LHC summonsreport onsubstandardCNG cylindersLAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief

Justice Umar Ata Bandial Monday

sought action against substandard

CNG cylinder manufacturers

summoning a detailed report from the

Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority

(OGRA) till March 13. The single

judge bench comprising the chief

justice passed the orders on a petition

filed by petitioner-counsel Rana

Mehtab. Earlier, Secretary OGRA

Zainul Abideen Quershi appeared

before the court and submitted that

mostly CNG cylinder explosions took

place in public transport vehicles

whereas there were no reports of

explosions in private vehicles. He

mentioned various steps taken to stop

cylinder explosions. APP

KSE closeshigher, rupeeweakensKARACHI: Pakistan's stock market

closed higher on Monday, with the

telecommunications sector taking the

lead as investors predicted earnings

would be stronger than expected,

traders said. The Karachi Stock

Exchange's (KSE) benchmark 100-

share index ended 0.13 percent, or

21.84 points, higher at 17,288.07.

"(The) Telecom sector remained in the

limelight as investors expect December

quarter earnings will be better due to

an increase in international call rates,"

said a dealer. Telecard rose 24.38

percent to 4.54 rupees. Pakistan

Telecommunication Corporation rose

5.21 percent to 19.40 rupees. In the

currency market, the rupee ended

weaker at 97.73/97.79 against the

dollar, compared to Friday's close of

97.70/97.75. Overnight rates in the

money market remained flat at nine

percent. STAFF RePORT

Pak-ChinaBusiness Forumfrom March 23ISLAMABAD: COMSATS Institute of

Information Technology (CIIT) will

organise the second Pak-China

Business Forum from March 23-26 to

explore new avenues of cooperation

for mutual benefit of the two friendly

countries. Its objective is to promote

collaboration between universities

and industries. Major Chinese and

Pakistani companies, small and

medium enterprises, entrepreneurs,

universities, and research and

development organisations will attend

the forum activities, said official

sources. The seminar will comprise

project exhibition, seminars,

workshops and an industrial academic

expo. CIIT introduced an academia

driven model of Business Cooperation

by establishing Pak-China Business

Forum to promote academia-industry

collaboration in business and

economic sectors. The forum will

provide an opportunity for

commercialisation of products and

processes of the participating

organisations. APP

Business community, defense institutions

interaction is needed for country’s

wellbeing — Zafar Bakhtawari

01

ISLAMABAD

APP

THe Ministry of Commercehas announced adoption ofa number of guiding princi-ples to create a competitiveenvironment by rationalis-

ing the tariff protection policy (TPP).According to the new Strategic Trade

Policy Framework (STPF) 2012-15 an-nounced by the government recently, thehigh tariff protection maintained over a pe-riod of time erodes competitiveness and af-fects consumer welfare.

Thus the ministry will adopt the fol-lowing guiding principles: promote com-petitive markets in the country, ensureconformity to international agreementsand practices, promote domestic and for-eign investment, create level playing fieldfor Pakistani firms in international as wellas domestic markets, provide due consid-eration to consumer welfare, cater to thechanging needs of Pakistan's economy andcreate an enabling environment to pursuethe legitimate goal of industrialisation inthe country. Similarly under the STPF2012-15, the ministry will establish thePakistan Land Port Authority (PLPA) tostrengthen regional trade.

According to the policy, trade integra-tion with South Asia, China and the eco-nomic Cooperation Organisation (eCO)countries is likely to increase the volumeof trade flows across land borders.

However, “our borders at land ports

lack world class trade facilities,” the policysaid. According to the policy, the land portswill be transformed into efficient facilita-tors of trade and simultaneously become re-sponsive to security issues and smuggling.

The ministry in the trade policy has

proposed to establish the Pakistan LandPort Authority as a statutory body, underthe administrative control of the Ministryof Interior with representation from rele-vant federal entities as well as from the re-spective provincial governments.

BUSINESS

BTuesday, 5 February, 2013

LAHORE

ONlINe

Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) hasput in place a petroleum levy on Liquefied Petro-leum Gas (LPG) shifting the burden of increasein gas price by Rs 5 per kilogram onto consumers.

Per a private TV channel, OGRA had im-posed the levy at the rate of Rs11.50 last year,which was challenged by the LPG marketingcompanies in Lahore High Court (LHC). The

court had suspended implementation of the noti-fication on this count but OGRA has now intro-duced a new formula after a lapse of 8 monthsunder which petroleum levy at the rate of Rs3500 per tone has been enforced on LPG fromFebruary 1st. The consumers will have to bearthe brunt of this levy as the gas will now costthem at an increase of Rs 5 per kilogram.

The LPG marketing companies have saidthey will challenge the SRO again in the court,as it is unjust and unfair.

FPCCI RESPONDS TO STRATEGIC TRADE POLICY FRAMEWORKKARACHI: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of

Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) issued its

response to the Strategic Trade Policy Framework

announced earlier this week by the Ministry of

Commerce. While commenting on the export

target of $95 billion for the next three years

envisaged by the ministry, FPCCI President

Haji Fazal Kadir Khan Sherani said it was a

realistic announcement but would still

require commitment and hard work in

view of the energy and security crises

facing the country. He also appreciated the

fact that regional trade with ECO, China and SAARC had

been recognised as an area of priority by proposing the

idea of an exclusive Pakistan Land Port Authority. At the

same time, Pakistan’s weakness in the areas of fruit, meat

and food processing had also been identified, and the STPF

contained proposals to address these areas by encouraging

industrial units in Balochistan, KP, FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan,

he said. The FPCCI had in the past been raising these

issues with the government at various forums. On the

other hand, there were also some weaknesses in

the STPF, which could not be overlooked from the

point of view of the business community of the

country according to the FPCCI. For instance, the

announcement of STPF came near the end of the

incumbent government’s tenure, which raises a

question mark about who would implement it,

after the present government’s term ended, said

Sherani. While it was true that some of the

business community’s demands, such as

reduction in mark-up for export-oriented

industries had been acknowledged, yet there was nothing in

the STPF to address some other thorny issues, such as

smuggling on the western border, improvement in

infrastructure on both the eastern and western border

trading posts, and the biggest problems of all- energy, and

law and order, he said. Surprisingly, the STPF also does not

contain adequate provisions for the textile sector, which

makes up more than 50% of our exports, he added. NNI

Businessmen providedWeBOC training

ISLAMABAD

APP

Business community, exporters as well as importers were educated andprovided initial training on the Web-Based One Custom System(WeBOC) during a session held at the Islamabad Chamber of Commerceand Industry (ICCI) on Monday. Customs Deputy Collector Faiz Alichaired the session and explained important features of the WeBOCincluding increased customs efficiency and efficient deployment ofresources, minimal clearance time at port, minimal customs processingtime, paperless and single window customs operations, reduced cost ofdoing business and less clearing/handling charges. He informed thebusinessmen about the efficiency of the system for maintaining bettercash flows, transparency and integrity, on the mark revenue realisation,cargo information, on-line manifest filing and many other features. Hesaid the customs department is striving to make WeBOC more familiarwith stakeholders and customs officials are always available to resolvetheir problems related to the system. The deputy collector said WeBocwould not only drastically reduce the time for clearance of goods butwould also work in accordance with the latest SROs and the internationalprice mechanism. Speaking on the occasion, ICCI President ZafarBakhtawari appreciated the deputy collector for bringing in thetechnologically advanced system for the benefit of the businesscommunity. Bakhtawari said the Customs Department should establishfacilitation desks for achieving better results and conduct massiveawareness campaigns for businessmen. He said customs should alsopromote industrialisation by adopting a business friendly approachtowards the business community and industrialists. He said that localimporters and exporters have some reservations over custom procedureswhich could be addressed by easing regulations and procedures andeliminating corruption, making the system more efficient and organised.

OGRA slaps petroleumlevy on LPG

16-17 Business Pages (05-02-2013)_Layout 1 2/5/2013 1:08 AM Page 1

MFN status to India will

not affect the Kashmir

cause — Manzoor WattooBUSINESSTuesday, 5 February, 2013

Major Gainers

COMPANY OPEN HIGH LOW CLOSE CHANGE TURNOVERBata (Pak) 1384.99 1454.00 1394.00 1400.00 15.01 450Fazal Textile 270.29 283.80 283.80 283.80 13.51 100Exide (PAK) 336.61 349.90 336.75 348.15 11.54 10,300Atlas Honda Ltd 157.79 165.67 158.50 165.67 7.88 36,100Philip Morris Pak. 156.96 164.80 164.80 164.80 7.84 7,100

Major LosersNestle Pakistan Ltd. 5170.00 4911.50 4911.50 4911.50 -258.50 120Indus Dyeing 628.90 598.00 597.50 597.50 -31.40 200Wyeth Pak Limited 915.00 900.00 900.00 900.00 -15.00 50Millat Tractors Ltd. 636.96 640.00 625.01 627.12 -9.84 48,600Siemens Pakistan XD 605.56 622.00 600.00 601.00 -4.56 2,250

Volume Leaders

Telecard Limited 3.65 4.58 3.75 4.43 0.78 37,391,000P.T.C.L.A 18.44 19.44 18.51 19.39 0.95 28,102,500Pace (Pak) Ltd. 3.11 3.59 3.11 3.48 0.37 22,615,500Lotte PakPTA 7.34 7.80 7.31 7.72 0.38 20,799,500Maple Leaf Cement 17.90 18.20 17.29 17.39 -0.51 19,815,500

Interbank RatesUSD PKR 97.7857GBP PKR 153.7289JPY PKR 1.0508EURO PKR 132.9690

ForexBUY SELL

US Dollar 99.10 99.80Euro 132.65 134.99Great Britain Pound 153.98 156.65Japanese Yen 1.0524 1.0700Canadian Dollar 97.60 99.94Hong Kong Dollar 12.50 12.79UAE Dirham 26.73 27.15Saudi Riyal 26.23 26.59

NIT’s sales promotion

kiosk at ‘All About Life

Styles Exhibition’ ends

KARACHI: Three days kiosk organized by NIT at

Expo Centre from February 1-3 to familiarize the

people about the opportunities of profit by

investment in NIT funds ended on Sunday. A heavy

turnout of visitors was witnessed at NIT stall. A

very useful database of perspective customers has

been compiled during the event days to help NIT

marketing force to explore further. Chairman/MD

NIT Mr. Wazir Ali Khoja also visited NIT kiosk and

appreciated the teamwork of NIT staff deputed at

NIT kiosk. PReSS ReleASe

Jubilee Life thanks its

Bancassurance partners

KARACHI: Jubilee Life Insurance recently

celebrated yet another successful year of

Bancassurance business by holding an entertaining

gala event for its partners. The event was aimed to

appreciate the outstanding performance of its

partners and thank them for their contribution in

the success. Event was attended by Jubilee Life’s

Bancassurance partners, Commissioner of

Insurance (SECP), directors and senior

management of the company, along with other

prominent and well known personalities from the

corporate world. Jubilee Life pioneered

Bancassurance in 2003 and is now the largest

player in the Bancassurance arena with 11 partner

banks. With its innovative product offerings and

unparalleled levels of customer services, Jubilee Life

cemented its market leadership with over 50% of

total new Bancassurance premiums written in 2012.

Mr. Javed Ahmed, Managing Director & CEO Jubilee

Life speaking to the guests said, ‘I am delighted in

celebrating our proud achievements together with

our partners. I attribute this success to my team

and on the top to all our partners whose

commitment and focus served as the key ingredient

to the success of Bancassurance.’ PReSS ReleASe

Dawlance 1100-A

automatic washing

machine offers innovative

washing solution

KARACHI: Dawlance, the no. 1 home appliances

brand of Pakistan recently launched a new

Automatic Washing Machine (Model # 1100-A) to

add to its already impressive range of washing

machine models. This latest addition has loads of

technically advance features i.e. Hassle Free Wash,

One Touch Operation, Power Failure Resumption,

Delay Start-up, Child Safety Lock and Tub Clean

Option which will revolutionize the way clothes are

being washed in households today. Speaking at the

launch Mr. Hasan Jamil, head of sales, Dawlance

said: “Dawlance understands that people now

expect much more from a washing machine than

just washing of clothes. A hectic lifestyle leads to a

continuous need for comfort which is in part

provided by Dawlance’s innovative home appliances

like the 1100-A automatic washing machine. The

thought process behind the development was

providing the busy women of today with a solution

to ease the hassle behind the daily washing of

clothes. No longer do women need to take out time

from their hectic lives to wash their household’s

clothes. Everything can be done with a touch of a

button giving them enough free time to tend to

other chores.” Speaking at the launch, Ms. Naushin

Shahid, Category Manager, Dawlance added,

“Dawlance 1100-Automatic washing machine is a

breakthrough in washing technology. The Delay

Start-up feature makes washing possible anytime

during a day. Just set a certain time and the

machine will automatically wash the clothes without

a need for supervision. The Power Failure

Resumption feature allows the washing machine to

carry on with the washing without restart in case of

a power failure. Besides this it also has the regular

One Touch Operations, Customized wash feature,

Hassle Free Wash, Tub Clean Option and a Child

Safety Lock. Households can avail the innovative

solutions provided by the Dawlance automatic

washing machine 1100-A at the same price as

some of the semi automatic washing machines

available in market today.” PReSS ReleASe

CORPORATE CORNER

KARACHI: Former Turkish diplomat Erkut Onart’s photography exhibition was held at Grandeur

Gallery at Zamzama. Photo shows Turkish Consul General Murat Mustafa Onart, Grandeur CEO

Neshmia Ahmed and Yasmeen Haider. PR

KARACHI

NNI

SenIOR management andleadership of around 28public and private sectorcompanies (also includ-ing many multinationals)

will be awarded the 3rd Global CeOexcellence Awards-2013 at a splendidceremony to be held here at MarriottHotel on February 9, 2013.

Senior Federal Minister forCommerce Amin Fahim will be thechief guest on the occasion and willalso give away awards to heads ofsuccessful public, private, and multi-national companies. The GlobalMedia Links (GML) and Better Pak-istan Forum are organising the awardceremony to admire excellence inleadership in various aspects andspheres of corporate, private, public,and industrial management.

The awards will be conferred invarious categories of innovativeleadership demonstrated by chair-men, CeOs, and managing-direc-tors, and other highly placedofficials of large, medium, and smallenterprises, industries, public, pri-vate, and government sector organi-sations. The prime feature of thisyear’s CeO excellence Awards will

be the presentation of MultinationalCeO excellence Awards-2013 to of-ficiating heads of 10 leading and dis-tinguished multinational companiesworking in Pakistan.

For selecting 10 coveted win-ners of Multinational CeO excel-lence Awards, the event organizersextensively browsed through pro-files and achievements of over 50multinational organisations and theirrespective top business leadershipactive in Pakistan.

In view of the event organisers,the presence of promising multina-tional organisations like these on thenational economic scene wouldsurely help in boosting a soft andbusiness-friendly image of Pakistan.

These outstanding multination-als are being given awards as theyensure continuance and further con-vergence of foreign investment inPakistan where often issues relatedto law and order and energy shortfallhinder commercial, industrial and

economic progress of the country.Another prominent feature of the

programme will be the holding of“Global Innovative Business Leader-ship Summit” also being organised onthe sidelines of the award ceremonythe same day. This summit would beaddressed by leaders of a number ofeminent organisations of the countryas panellists of the forum.

The awards programme is thefirst of its kind in Pakistan, where,nominees were selected through aprofessionally handled process andwere adjudged according to interna-tionally accepted standards and prin-ciples of leadership excellence.According to the statistics of GlobalCeO excellence Awards-2013, sincesoft launching of the award competi-tion some two months back, around150 business houses made initial con-tacts with the GML for getting firsthand information about the event.

Over 75 institutions had later en-sured their participation in the awardcompetition by sending in nomina-tions of their senior leadership forawards in various innovative cate-gories. The jury for selecting win-ners of Global CeO excellenceAwards-2013 comprised of six lead-ing industry experts including twointernational judges.

3rd Global CEO ExcellenceAwards-2013 on Feb 9

KARACHI: Executive Vice President of National

Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Irtiza Kazmi receives

the 3rd CA Award from Sindh Women’s

Development Minister Tauqeer Fatima Bhutto

as Syed Ibne Hasan, Senior Vice President and

Head of Corporate Communication PT and

Brand, looks on. STAFF PhOTO

KARACHI: ZONG has once again outdone its competitors by announcing the winners of its

Carnama offer. Through this offer the telecom giant has rewarded 5 fortunate subscribers with

brand new Honda Civic cars and 40 subscribers with motorbikes. Picture shows Berkat Ullah,

Regional Director ZONG, handing over the key of Honda Civic to lucky winner Ghulam Yasin. PR

02

B

16-17 Business Pages (05-02-2013)_Layout 1 2/5/2013 1:08 AM Page 2