Friday, 10 February, 2012

Traders lobby for fair loadmanagement Page 3

profit.com.pk

ISLAMABAD

AMER SIAL

The hard pressed government

due to the rising fiscal deficit

and drying of external inflows

still plans to launch

exchangeable Bonds (eBs) of

Oil and Gas Development Company

Limited (OGDCL) with transaction size of

$500 million having no upsize option, if

advised by Financial Advisory

Consortium (FAC) based upon the

market conditions during the current

fiscal year, an official source said.

The government had earlier planned to

launch the bond during the last fiscal

year, but was dropped due to

the extremely volatile global

financial climate stemming

from the european debt crisis

and concerns over USA fiscal

policy. The government had

held road shows for investors

in hong Kong, Singapore and

London last year in June, in

which investors remained

cautious due to extremely

volatile in the global financial

climate. Financial Advisory

Consortium advised the

government to wait for the

global markets to rebound and

become slightly more stable.

Currently, the transaction is

stalled as sentiment in global

financial markets remains

weak due to european debt crisis and

due to US credit rating downgrade.

The source that the matter would be

pursued on the advice of Financial

Advisory Consortium and underwriting

agreement and launch term sheet would

be signed jointly by secretary finance

division and secretary privatisation

division. he said meeting of the Cabinet

Committee on Privatisation (CCOP)

would be convened to ratify

the final terms after the book

of demand was built.

CCOP on March 8, 2011

approved a capital market

transaction envisaging

issuance of an OGDCL eB of a

base size of $500 million. FAC

comprising Citibank, JP

Morgan, Credit Suisse and BMA

Capital was appointed as book

runners for the transaction.

The bond will be issued to

raise foreign

currency debt

financing with the

tenor of the bond set

at five years. The eB

was to carry an

option granted to the

holder to convert or exchange

the eB for shares of OGDCL

subject to certain terms and

conditions and upon conversion

debt will be extinguished. The

option to convert the bonds

into shares of OGDCL was a

process of privatisation as per

the advice of the legal

counsels. At road shows the

official team met several

investors and briefed them on

the government’s credit story

and OGDCL story. however, the specific

transaction terms were not discussed at

the advice of the legal advisors.

OGDCL privatisation has been on the

government’s agenda for quite some

time and various divestment and

privatisation options have been

considered by the ministry of

privatisation. Prior to October 23, 1997,

OGDCL was a statutory corporation.

Petroleum Policy 1994

emphasised on the need for

restructuring of the company

on commercial lines through

strengthening its board of

directors and allowing it more

autonomy in all administrative,

operational and financial

matters. Petroleum Policy 1994

also envisaged conversion of

the company into a public

limited joint stock company.

In November 2003, the

government divested 5 per

cent of its holdings in OGDCL.

The said offer received an

overwhelming response from

the general public and was

recorded as a landmark

transaction in the history of

Pakistan’s capital markets. In December

2006, the government divested further

10 per cent of its holding in the

company. The company is also listed on

the London Stock exchange, where

trading of its shares commenced on

December 6, 2006. On August 14, 2009,

the government launched a scheme

called Benazir employees’ Stock Option

Scheme (BeSOS) for the employees of

state owned entities including OGDCL.

Under the scheme, OGDCL employees’

empowerment Trust was formed through

trust deed dated August 20, 2009 and 12

per cent of the share held by the

government was transferred to the

trust. The government presently

holds approximately 75 per cent

share in OGDCL.

Govt still plans to launch $500mOGDcl exchangeable Bonds

CCOP on March 8, 2011approved a capitalmarket transactionenvisaging issuance

of OGDCL EB of abase size of $500m

Petroleum Policy1994 emphasisedon the need for

restructuring thecompany on

commercial lines

g it had earlier planned to launch the bond during last fiscal year g transaction stalled as sentimentin global financial markets remains weak due to european debt crisis and Us credit rating downgrade

call stRikeKARACHI

STAFF REPORT

A strike has been calledby Liquefied Petroleum Gas(LPG) distributors and they havehalted the distribution of LPG,

owing to the drastic reduction in price worthRs10/kg of fuel in the country. The strike callon February 15 was given by LPGdistributors against the recently announcedprice hike by LPG marketing companiespresenting excuses of jump in internationalprice of the gas. The local producers of LPGhad increased the price of the gas by Rs16/kgwithout any notification of Oil and GasRegulatory Authority (OGRA). As a result ofthe move started by LPG distributorsassociation of Pakistan, the price of gas onThursday was reduced to Rs180/kg fromRs190/kg in hilly areas of the country, saidIrfan Khokhar, chairman of the association.Besides that, since the distributors havestopped purchasing LPG from the producersand marketing companies, the sale of LPGhas also been reduced by 40 per cent withinfew days of the recent jump in price, he said.Terming the previous hike in price asunjustified Khokhar said, despite thereduction in price which was an eye washagainst the jump in price made during thelast couple of months, the association wasfirmed to stage the protest on the announceddate. He said a country wide strike againstOGRA and LPG companies and distributionmafia would be held on February 15. Therewas no formula or mechanism to set theprice as per the imported and locallyproduced LPG while OGRA was helpless todetermine the price besides giving a freehand to LPG marketing companies, he said.Presenting the international prices and levyas excuses for the hike were against theground realities as a meager volume of gaswas being imported against the production.Also, there was no programme of import ofLPG this month. He further said, thedistributors would defend the LPG Policy2011 at any cost and the profiteers would notbe allowed to sale the local gas atinternational rate. He appealed the chiefjustice and prime minister of Pakistan totake notice of the record high price LPGwhich has multiplied the woes of the povertyhit people especially in the hilly areas. Afterthe slight reduction in prices, LPG was nowavailable in Gilgit Baltistan, FATA, Balakot,Aazad Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Swat, etc, atthe price of Rs180/kg. LPG pricesin Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Mansehra,Nathyagali, Swat and Murree have beenreduced from Rs170/kg to Rs160/kg andfrom Rs1,990 to Rs1,870 per domesticcylinders. In Karachi, Lahore, Gujranwala,Kasur, Sahiwal,Khaniwal, Jhang andSargodha, the price of domestic cylinder hasbeen reduced from Rs155 to Rs145/kg,while prices of domestic cylinder have beendeclined from Rs1,630 to Rs1,530. Prices inPeshawar, Dera Ismail Khan ,Kohat,Sadiqabad, Rahim Yar Khan, MandiBahuddin, and Sukkhur have been recordedfrom Rs160 to Rs150/kg, while prices ofdomestic cylinder have reduced fromRs1,870 to Rs1,750. Faisalabad, Gujrat,Jehlum, Mirpur, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khanand Bahawalpur prices of LPG weredeclined from Rs155 to Rs145 and price ofdomestic cylinder from Rs1,810 to Rs1,690.It is worth mentioning here thatearlier after the recent hike in LPG pricesthe gas which was produced at the rate ofRs9/kg was now available at the rate ofRs190/kg in hilly areas of the country. LPGproducers, OGDCL, PARCO and JJVL hadraised the price to Rs109,703/tonne withthe increase of Rs15,846/tonne. After thefresh hike, the retail price of domestic andcommercial cylinder jumped from Rs186and Rs716, respectively.

LPG distributors

LPG price comes down by Rs10/kgLPG sale reduces by 40 per cent

PDF Profit_Layout 1 2/10/2012 1:37 AM Page 1

news02Friday, 10 February, 2012

secP holds seminar on eservicesISLAMABAD: Securities and exchange Commission ofPakistan (SeCP) on Thursday held a seminar on onlineincorporation, eServices and measures to increasecorporatisation at the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Tax BarAssociation. Registrar of Companies SeCP, MuhammadSiddique highlighted various measures of SeCP to facilitatethe corporate entities and consultants. He also explainedthat fast-track services would be launched shortly. Adetailed presentation was made by Deputy Registrar,Muhammad Akram Qureshi, covering the relevantprovisions of the company laws especially, highlightingdifferent aspects of incorporation of companies and postincorporation statutory compliance. Assistant Registrar,Muhammad Jamil Aamir explained various steps of onlinefiling, creation of eServices accounts for availability ofname and further steps/procedure for online incorporationand efiling of various statutory returns. STAFF REPORT

etihad air reports $137m profit before tax KARACHI: etihad Airways, the national carrier ofthe United Arab emirates, has reported a full year eBITof $137 million, on revenues up 36.0 per cent to $4.1billion against the revenue of $2.98 billion in 2010. Theresults included earnings before interest, tax,depreciation, amortisation and rentals (eBITDAR) of$648 million, with a net profit of $14 million. Therecord result exceeded the airline’s 2011 target, whichwas to break even. STAFF REPORT

Dollar reserves slide to $16.689 billionKARACHI: The country’s dollar reserves movednorthward this week and contracted by 1.7 per cent to$16.689 billion up to February 3, the central bankreported Thursday. Unlike last week when the country’sdollar holdings had surged by $68 million to $16.870billion, the week in review saw a decline of $181 millionin the foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan. even a 0.4per cent increase in the commercial banks’ reservescould not help the country avoid a slump in its fast-shrinking holdings of the greenback and State Bankcounted its reserves 1.5 per cent or $199 million less at$12.324 billion against previous week’s $16.870 billion.Banks other than SBP managed to remain in the greenzone and calculated their dollar reserves at $4.365billion and $18 million higher than their previousreserves of $4.347 billion. The economic observers saycontractions in the country’s foreignexchange reserves are mainly due to increasing importpayments. Also, they believe, the retirement of externaldebts, which according to SBP have accumulated to over$60 billion, happens to be a major drain on thecountry’s reserves. STAFF REPORT

aPcNGa mulling over plan to end gas shortageISLAMABAD: All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA)said on Thursday that it was working on a plan inassociation with professionals to curb wastage of naturalgas that will help in tangible saving to ensure continuoussupply of gas and end load shedding. Addressing a newsconference, Chairman APCNGA, Ghiyas Abdullah Parachasaid the plan calls for efficient use of natural gas and if thegovernment participates then there would be significantsavings. He said the plan would be unveiled on earlyMarch and the government should implement it before theonset of next winter. He said in case the government couldnot timely import LNG, the association was ready to startimports by installing mini plants and developing storagescountry wide. The association is already working on acomprehensive workable plan in this regard. STAFF REPORT

Banks start emailing credit card statementsLAHORE: In order to reduce cost and facilitatecustomers, a number of banks have started sending creditcard and monthly account statements through e-mail, butit has caused some problems for the consumers, learntProfit on Thursday. The banking industry sources saidthe financial institutions have taken this step to reducethe cost incurred due to sending statements throughpostal mails. Moreover, it will also reduce the paper andprinting costs of the banks, the added. “The decision hasbeen adopted by many private banks and they aresending the statements through prescribed emails of thecustomers,” an official of the bank said, adding normallya credit card statement costs around Rs10-12 per sheetand if postal/courier services are added, then the costreaches Rs30-35 per customer. “Depending upon thenumber of credit card customers, normally, a bank has tospend around Rs200,000 to 400,000 monthly, only ondispatching these statements,” he added. Besides banks, anumber of cellular companies have also adopted thestrategy to reduce cost. However, although, all these stepshave brought ease for the companies, at the same timethey have also irked the customers, who complained thatthey often do not get the emails which cause problems forthem. They said the companies are watching theirinterests, but have ignored the customers altogether. “Ihave been getting credit card statement through emailand sometimes, I miss my statement, as the email sent bythe bank goes into spam and I have to call the bank’shelpline for depositing the money,” said a customer,Tahir Javed, adding the banks should also send thestatements through postal mail. NAUMAN TASLEEM

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

COMPeTITION Commissionof Pakistan (CCP) on Thurs-day issued show cause no-tices to Gulf Corporation

Council (GCC) Approved MedicalCentres Administrative Offices(GAMCA) and GCC Approved Med-ical Centres in Pakistan (GCC medicalcentres) for prima facie cartelisation.

A CCP statement said the showcause were issued on alleged cartelisa-tion to distribute customers on equalbasis, fix the medical fee and also ex-ploiting customers by restricting theirchoice and imposing unfair terms andconditions thereby, violating Section 3and 4 of the Competition Act, 2010.The show cause notices were issued bythe Director General Legal, Registrarof the Commission. GAMCAs andGCC medical centrs have been givenfourteen days to show cause in writingand to avail the opportunity of beingheard before CCP.

A formal complaint was filed byPakistan Overseas employment Pro-moters Association (POePA) beforeCCP against GAMCA and GCC med-ical centres in Pakistan that GCCmedical centres working under theirrespective GAMCA have beencartelised to allocate the customersamong themselves on equal basis.

The commission initiated an en-

quiry and appointed Senior Joint Di-rector, Nadia Nabi and Joint Director,Noman A Farooqi as enquiry officers toconduct a detailed enquiry on the com-plaint. They completed their enquiryand submitted the enquiry report onJanuary 31, 2012. The report says inlast 3 years (2008-2010), medical cen-tres only in the region of Peshawar,Karachi and Islamabad/Rawalpindiearned Rs1.8 billion excluding repeattests whereas, medical centres in theregion of Lahore and Multan earnedRs144 million in one year (2010-2011).

In terms of enquiry report, to pro-cure visa for GCC countries exceptUAe, every intended immigrant is re-quired to go through a pre departuremedical test which is conducted onlyby GCC approved medical. Currentlythere are 20 GCC medical centres di-vided in to five regions of Islam-abad/Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar,Karachi and Multan along with theiradjoining cities. In each region, thereis one GAMCA established to overseethe working of GCC medical centres inits region. each GAMCA is also en-gaged in issuing the registration num-bers to the intended immigrants andreferring them to GCC medical centresfor tests to ensure equal distributionsystem amongst GCC medical centres.

The equal distribution system wasintroduced in 1999 when the GCCmedical centres started complainingto executive board of GCC health min-

isters council about uncertainty indistribution of medical slips. Fear thatone GCC medical centre is gettingmore business by paying commissionto recruiting agents to refer customersto its medical centre apparently re-sulted into formation of GAMCA andequal distribution system in the re-gion of each GAMCA.

The report also highlights that nodisciplinary action was taken againstthat particular medical centre in-volved in mal-practices and it still con-tinues to work. Further, the reportconcludes that prima facie, GCC med-ical centres are charging the same feefor the pre-departure medical testswhich under the auspices of GAMCAis decided and fixed and also proposedto the executive board for approval.These practices of territorial divisionand equal distribution of customersand fixing the fee prima facie restrictthe choice of customers and competi-tion among medical centres for priceand quality of services and therefore,are in contravention of Section 4(1)and 4 (2)(a),(b) and (c) of the Act.

The report says it appears thatthis particular case involves a captivemarket as the intended immigrantsfor GCC countries except UAe have toget their mandatory medical test con-ducted by only GCC medial centres.Further, their choice is restricted to aparticular medical centre allocated byGAMCA. Therefore, prima facie, GCC

medical centres severally and jointly,under the auspices of GAMCAs havethe ability to behave to an appreciableextent independently of competitors,customers and thus, hold dominantposition in the relevant market.

The report also reveals instanceswhereby, it appears that GCC medicalcenters are conducting pre departuretests of intended immigrants on theirown terms and conditions including;repeat medical tests conducted tocharge extra fee; customer declaredunfit once has no choice, customers re-quired to go through a repeat test areforced to come back to same medicalcentre; and refusal to conduct medicaltest on the basis of city of origin. Suchpractices, prima facie, amount to un-fair trading conditions imposed oncustomers and are in contravention ofSection 3(1), in particular, Section 3(3)(a) of the Act. Under the given factsand circumstances in the report, it ap-pears that GCC medical centres andGAMCAs are subjecting a vulnerablesegment of society to unfair condi-tions. Most of the intended immi-grants to GCC countries are thosepeople who procure visa for manuallabour in these countries. In fact, theseimmigrants bring a significant amountof remittance from GCC countries toPakistan which is $6 to 8 billion in ayear. On the other hand, GCC medicalcentres are earning a huge amountthrough pre-departure medical tests.

STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD

MINISTeR for Waterand Power, SyedNaveed Qamar onThursday directed

launching of 30 millionCompact Fluorescent Lamps(CFL) or energy saver bulbsdistribution programmethroughout the country in atransparent manner from April,this year.He made these directions whilepresiding over a meeting ondistribution plan of CFLs. Theministry of water and power willcarry out the over all project

management. It will reduceconsumer’s bill by Rs300 perbulb, per year. The project willhelp in reducing peak demandover 1000 MW, in avoidinggeneration of 1600 MW. Theproject will yield CleanDevelopment Mechanism(CDM) revenues of about $32million by 2018.The minister said CFLs will bedistributed free of cost to nondefaulters domestic consumersunder national energy efficiencyprogramme with the financialcooperation of AsianDevelopment Bank and AFD ofFrance.He directed the project

coordinator of NTDC that nofurther delay in the energyconservation plan would betolerated. The project wasinitially planned to beimplemented in 2009. Hedirected DISCOs to devise atransparent distribution andmonitoring mechanism. Aproper awareness campaign andplan of distribution must bestarted for the consumers.The minister said CFL project isan initiative of the governmentto improve energy efficiency inpower sector. President andprime minister are very keen tostart the programme at theearliest. As approximately, 1000

MW will be saved under thisprogramme and will help toreduce the gap between demandand supply and will give relief toindustrial and other consumers.The meeting decided that CFLswill be distributed in threephases by the DISCOs and inthe first phase, life lineconsumers will be given twoCFLs in exchange of twohealthy incandescent bulbs of40 and 100 Watts. The meetingwas attended by secretaryministry of water and power,CeOs of DISCOs, programmecoordinator, senior officials ofthe ministry andrepresentatives of KeSC.

CCP issues show cause noticesfor alleged cartelisation

Free distribution of 30 millionenergy savers from April

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

AFTeR a strong opposition bythe ministry of commerce,national assembly standingcommittee on commerce de-

cided to defer the finalisation of TradeDevelopment Authority of Pakistan(TDAP) bill till its next meeting. Themeeting of the committee was heldunder the chairmanship of KhurramDastgir Khan. Briefing the committee,Secretary Commerce, Zafar Mehmoodsaid there was no need of TDAP be-cause trade and exports promotion is afunction of facilitation and not of reg-ulation. The bill is under considerationof the committee for the last four years.

However, he said it was difficult torun TDAP without legal cover. In theabsence of board, ordinance and busi-

ness rules, the authority’s status wasvery ambiguous and putting a bigquestion over the fate of the organisa-tion. Former President, General PervezMusharraff had established TDAPthrough an Ordinance in 2006 by re-placing the earlier export PromotionBureau (ePB) to evolve an effective au-

thority for the promotion of exports.The committee also discussed re-

constitution of TDAP board of directorsas the existing size of the board is con-sidered huge with minister for com-merce as chairman, while the chiefexecutive, TDAP is its vice chairman andother 25 members including 15 ex-offi-cio members while 10 from the privatesectors. Secretary commerce was of viewthat the huge size of the board was notsuitable and severely affecting the per-formance of the authority. The commit-tee asked the ministry to suggest thereconstitution of the board and was in-formed that for posting of 38 commer-cial counselors, a written test will be heldon February 11 conducted by LUMS. Theprocess will be finalised by April 2012.The committee directed the ministrythat no appointment should be madewithout passing the requisite test.

sBP to issue banknoteswith Yaseen’ssignatureKARACHI: Centralbank would startissuing banknotesbearing signature ofSBP Governor, YaseenAnwar from the 10th ofFebruary, said a StateBank statement onThursday. Thecurrency notes wouldbe issued from the fieldoffices of SBP BankingServices Corporation.The banknotes bearingsignature of hispredecessors wouldcontinue to remain incirculation as legaltender. STAFF REPORT

Commerce ministry opposesautonomous TDAP

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news

Friday, 10 February, 2012

03

CORPORATE CORNERemaar continues to deliveron its promise of luxury living

KARACHI: emaar Pakistan, the countrysubsidiary of global property developer emaarProperties PJSC, recently handed over a new villa,part of Mirador project at Canyon Views, to itsowners at a festive ceremony. The ceremony wasattended by emaar Pakistan representatives andthe friends and family of the ecstatic Maj. Gen.Asif Akhtar (Retd.) keeping the tradition alive,emaar Pakistan continues to deliver on itspromise of providing luxury living and handingover the completed projects to the owners ontimely basis. PRESS RELEASE

Ufone offers controlon outgoing, incoming callsISLAMABAD: Ufone continues to live up tothese challenges and recently introducedUMonitor; a service with which customers will beable to monitor calls on three phone numbers.With this offer customers can now create a list ofselected numbers and control their incoming andoutgoing calls. Mobile communicationtechnologies have evolved independently acrosscontinents and there is significant challenge inachieving success while introducing innovativeservices. Ufone has introduced UMonitor for itsboth postpaid and prepaid customers. Theprimary prepaid number will be charged Rs5+taxper week and postpaid customers will be chargedRs20 per month- the monitored numbers will not

be charged. Customers can subscribe to thisservice by dialing 6363. All calls to 6363 will becharged at Rs0.1+tax per minute. Aftersubscription, customers will be given the option toadd up to three phone numbers of their choicewhich they want to monitor. The monitorednumber will have the option to accept or declinebeing added to the monitored list. The primarynumber will be able to monitor each numberseparately by sending command SMS to 6464 freeof cost. each monitored number’s log will bemaintained separately. PRESS RELEASE

Deputy chairman eRRa chairs 14thUrban Development Project meeting

ISLAMABAD: A meeting to oversee progress onUrban Development projects of AJK was held ateRRA Headquarters today. Chaired by theDeputy Chairman eRRA, Lt Gen Sardar MahmoodKhan, the meeting was attended by AdditionalChief Secretary AJK, Secretary Works AJK,Commissioner Muzaffarabad and Rawalakot, DGplanning eRRA Brig Zafar Walha, DG SeRRA andother officials from eRRA and AJK. PRESS RELEASE

New batch of agriculturestudents pursue university degreesKARACHI: Institutional Scholarship AwardCommittee (ISAC) in the meeting held on 06thFebruary, 2012 recommended 58 students of SindhAgriculture University (SAU), Tandojam for the

award of needs based scholarships. Vice ChancellorDr A Q Mughal presided over the meeting.The ISACcomprised of Prof.Dr A Q Mughal, Vice ChancellorSAU,Tandojam, Pr Dr ShamsuddinTunio, DeanFaculty of Crop Production, Dr Amir BukhshKalhoro, Mr Mir Rafique Ahmed KhanTalpur,Community Representative and other seniormembers from university and Higher educationCommission . PRESS RELEASE

Parkinson’s Unity Walk:a catalyst for hope and promise KARACHI: The Parkinson’s disease communitycomes together to instill spirit and optimism inthose affected by the disease at the Parkinson’sUnity Walk, the country’s largest annualgrassroots event for the disease organized by thePakistan Parkinson’s Society and Agha KhanHospital Hundreds of people affected with thedisease, caregivers, families and friends areexpected to lend their feet by participating in agentle one mile walk and community educationday in Agha Khan Hospital Cricket ground andSports and Rehab Centre in the ongoing fight tomanage the disease and find a cure. every nineminutes someone is diagnosed with Parkinson’sdisease. PRESS RELEASE

Pakistan state Oilannounces results for 1HFY12KARACHI: Board of Management of Pakistan StateOil (PSO) convened on Thursday at PSO House toreview the company’s performance over the first halfof FY12 from July, 2011 to December, 2011. In theperiod under review PSO revenues touched Rs576billion as compared to Rs427 billion in thecorresponding period last year, representing agrowth of 34.8 per cent. The company alsoannounced after tax earnings of Rs4.58 billion in1HFY12 in comparison to Rs7.13 billion during thesame period last year. This reduction was due to adeferred tax adjustment made in 1HFY11. During thistime period, the industry’s volumes for Black Oilgrew by 3 per cent, whereas, white oil grew by fourper cent reflecting an increase in PMG consumption

of 24 per cent while a decline of two per cent wasrecorded in HSD demand. In the period underreview, PSO continued its domination of the marketwith its share in the Black Oil and White Oilsegments standing at 79.1 per cent and 53.4 per centrespectively, thereby contributing to an overallmarket share of 65.3 per cent. PRESS RELEASE

LAHORE: China Mobile Pakistan and Wisecomm havesigned an agreement under Customer EntrepreneurServices to provide sales and services to customers.Picture show ZONG’s CEO Fan Yunjun shaking hands withShahid Mahmood Bhatti, CEO of Wisecomm. PRESS RELEASE

LAHORE: Chairman, Travel Agent Association of

Pakistan (TAAP), Yahya Polani, presenting a souvenirto the President Azad Jummu and Kashmir AJK,Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan. Also seen presenton the occasion are Rafiq Khan Bukhari, and TahirKhokar. PRESS RELEASE

FAISALABAD

STAFF REPORT

A LL Punjab Textile Associa-tions Council has demandedof the government, the oppo-sition and leaders of all polit-ical parties for inclusion of

equal distribution rights of gas in pro-posed 20th constitutional amendmentfor industrial and economic develop-ment in the country. This demand wasraised by Rana Arif Tauseef, RegionalChairman Pakistan Textile exportersAssociation (PTeA) while addressing apress conference at PTeA.

Rana Arif said the overall growth intextile exports in first half of the cur-rent fiscal posted a negative growth of

4.68 per cent, as it touched $5.96 bil-lion in July-December this year from$6.25 billion over the correspondingperiod last year. The graph of textileexports was continuously going downas textile exports in last three monthswere $578 million short and likely tolose another $250 to $300 million inJanuary. He said severe shortage of gashas almost devastated the manufactur-ing and industrial sectors renderingexport units dysfunctional and this sit-uation is resulting in the loss of pro-duction and cancellation of exportorders. emphasising the importance ofconducive industrial promotion andproductivity augmentation conditionsin the country, PTeA chairman said tokeep the industrial wheel running and

providing maximum job employmentto working hands in the country, it wasimperative to facilitate the optimumindustrial activity.

Rana Arif vehemently appealed topolitical leadership to remove injusticeand disequilibrium of distribution ofnatural resources among the provincescaused by the 18th constitutionalamendment. Due to this unnatural andunjust distributive system, the exportsand industries of the country were suf-fering heavily, particularly in Punjab.He demanded of the political leader-ship of the country to remove this con-stitutional hurdle for promotion ofindustrial and economic activities inthe Punjab and directly linked thisproblem with the economic growth of

the province.Shahzad Siddique Ch, Vice Chair-

man PTeA, Qamar Aftab, Vice Chair-man Pakistan Hosiery ManufacturersAssociation (N Z), Khalid MahmoodCheema, Chairman All Pakistan CottonPower Looms Association, MianNadim Ashfaq Puri, Chairman All Pak-istan embroidery Association, ImranMehmood, Vice Chairman All PakistanBed Sheets and Upholstery Manufac-turers Association, Rana MuhammadAmin, Chairman Small Power loomsAssociation, Waheed Khaliq Raamay,Chairman Council of Loom Owners As-sociation, and Mian Ajmal Farooq ofAll Pakistan Textile Processing MillsAssociation were also present in thepress conference.

Pakistan allset to participatein Expo Yeosu 2012

SEOUL

MONITORING DESK

T ARIQ Puri, Chief executive,Trade Development Authority ofPakistan (TDAP), attended the

third international planning meetingfor expo 2012 Yeosu, Korea, as theCommissioner General of PakistanPavilion and discussed the effectiveparticipation of Pakistan Pavilion inexpo 2012 with Mr Kang Dong-Suk,Chairman of the organising committeeof expo Yeosu. expo authoritiesbriefed Mr Puri about thepreparations, design, installation anddismantlement of exhibition space,site operations and transportation/accommodation facilities, marketingand public relations, culturalprogramme, protocol arrangementsand a presentation on Yeosudeclaration. On the sidelines of expomeeting, chief executive TDAP alsomet Mr Yoon So-Jung, ChairmanSojung Cooking and G-Food of Koreaand invited them for growinghorticultural products in Pakistan andprocessing them for export. He alsooffered them to assist in finding rightbusiness partner in Pakistan, whocould offer them land on equity basisfor agriculture purpose/corporatefarming and also offered to help themsecure land for export ProcessingZone for processing purposes.Chairman of Ilshin Spinning ofKorea, Mr Kim Yeong Ho called onMr Puri and briefed him on hisbusiness interests in Pakistan. Heshowed interest in sourcing latestcompacted and selpharised yarnsfrom Pakistan. Mr Puri invited themto participate in expo Pakistan 2012to be held in Karachi from 4-7October, 2012. He also offered themto make an early visit plan.

Traders lobby for fairlOaD maNaGemeNt

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