profitepaper pakistantoday 19th December, 2012
2
Wednesday, 19 December, 2012 KARACHI STAFF REPORT There are a number of positive features in Pakistani economy, which if incorporated in the growth equation, can pull the coun- try back from economic stagnation and set it on a plane of high and sustainable rate of GDP growth. Pakistan, if managed properly, can achieve a growth rate of 7 to 8 percent in the next three to five years. Shahid Javed Burki, Renowned Econ- omist, former VP World Bank and former Caretaker Finance Minister of Pakistan, expressed these views while presenting his Macroeconomic Address during the 13th MAP Convention organized here today by the Management Association of Pakistan. Under the theme of this year’s MAP Convention “Leadership, People, In- novation”, speakers from across the world gathered to discuss growing market needs and measures to overcome challenges through strong leadership, human capital management and innovation. Terrabiz is the official conference producer of the convention. Shahid Javed Burki high- lighted factors that should become part of the growth framework being developed by the Planning Commission that include: agriculture with a high growth potential; medium size companies with the skill base to become international supply chains; opening up of the economy to India; an enviable geographic space; rap- idly growing cities that could become the engines of economic growth; the entry of a million well trained and skilled women into the economy every year; and large di- asporas to play important roles in the de- velopment of the homeland. He pointed out that 2012-13 is likely to be better than the year before but it does not mean that the economy is finally out of woods. He said: “In 2008-12, Pak- istan was engaged in making a transition from a controlled to a reasonably open political system. The positive side of this development is that a durable and repre- sentative political system is coming into being in which people will have a voice. One of the more important reasons for the economy’s indifferent performance was the poor quality of governance that was on offer. There are ways of improving gov- ernance and some of these are being fac- tored into the development of institutions of accountability.” Earlier, Kamal Chinoy, President MAP while delivering the wel- come note said, “The aim of this conven- tion is to provide a platform and opportunity for corporate stakeholders to analyze key trends and prospects in the re- gion in general and Pakistan in particular. 7-8% ECONOMIC GROWTH ACHIEVABLE IN PAKISTAN: BURKI KARACHI ISMAIL DILAWAR P AKISTANI rupee started recov- ering Tuesday and surged by Re 1 against the dollar on the local currency market as the federal government Monday took notice of the record appreciation in the value of the US currency trading above Rs 99 on the open market a day earlier. Realization of the foreign pledges is another source the gov- ernment is pinning hope in as Islamabad expects the transfer of over $ 600 million US war reimbursements in various install- ments by next month. Also, a breakthrough is expected in the realization of $ 800 million under privatiza- tion proceeds of the PTCL as a team of the utility’s buyers from Etisalat is due today (Wednesday) to discuss the long-standing issue with local authorities. Tuesday saw the rupee gaining Re 1 and 25 paisas, respectively, on the open and inter-bank market where the dollar traded at Rs 98.50 and Rs 97.90 against Monday’s Rs 99.50 and Rs 98.15. Though government officials denied it, the market sources claimed that the central bank must have injected some liquidity to brake the historic upsurge of the greenback against the local currency. “Today the dollar depreciated by Re 1 and we by next week would see further downfall,” State Minister for Finance and Investment Saleem H. Mandviwala told reporters here at the office of Board of Investment. Pointing finger at the “speculators”, the minister claimed to have devised an “action plan” based on a se- ries of short-term remedial measures to bring the dollar down to below Rs 90 level “as soon as possible”. “I feel the dollar is over-valued in Pakistan,” said the minister. According to Mandviwala, the govern- mental steps include: Banning the dollar’s forward booking by importers through banks, curbing the smuggling of foreign curren- cies to foreign countries, like Dubai, mobilizing the Federal Intelligence Agency (FIA) against more than 30,000 un- registered foreign ex- change companies operating in Pakistan, giving banks-like in- centives to the money exchangers under the Pakistan Remittance Ini- tiative (PRI) scheme, disal- lowing banks to maintain huge dollar reserves and constant monitoring of the inter-bank market. “We would regularly be monitoring the implementation of theses measures,” said the minister who intends to set an ambi- tious target of $ 20 billion for worker remit- tances from fiscal year 2014. Giving an account of Monday’s meeting at the State Bank, Mandviwala said in the meeting none could find a reason for the dollar’s current surge, but all concluded was that the “media hype” did this. “Speculations on forex reserves and the government’s inability to meet its foreign fi- nancial obligations brought us this situa- tion,” he said. Reacting to speculations, the minister said, the country would be left with reserves of 4-5 months in hand even if all its financial obligations were cleared. In Monday’s meeting, the minister said, when things were de- tailed some “quite disturb- ing” figures fronted the participants. “A lot” of foreign exchange, around $10-12 mil- lion, is illegally being exported abroad every day, he said adding that around 80 per- cent of the smuggled money was going to Dubai. “This has to be stopped. No currency should go abroad without the State Bank’s permission,” he said. If Pak- istan Customs and the Airport Security Force failed to control the smuggling the government, he said, would engage a “third agency” for the task. “The central bank of Dubai would also be contacted to check the irregularities,” Mandviwala told journalists. The government also intends to clamp down on the commercial banks which, the minister hinted, were holding billions of dol- lars in reserves which are to be used as export proceeds. “People retaining the dollar reserves or proceeds are creating liquidity crunch on the foreign exchange market,” he noted with concern. “They would have to surrender these dollars to the State Bank. The inter-bank (market) would be watched,” he said. Also, Mandviwala said, under consideration were the proposals to ban of forward booking of the dollar by the importers through banks. “Forward booking would be banned if it came out as a reason for dollar apprecia- tion,” he replied a questioner adding that “no one would be allowed to take undue profit About unregistered currency dealers, the finance minister said over 30,000 illegal firms were “posing a failure” to the regu- lated exchange firms. He said the FIA would be moved in a crackdown against such un- lawful dealers who were damaging the na- tional economy. “The Competition Commission of Pakistan may also be in- volved,” the minister said. The minister also announced that from next week the money exchangers would start getting the banks- like incentives under the PRI scheme under which the banks are paid a 6-rupee rebate on the transactions of worker remittances through formal channel. “I would increase the present $ 13.5 billion remittance target to $ 20 billion from next year (FY14),” the minister declared adding “if we affectively implement these measures there is no rea- son the dollar would slid back to normal.” Intel Pakistan Year in Review KARACHI STAFF REPORT 2012 was an exciting year for Intel in the Asia Pacific region. Technology in- novation from the region made possible devices with an immersive and personal computing experience. Intel is proud to be a driving force behind this innova- tion. Creating and extending computing technology to connect and enrich lives has been Intel’s company vision. This year Intel made a leap forward by deliv- ering next generation processors that changed the way people use and inter- act with computing technology from in- teractive signs, smart cars to smartphones, tablets, Ultrabooks™ and servers. Intel also continued its work to help transform Asia into a global pow- erhouse through a focus on education, encouraging the adoption of 21 st cen- tury skills and investing in Asian start- ups and entrepreneurs across the region. In 2012 Intel made smarter, faster and more secure computing possible through the integration of revolutionary technology. The first processors built on Intel’s innovative 22nm 3-D tri-gate transistors came to market with the launch of the 3 rd Gen Intel ® Core™ processor family. As a result Ultrabooks and other PC systems are now equipped with new technology that enables faster file transfers, super-quick start times, quick connections and greater security. Continuing Intel’s commitment to con- sumers to make computing easier, faster and more engaging will continue with the company’s planned 4 th Gen Intel ® Core™ processor family that is expected to reach consumers in 2013. “Technology companies and manufac- turers will need to tap into the psyche of Asian consumers and respond with relevant and desirable products, now more than ever. Consumers will be in- undated with mobile device options. A range of screen sizes, processing power and weights will enter the market in 2013 and manufacturers will rely on consumers’ choices to identify the most popular devices for future production,” Naveed Siraj, Country Manager, Intel Pakistan. In 2012, thirty-six teams from Asia were selected as finalists for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair . This year the competition at- tracted more than 1,500 talented high school students from around the world to compete for over US$3 million in prizes and grants. The Intel ® Teach Program has also helped millions of teachers harness technology to improve learning in the classroom. Worldwide, Intel trained more than 10 million teachers and we have trained more than 2.6 million teachers across 13 APAC countries. In Pakistan, Intel has trained more than 325,000 teachers. One rupee gained versus dollar as govt declares ‘revolutionary action plan’ g Banks under fire for maintaining reserves g Forward booking to be banned, regulated g Regulators to keep eye on inter-bank market g Customs, ASF to check daily smuggling of $10-12m g Forex firms to get bank-like rebate to up remittances by $20bn g FIA to clamp down on over 30,000 unregistered currency dealers KARACHI STAFF REPORT A spokesman of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) Tuesday said a ship carrying 55,000 metric tons of coal arrived at the Port Qasim Pak- istan Steel Jettyfrom Australia. The unloading of coal has been started through the 4.2 Km conveyer belt from Port Qasim Jetty to Pakistan Steel raw ma- terial stockyard. He said that Government is taking keen interest for the revival of PS and the procurement of raw materials from the bailout package is successfully started by PSmanagement. He added that the shortage of raw materials is the major cause of all problems currently facing by PS and management is fully exercising to solve this problem, as once the supply chain of raw materials is started then all problems will be solved. This coal was purchased from an Australian company through a long term contract with Pakistan Steel. Regarding iron ore availability PS spokesman said that, PS management achieved great success in iron making process during the shortage of imported iron ore with the utilization of local iron ore. The PSM spokesman said about 0.1 Million Tonns of local iron ore from- Baluchistan had been utilized by the PSM in this financial year. On the other hand, two contracts of imported iron ore are fi- nalized and about 30000 metric Tonns of iron ore will reach PS in next 20 days. He added that many tenders for procurement of iron ore are under process, after comple- tion of all legal paper work process two contracts of more than 100000 Metric tons of imported iron ore will be finalized. Ship carrying 55000MT pSM coal arriveS g Contracts for iron ore import finalised PRO 19-12-2012_Layout 1 12/19/2012 2:51 AM Page 1
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profitepaper pakistantoday 19th December, 2012
Transcript of profitepaper pakistantoday 19th December, 2012
Wednesday, 19 December, 2012
KARACHI
STAFF REPORT
There are a number of positive features inPakistani economy, which if incorporatedin the growth equation, can pull the coun-try back from economic stagnation andset it on a plane of high and sustainablerate of GDP growth.
Pakistan, if managed properly, canachieve a growth rate of 7 to 8 percent inthe next three to five years.
Shahid Javed Burki, Renowned Econ-omist, former VP World Bank and formerCaretaker Finance Minister of Pakistan,expressed these views while presentinghis Macroeconomic Address during the13th MAP Convention organized heretoday by the Management Association ofPakistan. Under the theme of this year’sMAP Convention “Leadership, People, In-novation”, speakers from across the world
gathered to discuss growing market needsand measures to overcome challengesthrough strong leadership, human capitalmanagement and innovation. Terrabiz isthe official conference producer of theconvention. Shahid Javed Burki high-lighted factors that should become part of
the growth framework being developed bythe Planning Commission that include:agriculture with a high growth potential;medium size companies with the skillbase to become international supplychains; opening up of the economy toIndia; an enviable geographic space; rap-
idly growing cities that could become theengines of economic growth; the entry ofa million well trained and skilled womeninto the economy every year; and large di-asporas to play important roles in the de-velopment of the homeland.
He pointed out that 2012-13 is likely
to be better than the year before but itdoes not mean that the economy is finallyout of woods. He said: “In 2008-12, Pak-istan was engaged in making a transitionfrom a controlled to a reasonably openpolitical system. The positive side of thisdevelopment is that a durable and repre-sentative political system is coming intobeing in which people will have a voice.One of the more important reasons for theeconomy’s indifferent performance wasthe poor quality of governance that wason offer. There are ways of improving gov-ernance and some of these are being fac-tored into the development of institutionsof accountability.” Earlier, Kamal Chinoy,President MAP while delivering the wel-come note said, “The aim of this conven-tion is to provide a platform andopportunity for corporate stakeholders toanalyze key trends and prospects in the re-gion in general and Pakistan in particular.
7-8% ECONOMIC GROWTH ACHIEVABLE IN PAKISTAN: BURKI
KARACHI
ISMAIL DILAWAR
PAKISTANI rupee started recov-ering Tuesday and surged by Re1 against the dollar on the localcurrency market as the federalgovernment Monday took notice
of the record appreciation in the value of theUS currency trading above Rs 99 on theopen market a day earlier. Realization of theforeign pledges is another source the gov-ernment is pinning hope in as Islamabadexpects the transfer of over $ 600 millionUS war reimbursements in various install-ments by next month.
Also, a breakthrough is expected in therealization of $ 800 million under privatiza-tion proceeds of the PTCL as a team of theutility’s buyers from Etisalat is due today(Wednesday) to discuss the long-standingissue with local authorities. Tuesday saw therupee gaining Re 1 and 25 paisas, respectively,on the open and inter-bank market where thedollar traded at Rs 98.50 and Rs 97.90 againstMonday’s Rs 99.50 and Rs 98.15.
Though government officials denied it,the market sources claimed that the centralbank must have injected some liquidity tobrake the historic upsurge of the greenbackagainst the local currency. “Today the dollardepreciated by Re 1 and we by next weekwould see further downfall,” State Ministerfor Finance and Investment Saleem H.Mandviwala told reporters here at the office
of Board of Investment. Pointing finger atthe “speculators”, the minister claimed tohave devised an “action plan” based on a se-ries of short-term remedial measures tobring the dollar down to below Rs 90 level“as soon as possible”. “I feel the dollar isover-valued in Pakistan,” said the minister.
According to Mandviwala, the govern-mental steps include: Banning the dollar’sforward booking by importersthrough banks, curbing thesmuggling of foreign curren-cies to foreign countries,like Dubai, mobilizingthe Federal IntelligenceAgency (FIA) againstmore than 30,000 un-registered foreign ex-change companiesoperating in Pakistan,giving banks-like in-centives to the moneyexchangers under thePakistan Remittance Ini-tiative (PRI) scheme, disal-lowing banks to maintain hugedollar reserves and constant monitoring ofthe inter-bank market.
“We would regularly be monitoring theimplementation of theses measures,” saidthe minister who intends to set an ambi-tious target of $ 20 billion for worker remit-tances from fiscal year 2014.
Giving an account of Monday’s meetingat the State Bank, Mandviwala said in the
meeting none could find a reason for thedollar’s current surge, but all concluded wasthat the “media hype” did this.
“Speculations on forex reserves and thegovernment’s inability to meet its foreign fi-nancial obligations brought us this situa-tion,” he said. Reacting to speculations, theminister said, the country would be left withreserves of 4-5 months in hand even if all its
financial obligations were cleared. InMonday’s meeting, the minister
said, when things were de-tailed some “quite disturb-
ing” figures fronted theparticipants. “A lot” offoreign exchange,around $10-12 mil-lion, is illegally beingexported abroad everyday, he said addingthat around 80 per-
cent of the smuggledmoney was going to
Dubai. “This has to bestopped. No currency
should go abroad without theState Bank’s permission,” he said. If Pak-istan Customs and the Airport SecurityForce failed to control the smuggling thegovernment, he said, would engage a “thirdagency” for the task. “The central bank ofDubai would also be contacted to check theirregularities,” Mandviwala told journalists.
The government also intends to clampdown on the commercial banks which, the
minister hinted, were holding billions of dol-lars in reserves which are to be used as exportproceeds. “People retaining the dollar reservesor proceeds are creating liquidity crunch onthe foreign exchange market,” he noted withconcern. “They would have to surrender thesedollars to the State Bank. The inter-bank(market) would be watched,” he said. Also,Mandviwala said, under consideration werethe proposals to ban of forward booking ofthe dollar by the importers through banks.“Forward booking would be banned if itcame out as a reason for dollar apprecia-tion,” he replied a questioner adding that“no one would be allowed to take undueprofit About unregistered currency dealers,the finance minister said over 30,000 illegalfirms were “posing a failure” to the regu-lated exchange firms. He said the FIA wouldbe moved in a crackdown against such un-lawful dealers who were damaging the na-tional economy. “The CompetitionCommission of Pakistan may also be in-volved,” the minister said. The minister alsoannounced that from next week the moneyexchangers would start getting the banks-like incentives under the PRI scheme underwhich the banks are paid a 6-rupee rebateon the transactions of worker remittancesthrough formal channel. “I would increasethe present $ 13.5 billion remittance targetto $ 20 billion from next year (FY14),” theminister declared adding “if we affectivelyimplement these measures there is no rea-son the dollar would slid back to normal.”
Intel Pakistan Year in Review
KARACHI
STAFF REPORT
2012 was an exciting year for Intel inthe Asia Pacific region. Technology in-novation from the region made possibledevices with an immersive and personalcomputing experience. Intel is proud tobe a driving force behind this innova-tion. Creating and extending computingtechnology to connect and enrich liveshas been Intel’s company vision. Thisyear Intel made a leap forward by deliv-ering next generation processors thatchanged the way people use and inter-act with computing technology from in-teractive signs, smart cars tosmartphones, tablets, Ultrabooks™ andservers. Intel also continued its work tohelp transform Asia into a global pow-erhouse through a focus on education,encouraging the adoption of 21 st cen-tury skills and investing in Asian start-ups and entrepreneurs across theregion.In 2012 Intel made smarter, faster andmore secure computing possiblethrough the integration of revolutionarytechnology. The first processors builton Intel’s innovative 22nm 3-D tri-gatetransistors came to market with thelaunch of the 3 rd Gen Intel ® Core™processor family. As a result Ultrabooksand other PC systems are now equippedwith new technology that enables fasterfile transfers, super-quick start times,quick connections and greater security.Continuing Intel’s commitment to con-sumers to make computing easier,faster and more engaging will continuewith the company’s planned 4 th GenIntel ® Core™ processor family that isexpected to reach consumers in 2013.“Technology companies and manufac-turers will need to tap into the psycheof Asian consumers and respond withrelevant and desirable products, nowmore than ever. Consumers will be in-undated with mobile device options. Arange of screen sizes, processing powerand weights will enter the market in2013 and manufacturers will rely onconsumers’ choices to identify the mostpopular devices for future production,”Naveed Siraj, Country Manager, IntelPakistan.In 2012, thirty-six teams from Asiawere selected as finalists for the IntelInternational Science and EngineeringFair . This year the competition at-tracted more than 1,500 talented highschool students from around the worldto compete for over US$3 million inprizes and grants.The Intel ® Teach Program has alsohelped millions of teachers harnesstechnology to improve learning in theclassroom. Worldwide, Intel trainedmore than 10 million teachers and wehave trained more than 2.6 millionteachers across 13 APAC countries. InPakistan, Intel has trained more than325,000 teachers.
One rupee gained versus dollar as govtdeclares ‘revolutionary action plan’g Banks under fire for maintaining reserves g Forward booking to be banned, regulated g Regulators to keep
eye on inter-bank market g Customs, ASF to check daily smuggling of $10-12m g Forex firms to get bank-like
rebate to up remittances by $20bn g FIA to clamp down on over 30,000 unregistered currency dealers
KARACHI
STAFF REPORT
A spokesman of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM)Tuesday said a ship carrying 55,000 metrictons of coal arrived at the Port Qasim Pak-istan Steel Jettyfrom Australia.
The unloading of coal has been startedthrough the 4.2 Km conveyer belt fromPort Qasim Jetty to Pakistan Steel raw ma-terial stockyard. He said that Governmentis taking keen interest for the revival of PSand the procurement of raw materials fromthe bailout package is successfully startedby PSmanagement. He added that theshortage of raw materials is the majorcause of all problems currently facing by PSand management is fully exercising to solve
this problem, as once the supply chain ofraw materials is started then all problemswill be solved. This coal was purchasedfrom an Australian company through along term contract with Pakistan Steel.
Regarding iron ore availability PSspokesman said that, PS managementachieved great success in iron makingprocess during the shortage of importediron ore with the utilization of local ironore. The PSM spokesman said about 0.1Million Tonns of local iron ore from-Baluchistan had been utilized by the PSMin this financial year. On the other hand,two contracts of imported iron ore are fi-nalized and about 30000 metric Tonns ofiron ore will reach PS in next 20 days. Headded that many tenders for procurement
of iron ore are under process, after comple-tion of all legal paper work process two
contracts of more than 100000 Metric tonsof imported iron ore will be finalized.
Ship carrying 55000MT pSM coal arriveSg Contracts for iron ore import finalised
PRO 19-12-2012_Layout 1 12/19/2012 2:51 AM Page 1
02
Wednesday, 19 December, 2012
Major Gainers
COMPANY OPEN HIGH LOW CLOSE CHANGE TURNOVERWyeth Pak Limited 900.00 945.00 940.00 944.76 44.76 1,250Khyber TobaccoXD 97.82 102.71 102.71 102.71 4.89 500MCB Bank Ltd. 210.69 215.20 210.50 214.60 3.91 482,000Millat Tractors Ltd. 560.00 564.00 558.75 563.49 3.49 13,400AL-Ghazi Tractors 246.75 254.00 250.00 250.00 3.25 3,600
Major LosersBata (Pak) 1490.00 1559.99 1415.50 1415.50 -74.50 600Colgate Palmolive 1427.00 1400.00 1355.65 1400.00 -27.00 5,000UniLever Pak 10100.00 10100.00 10020.00 10075.56 -24.44 520Mithchells Fruit 355.00 338.10 337.25 337.25 -17.75 22,200Pak.Int.Cont. SD 275.53 277.00 261.76 261.76 -13.77 12,200
Volume Leaders
Hub Power Co 44.50 45.05 43.90 43.98 -0.52 10,348,000Jah.Sidd. Co. 16.70 17.00 16.02 16.22 -0.48 9,528,500Byco Petroleum 11.01 11.44 11.01 11.16 0.15 8,396,000D.G.K.Cement 54.36 55.10 54.40 54.93 0.57 5,952,000Maple Leaf Cement 14.83 15.10 14.61 14.73 -0.10 5,697,500
Interbank RatesUS Dollar 97.9563UK Pound 158.9047Japanese Yen 1.1675Euro 129.0182
Dollar EastBUY SELL
US Dollar 98.30 99.00Euro 128.88 130.39Great Britain Pound 158.47 160.29Japanese Yen 1.1568 1.1701Canadian Dollar 98.67 100.31Hong Kong Dollar 12.46 12.67UAE Dirham 26.60 26.88Saudi Riyal 26.09 26.32Australian Dollar 102.36 104.99
Business
JS Bank, InfoTel Pakistan sign agreement to
launch EMV Capable Credit and Debit Cards
ISLAMABAD: JS Bank Limited, one of the fastest growing andmost dynamic banks in Pakistan has recently inked a new strate-gic partnership with InfoTel Pakistan one of the leading cardsservices provider in the market and a partner of Thales e-Secu-rity Solutions. To launch this new partnership, an agreementwas signed by Mr. Kalim-ur-Rahman, President and CEO of JSBank, and Mr. Riaz Siddiqui, Managing Director, InfoTel at theHead Office of the Bank in Karachi. The signing ceremony wasattended by members of the management teams of both organi-zations, regional representatives of Thales as well as His Excel-lency Mr. Christian Ramage, the Consul General of the FrenchRepublic in Karachi. Under the new agreement, JS Bank will en-able its systems to offer its customer EMV compliant cards inboth Debit and Credit categories thereby providing them with acutting edge global standard of heightened security and in-creased functionality. Furthermore by complying to EMV, JSBank will have a competitive advantage of issuing cards on theglobal platform of Java, thereby enabling them to be betterequipped to offer more features and services in the days ahead.
Intel recognises Roots integration
towards technology fusion in education
ISLAMABAD: Intel Educa-tion initiative in Pakistan isfocused towards incorporat-ing research based learningat an early age so that chil-dren can develop 21st cen-tury skills and competeeffectively in the knowledgebased economy of the future.
With respect to this goal, Intel Education Awards are held an-nually to celebrate and promote technology integration byteachers and schools. The Annual all Pakistan Intel EducationAwards ceremony was held at Auditorium, Islamabad Club on12th December, 2012. Chaudhry Faisal Mushtaq CEO RootsMillennium Schools (RMS) and Manager ICT Initiative & Digi-tal Literacy - Mrs. Tayyaba Noureen has been awarded withSpecial Recognition/ Appreciation Award in recognition of theirefforts and support for the effective and sustainable integrationof technology within Roots Millennium Schools by introducingand implementing Roots Intel Curriculum in collaboration withIntel Corporation. On behalf of CEO RMS – Chaudhry FaisalMushtaq, GM RMS Mrs. Aliya Asim received the award. AndICT Teacher Roots Millennium Schools – Ms. Noor-e-Saharwas awarded as a WINNER for the category thinking withTechnology amongst all private and government institutionsfrom all over Pakistan for the year 2012. The award aims toshowcase effective and innovative integration of computer tech-nology into the existing curriculum while promoting higherthinking and collaborative learning among students.
CORPORATE CORNER
ISLAMABAD
AGENCIES
DESPITE the dam-ages caused by thefloods in the cot-ton growing areas,the production of
the crop during the current seasonhas been estimated at 13.3 millionbales. “The Cotton AssessmentCommittee has estimated cottonproduction at 13.3 million balesagainst the set targets of 14.6 mil-lion bales,” Cotton DevelopmentCommissioner in the Ministry ofTextile Industry, Dr. Khalid Ab-dullah told APP.
He was of the view that it wasvery encouraging that despite thetorrential rains and flash floods intwo major cotton producersprovinces Punjab and Sindh, bet-ter crop output has been pro-jected. He said that according tothe second estimate of the com-mittee, 9.6 million cotton baleswere produced in Punjab whereas3.6 million bales in Sindh while0.1 million bales production has
been estimated in KhyberPukhtunkhwa and Balochistanprovinces.
Dr. Abdullah said that thecommittee in its first meeting hadestimated about 9 million cotton
bales production in Punjab andabout 3.56 million bales in theSindh province which were revisedupwards during the second esti-mates of the crop.
The third meeting of the Cot-
ton Assessment Committee wouldbe held by the end of currentmonth to measure the crop out putacross the country during currentseason and for preparing thestrategies for next sowing, headded.
Cotton Development Commis-sioner said that the governmenthad set the cotton production at14.6 million bales during the cur-rent financial year by cultivatingthe crop over 2.5 million hectareland to produce 10.5 million cot-ton bales in Punjab and 0.65 mil-lion hectare land to produce 4.0million bales in the Sindhprovinces.
Out of the total set targets,cotton crop was cultivated over530,000 hectare in Sindh whereas the Punjab achieved 2.29 mil-lion hectares crop sowing duringthe period under review, he added.
However, he informed thatdue to flash floods in the countryabout 2.4 percent area under cot-ton crop was damaged in Punjaband Sindh losses 11 percent areaout of the total cultivated land.
About 13.3 million cottonbales production estimated
BRUSSELS
AGENCIES
European Central Bank President MarioDraghi said Monday that the creation of an EU-wide banking supervisory authority would helprestore confidence in crisis-wracked eurozone.
The so-called Single Supervisory Mecha-nism or SSM “will contribute to restoring con-fidence in the banking sector across the euroarea,” Draghi told the European Parliament’scommittee for economic and monetary affairsin a regular hearing.
Draghi said the agreement last week by EUleaders at their final summit this year to set upsuch a body meant that
Europe, which has been battling a sover-eign debt crisis for more than two years, can“end the year on a positive note.”
“This is a clear demonstration that Euro-pean institutions are determined to act in atimely and decisive way to complete” economicand monetary union, he said.
“The establishment of the SSM can be ex-pected to be a key turning point in the resolu-tion of our current challenges,” Draghi said.
Under a complex deal hammered out fol-lowing marathon talks, EU finance ministersagreed on the creation of a common supervi-sory authority in a key step towards a bankingunion which EU leaders hope will ring-fencebanks in trouble to prevent future crises.
It will allow eurozone banks to be recapi-talised directly, rather than through govern-ments, so as to avoid adding to their growingdebt burden.
The ECB will be entrusted with managingthe supervisory system in tandem with theLondon-based European Banking Authority,which covers all 27 EU states, and national su-pervisors.
From March 2014, banks with assets worthmore than 30 billion euros ($39 billion) orequal to 20 percent of a state’s economic out-put will come under the ECB’s remit.
The ECB will also have the right to inter-vene in cases involving smaller banks but it isexpected that national supervisors will have themain responsibility in this category.
Bank supervisor will restore trust in eurozone: Draghi
KARACHI
STAFF REPORT
Imran Maqbool, a former Bank of Amer-ica’s official, took the held of the MCBBank as the banks’ president and ChiefExecutive Officer, it emerged Tuesday.
After securing approval of the StateBank of Pakistan, Maqbool would be tak-ing his new charge from the 22nd of this
month, said a bank official.“This is to inform you that State Bank
of Pakistan has granted, in-principle, ap-proval for the appointment of Mr. ImranMaqbool as President/CEO of
MCB Bank Limited,” Abdus S. Sami,MCB’s company secretary, told the bank’sshareholders at the country’s three stockexchanges.
Subject to compliance with applicablelaws, rules and regulations, the appoint-ment of Maqbool was also notified to theLondon Stock Exchange.
Maqbool holds a MBA degree fromIBA Karachi and MS in Managementfrom Sloan School of Management, MIT(USA).
He started his career from Bank ofAmerica, where he worked at various po-sitions in Relationship Management, Cor-porate and Investment Banking, over aperiod of 15 years. He moved on toCitibank to work as Regional Head Cor-porate Banking in Pakistan.
He has been a part of MCB for the lasteight years. During this period, he workedas Corporate Head North before movingto Colombo where he was responsible formanaging MCB’s Sri Lanka Operations.
In Pakistan, he managed the IslamicBanking and Special Assets ManagementGroup. Before becoming president, hewas serving as Group Head CommercialBanking, MCB Bank.
Japanese auto investors shiftingfocus to Pakistan: Hiroshi Oe
ISLAMABAD: Huge potential exists between Pak-istan and Japan to further strengthen economic tiesas Pakistan offers a big market for investment in dif-ferent sectors and hoped that the Japanese compa-nies would tap that potential. These remarks weremade by Hiroshi Oe, Ambassador of Japan to Pak-istan while addressing business community at Islam-abad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI). Hesaid that major reasons that keep Japanese compa-nies away from investing in Pakistan are security andenergy supply. The Ambassador said that he has been trying to provideJapanese companies with opportunities to clear theirperception gap and turn their eyes to the opportunitiesthat Pakistan possesses. He said that Key areas of tradeand investment between Pakistan and Japan could betextile, surgical equipments, furniture and automobileindustry. He said that many big Japanese auto-indus-tries investors are seriously planning to shift their unitsto Pakistan from Thailand due to heavy floods.In his welcome address, Zafar Bakhtawari, PresidentICCI said that Japan is third biggest and one of the tril-lion dollar economies of the world and is an importanttrading partner of Pakistan as well as a major donor. He said that ICCI would also plan to take a businessdelegation to Japan as frequent exchange of sector-spe-cific delegations would bring closer the business com-munities of both the countries.Mr.Bakhtawari said that today Pakistan’s major issue isenergy deficit as our economy is facing huge setbacksbecause of energy crisis. He said that our country needsJapanese technical assistance and investment in renew-able energy sources such as solar, wind, thermal, andbiogas. He said that Pakistan is a resource rich coun-try, but lacks technology and expertise; whereas Japanis a resource scarce country, but it is technologically ad-vanced, thus, Pakistan and Japan could benefit a lotwith mutual cooperation in areas like energy, mining,agriculture, trade and investment. ONLINE
Maqbool takeshelm of McB Bank
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