge the existing statusquo,” stated Mahvash & Jahangir Sid-diqui Foundation CEO Ali J. Siddiqui,“With this inaugural class of bright andambitious individuals, we are creating abrighter future of this country by pro-viding the tools and the knowledge re-quired to develop a new generation ofPakistani leaders.”

The Pakistan Fellows programmewas just one part of Acumen’s invest-ment in leadership and community ofthe Acumen Fund alumni network.

The East Africa Regional Fellows

Program was in its second year and justselected its fellows for 2013.

Acumen intends to launch similarRegional Fellows Programs in India andWest Africa in the coming years.

Additionally, Acumen Fund had in-vested over $ 7 million in Pakistan since2001, focusing on a wide range of sus-tainable, scalable businesses-in agricul-ture, housing, health, water andenergy-that use market-based ap-proaches to deliver products and serv-ices to millions of rural and urban poor.

Recent additions to Acumen FundPakistan’s portfolio include the nRSP(national Rural Support Program) Mi-crofinance Bank, which was the firstagency in Pakistan to provide financialservices to rural agricultural markets,and Pharmagen Healthcare Ltd, whichsupplies safe, clean, and affordabledrinking water to low-income residentsin Lahore.

Acumen Fund and JS launch Pakistan Fellows Programme

ISLAMABAD

ONLINE

In the wake of tension betweenIndian and Pakistan, MinisterCommerce Makhdoom AmeenFahim has called off a

scheduled visit to India toattend a business confer-ence on direction ofPrime Minister RajaPervez Ashraf, mediaquoting officials saidon Monday.

According to re-ports quoting officialsin commerce ministryin Islamabad, PrimeMinister Raja PervezAshraf was in the loop

about the decision to call off Mr. Fahim’svisit. Officials said Prime Minister RajaPervez Ashraf directed the minister notto visit India in current tense situationbetween two countries as Pakistani play-ers and artists have been threatened and

expelled from India. The decision was linked to

the spike in tensions betweenIndia and Pakistan over astring of clashes along theLoC in Jammu and Kashmirthat left three Pakistani sol-

diers dead, while Indiaclaimed that two of its sol-

diers were killed. Fahim and Secretary Com-

merce Munir Qureshi werescheduled to visit India during

January 27-29 to participate in aPartnership Summit being organ-

ised in Agra. Ameen Fahim was

invited to themeet by hisIndian coun-

terpart Anand Sharma. In recent weeks,differences had emerged between Fahimand Foreign Minister Hina RabbaniKhar over the issue of giving MostFavoured nation-status to India.

Media reports have said that Kharhad held Fahim responsible for the delay

in giving MFn-status to India. Pakistan missed the December 31

deadline for phasing out a negative listregime for trade and giving MFn-statusto India.

Ameen Fahim subsequently said theprocess had been delayed.

Bilateral trade to mutually benefit India, Pak: BaigISLAMABAD: Advisor to Prime Minister on Textile Mirza Ikhtiar Baig has said thatthe bilateral trade between Pakistan and India would be mutually beneficial, thereforethe two countries were focusing on steps to increase its volume. Talking to Pakistantelevision, he said that the trade between India and Pakistan would be enhanced in fu-ture, which would be a win-win situation for both the countries. He said that effortswere being made to improve the trade with regional countries and the South Asia wasthe best place for investment purpose. He said, “We have the best example of regionalblock like SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Association) and European Union (EU),which are considered the strong economic blocks to boost each other’s economiesthrough mutual free trade facilities”. He said that regional trade would be successfulwith China and India being the big trade partners. Replying to a question, he said thatthe tense Pak-India relations should not affect the trade between the two countries. APP

LCCI for

macroeconomic

reforms, policy changes

LAHORE

ONLINE

The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry Monday called for macroeconomicreforms and policy changes in consultationwith stakeholders for a sustainable eco-nomic recovery. In a statement issued hereafter IMF decision that it will not write-offor reschedule Pakistan’s loan, the LCCIPresident Farooq Iftikhar, Senior Vice Pres-ident Irfan Iqbal Sheikh and Vice PresidentMian Abuzar Shad said that the governmentwould have to reorganise the power sector,restructure public sector businesses and re-duce trade deficit to overcome economicwoes. The LCCI office-bearers also stressedthe need for a mechanism to ensure in letterand spirit implementation of economic pol-icy decisions in the larger interests of thestakeholders. “Since gas and electricityshortage is mother of all economic ills,therefore, a focused attention to stop pilfer-age and allocate more revenues to overcomecircular debt issue is needed. The powersector infrastructure should be upgraded aswithout doing so there will be little im-provement even if major new generation fa-cilities are built. The government-ownedpower generation companies should betechnologically refurbished as it could closethe demand-supply gap by 1500 MW.”

ISLAMABAD

ONLINE

The Islamabad Women’s Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (IWCCI) saidon Monday IMF’s lack of trust andpersistence to accelerate the pace ofeconomic reforms in exchange for fur-ther financing calls for immediate bolddecisions to save country from eco-nomic collapse.

The President of IWCCI FaridiaRashid said that the foreign lender hadmade loans conditional to transforma-tion in existing policies including real-istic revenue goals, fixing the issues ofpower and other public sector organi-sations, eliminating untargeted subsi-dies, revamping tax regime, improvingbureaucracy, and reducing the budgetdeficit.

The IMF demands were not newbut this time these must be taken seri-ously to ensure rescue loans as cur-rency was depreciating and the verysurvival of country was on the stake,she added.

Farida Rashid said that IMF’s frus-tration over Pakistan’s failed commit-ments could have far-reaching impact

on the future of the country, as gov-ernment will not be able to use thelender’s money to support dwindlingreserves, which will invite a disastersoon.

This was high time for governmentto take tough and unpopular decisionsto save the country from economic col-

lapse and ensure sustainable economicrecovery. The unfair and oppressivetax structure should be overhauledwithout wasting time.

Farida said that our tax systemwas promoting inequality damagingcountry’s growth and blocking accessof masses to economic opportunities;it had contributed to worsening in-equality due to reluctance of the gov-ernment to impose tax on rich, bringexempted and influential into the taxnet.

She said that reforms have becomeimperative as complex tax system wasfailing to support government expen-ditures, development initiatives and itredistributes a small amount of moneywhile doing little to slow the wealthpolarisation.

However, Farida Rashid said thattax was imposed on rich to benefitpoor but in our country it is other wayaround due to non-transparent post-ings in the FBR by the political class.

Proper taxation on agricultural in-come, real estate, brokers and retailsectors can resolve most of the prob-lems country was facing if FBR wasgiven freedom from political influence.

IMF advice recipe to bailout economy from mess

Amidst LoC tensions, PM asksFahim to ditch Indian visit

PRO 22-01-2013_Layout 1 1/22/2013 12:13 AM Page 1

BusinessTuesday, 22 January, 2013

Major Gainers

COMpAnY OpEn HIGH LOw CLOSE CHAnGE TURnOVERBata (Pak) 1230.00 1250.00 1250.00 1250.00 20.00 50MithchellsFruit SPOT380.00 395.00 390.00 395.00 15.00 2,300Indus Dyeing 638.99 649.99 649.99 649.99 11.00 100Philip Morris Pak. 114.33 120.04 119.75 120.04 5.71 2,800Service Industries 168.00 176.40 168.00 173.02 5.02 46,800

Major LosersRafhan Maize Prod. 3700.00 3555.00 3515.00 3515.00 -185.00 7,180Unilever Food 4178.00 4000.00 4000.00 4000.00 -178.00 20UniLever Pak 9969.67 9900.00 9900.00 9900.00 -69.67 40Nestle Pakistan Ltd. 4550.00 4505.00 4505.00 4505.00 -45.00 500Millat Tractors Ltd. 600.00 600.00 590.00 590.51 -9.49 25,900

Volume Leaders

Maple Leaf Cement 15.64 16.10 15.62 15.92 0.28 16,118,000Fauji Cement 7.37 7.49 7.26 7.30 -0.07 13,585,500Byco Petroleum 13.98 14.15 13.68 13.90 -0.08 8,716,000Jah.Sidd. Co. 15.70 15.85 15.21 15.30 -0.40 8,601,500JS Growth Fund 9.05 10.05 9.10 9.99 0.94 7,005,500

Interbank RatesUS Dollar 97.7212UK Pound 155.2496Japanese Yen 1.0920Euro 130.1646

Dollar EastBUY SELL

US Dollar 98.70 99.40Euro 130.45 132.17Great Britain Pound 155.52 157.51Japanese Yen 1.0894 1.1028Canadian Dollar 98.31 100.21Hong Kong Dollar 12.47 12.74UAE Dirham 26.75 27.05Saudi Riyal 26.20 26.49Australian Dollar 102.65 105.46

02

Barclays and Virgin Atlanticoffer a ‘home away fromhome’ experience

KARACHI: Gerry’s International, GSA of VirginAtlantic, Pakistan [“Virgin Atlantic”] and BarclaysBank Pakistan [“BBP”] has joined forces to offercustomers a wider range of experiences of lavishtraveling. The unique partnership will providepassengers exclusive travel offers and solutions.Signing ceremony was held recently at BarclaysBank’s Head office in Karachi. Gerrys InternationalGroup Director Arshad Wali Muhammad and BBPCEO, Shazad Dada were present at the ceremonyalong with their respective teams. Speaking at theoccasion, Shazad Dada said, “Apart from providingcustomers with an exclusive contemporary space, thepartnership will meet the changing needs andexpectations of both business and leisure travelersand better integrate the ground and air travelexperience. The partnership with Gerry’sInternational, GSA of Virgin Atlantic will allow us toreach a truly global audience every day.” Gerry’sInternational Group Director Arshad WaliMuhammad shared his thoughts with the team andsaid, “We are delighted to be partnering with a brandlike Barclays, enabling us to cater the right clientele.Providing various solutions to our traveler, we will setbenchmark for the industry to follow.” PRESS RELEASE

Samsung introduces GALAXYS-III Mini smartphone

KARACHI: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a globalleader in digital media and digital convergencetechnologies, has introduced its latest smartphone –the GALAXY SIII Mini. It is a compact version ofSamsung’s flagship smartphone GALAXY S III. Theintelligent device combines high performance withintuitive ease-of-use and a nature-inspired design. Itruns on a robust 1 GHz Dual Core Processor with 1GB RAM and offers a 4.0 inch WVGA SuperAMOLED display screen, with a 5 Mega Pixel camerawith LED flash and a VGA front camera. TheAndroid 4.1 Jelly Bean Operating System has fastand fluid graphics. It features “Google now” - tobring you the right information, before you even ask.This compact smartphone understands your gesturesfor easier usage. The “Smart Stay” function tracksyour eyes and keeps the screen lit as long as you arelooking at it. “Direct Call” enables you toautomatically dial a specified call. With “Smart Alert”you know your missed calls as soon as you pick upyour phone. Other smart features also include the‘Pop Up Play’ which allows you to play a videoanywhere on your screen, while simultaneouslyrunning other tasks. The ‘S Voice’ is a naturallanguage user interface that listens and responds toyour words, besides allowing information search andpowerful control functions. PRESS RELEASE

Kashf Microfinance Bank, tie organize session withRupert Scofield

KARACHI: Kashf Microfinance Bank along with TiE,Lahore Chapter organised an interactive session withRupert Scofield President and Co-founder of FInCAInternational; an Agricultural Economist with over 40years of experience in the developing countries ofAfrica, Latin America, Eurasia and Middle East.During the session, he shared some very interestinginsights from his early years as a young entrepreneurto building and sustaining a wide network ofinstitutions across different continents. He welcomedthe opportunity to address a large gathering ofprofessionals from the business community, banking,education and other sectors, and shared his plans todevelop the microfinance sector in Pakistan withKashf Microfinance Bank Limited. PRESS RELEASE

LG to lead OLEDand Ultra HDTV marketsKARACHI: Speakingat the InternationalConsumer ElectronicsShow in Las Vegas,

Havis Kwon, President and CEO of the LGElectronics’ Home Entertainment Company,outlined the company’s vision for the upcomingyear and expressed confidence in LG’s ability tolead the next generation TV market. “2013 is animportant year because for LG, it marks thebeginning of a new TV era,” said Mr. Kwon. “Withgame-changing products such as the OLED TVand Ultra HD TV, we are in a strong positionstrategically to lead the industry. Delivery of ourUltra HD TV well before the competition and theimminent release of our OLED TV in the firstquarter of 2013 will give us a head start in amarket where speed is a critical component ofsuccess.” Seizing the Advantage with GlobalRollout of OLED TV In order to gain an earlyfoothold in the OLED TV market, Mr. Kwon saidLG will launch its 55-inch OLED TV in northAmerica, Central and South America, Europe andAsia in the first quarter of 2013. The company willincrease R&D and investment in OLED TVtechnology and marketing to ensure thatconsumers see a strong link between OLED andLG. PRESS RELEASE

CORPORATE CORNER

KARACHI: Masood Hashmi, president Marketing Association ofPakistan, presents a memento to Dr Graham Simpson, ChiefMedical Officer /Eternity Medicine Institute, who was the guestspeaker at MAP Tea Meeting on the topic of Preventing Health. Alsoseen in the picture are Talib Syed Karim, Honorary Secretary MAPand Dr Zubair Mirza. PR

ISLAMABAD: PIA Chairman Lt Gen (r) Asif Yasin Malik presides over the 346th PIA Board of Directors meeting at the PIAoffice in Islamabad. PIA Managing Director Muhammad Junaid Yunus was also present at the meeting. PR Pakistan Steel CIO Major General Muhammad Javed addressing a gathering on Youm-e-Hussain. PR

Level playing field for Pakistani kinnow in Indonesia demandedISLAMABAD: Indonesia has enjoyedfree access to the Pakistan market formany items, including palm oil, for thepast six years and part of the PreferentialTrade Agreement (PTA) signed by twocountries recently, We expect the sameunhindered market access for kinnow ex-port, said Harvest Tradings CEO AhmadJawad. However, he said, as of lastmonth, Indonesian importers were beingissued with monthly quotas to control vol-umes of Pakistani kinnow shipments thatcould be brought into the country whichwas not accepted at all. Pakistani freshproduce industry also concerns over thebarring of entry of our products to thePort of Jakarta. The closure of the port tofresh produce shipments was hotly de-bated last year when it was announcedthat all exports would have to enter viaother ports. negotiations have since takenplace and this port was opened again toAustralia and US oranges, but not forPakistan. This means that all Pakistaniproduce exports to the country must in-stead go via Surabaya City, Indonesiafrom where it was shipped over land at anadditional cost of $2500; said Jawad. Onthe other hand issue regarding GeneralRate Increase (GRI) $ 1500 on perishableshipments from the shipping lines wasnot solved in our country. Shipping ex-perts mentioned that there was no plausi-ble reason for an increase as there wasneither any congestion at the Karachi Portand Port Qasim nor there was any chok-ing of containers. INP

KARACHI

ISMAIL DILAWAR

THE banks are unlikely to achievethe Rs 315 billion agriculture dis-bursement target set by the centralbank for the current fiscal year.

While the first half of FY13 saw the commer-cial banks doing well their counterparts in thespecialised banks, particularly the ZaraiTaraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), have seen theirlending to the farmers contracting by 7 to 8 per-cent.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Mondayreported that the banks’ disbursement of agricul-ture loan during July-December FY2012-13showed an increase of 12 percent or over Rs 15.11billion on year-on-year (YoY) basis.

The regulator said during the period underreview the banks were able to extend farm loansworth Rs 140.32 billion to the agriculturists ascompared to Rs 125.21 billion they had disbursedduring the corresponding months of FY12.

The amount disbursed during the first halfshows that the banks, specially the bad-perform-ing specialised ones, were legging far behind thetentative target set by the State Bank for FY13.

“It may be pointed out that the State Bankhas provisionally set an indicative agriculturalcredit disbursement target of Rs 315 billion tobanks for the current fiscal year,” said the SBP.

Supposedly, if the banks lend an amountequal to the farmers during the second half thevolume of total agriculture loans disbursedwould stand somewhere around Rs 281 billion,

still down by Rs 34 billion from the targeted Rs315 billion.

This possibility turns more likely when itcomes to the specialised banks whose disburse-ment during the first half moved southward.

According to central bank, the country’slargest specialised bank, ZTBL, could manage todisburse Rs 19.28 billion during the review pe-riod. The amount showed a decline of 8.39 per-cent when compared with Rs 21.04 billion thebank disbursed during the same period of lastfiscal year.

The Punjab Provincial Co-operative BankLimited (PPCBL) also disbursed 7.02 percentless, Rs 3.59 billion, than Rs 3.87 billion it hadlent in FY12.

However, the overall credit disbursement bythe five major commercial banks, including Al-lied Bank, Habib Bank, MCB Bank, nationalBank of Pakistan and United Bank, were encour-aging and stood at Rs 76.04 billion.

Last year these banks were able to extendfarm loan worth Rs 70.56 billion to the farmers.This registers a growth of Rs 5.47 billion or 7.76percent YoY.

The 14 domestic private banks also loaned acombined amount of Rs 33.16 billion in July-De-cember, 2012 up by 36.84 percent as comparedwith Rs 24.23 billion disbursed in the same pe-riod of the last fiscal year.

The five microfinance banks, includingKhushhali Bank, nRSP Microfinance Bank, TheFirst Microfinance Bank, Pak Oman Microfi-nance Bank and Tameer Microfinance Bank dis-bursed Rs 8.25 billion compared to Rs 5.50billion they had lent during last year.

SBP likely to miss Rs315b farm loans target,thanks to bad-performing specialised banks

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