Thursday, 19 July, 2012

ISLAMABAD

APP

CHAIRMAN Senate SyedNayyer Hussain Bokharion Wednesday urged en-hanced trade and invest-ment with brotherly

country of Turkey. “Pakistan is stronglycommitted to deepen, broaden andstrengthen its cooperation with Turkeyin every field including trade, invest-ment, science and technology, researchand development,” the Chairman saidduring a meeting with Grand NationalAssembly of Turkey Speaker CemilCicek, who called on the Chairmanalong with his delegation.

“Our excellent relationship shouldtranslate into a robust cooperative part-nership between the two countries. Wemust strengthen regional connectivityto bring our two people closer,” Bokhariadded.

He said Pakistan greatly values itsclose, abiding and time-tested friend-ship with Turkey and this special rela-tion between the two brotherlycountries should be cultivated furtherthrough more parliamentary exchangesand frequent people to people contacts.

Bokhari elaborated the role of re-spective parliaments for cementing thehistorical ties and said, as representa-tive of the people; our two parliamentshave a special responsibility to playtheir role in strengthening relations inconformity with the wishes of the peo-ple. “I am confident that your visit willusher in a new era of relationship be-

tween our two parliaments.” The Chairman recapitulated the

visit of Prime Minister Erodogen andhis distinct privilege of addressing theparliament of Pakistan second time.Likewise former Prime Minister SyedYusuf Raza Gilani also addressed theTurkish Parliament in December 2010.

Urging the continuity of such highlevel contacts for further cementing bi-lateral relations, Bokhari said, frequentpeople to people contactscan also generate a momen-tum which can prove verybeneficial for both the na-tions.

He also appreciatedTurkish assistance indifficult times like2005 earthquakeand 2010 and2011 floods.Pakistan andTurkey shareperspectives atregional and in-ternational leveland Turkey has al-ways been accorded avery crucial position inIslamic world.

Sharing commongrounds of Pak-Turkeyhistorical relations, thechairman said Pakistan andTurkey have faced commonchallenges on the path todemocracy. Therefore, sustain-ability and continuity of democ-racy requires working together of all

political forces of a country.He also informed the Turkish dele-

gation about parliamentary democracyand land mark legislation during thelast four years.

Reciprocating the Turkish Speakerexpressed similar sentiments and de-clared Pakistan and Turkey as brotherswho always supported each other ingood and bad times andwill con-

tinue todo so in future as well.

He also emphasized the needfor close collaboration in political, eco-nomic, educational and technical fields.

Bokhari craves a bite of Turkish delight Urges enhanced Pak-Turkey trade, investment relations

MUsIAd invites ICCI to participatein Istanbul International Fair

ISLAMABAD

APP

The Independent Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (MUSIAD)has invited on Wednesday the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry

(ICCI) to participate in Istanbul International Fair which would be held in Octo-ber. A delegation of MUSIAD comprising Foreign Relations Commission Chair-

man Sevket Can Tulumen, Coordinator Foreign Relations, Abdulkadir Sicakyuz andTurkish Embassy Commercial Consular, Cezmi Besogul visited ICCI and held a meet-

ing with Yassar Sakhi Butt, ICCI President. Sevket Can Tulumen informed businessleaders about 14th MUSIAD International Fair and 16th International Business ForumCongress and its importance for all the Muslim countries. He said that the Fair would

be international meeting point of all the sectors where 5000 overseas entrepreneursand distinguished businessmen from 84 countries along with Ministers, heads of

Chambers of Commerce and Presidents of leading businessmen Associations willbe participating. MUSIAD Chairman of Foreign Relations Commission invited

ICCI office-bearers to participate in MUSIAD International Fair and Interna-tional Business Forum Congress being held in Istanbul on October 11-14,

2012. He said that the business community of both the countries couldenhance bilateral trade relations between Pakistan and Turkeythrough participating in international fairs and exhibitions. Speakingon the occasion, Yassar Sakhi Butt thanked the management of MU-

SIAD for giving an excellent reception to the ICCI delegation’s visit toTurkey in May, 2012. He said that Pakistan and Turkey have historicbrotherly relations, thus both the countries should further strengthen themutual trade relations by promoting business relations. The ICCI Presi-dent expressed that it is the need of the hour to explore the possibility of

joint ventures between Turkey and Pakistan. He said that there aretremendous chances of collaboration between Turkey and Pakistan for manufacturingof textile machinery in Pakistan. He said that we can strengthen our economy by adopt-ing the development and progress of Turkey as a model in numerous sectors especiallyenergy as energy is an important issue for Pakistan’s economic growth and Turkey hasvast experience of exploiting hydro and other energy sources, therefore, both the coun-tries should cooperate in this area on priority basis.

MOSCOW: The Russian upperhouse of parliament on Wednesdaypassed the bill ratifying Russia’sentry into the WTO, the final leg-islative step required before Presi-dent Vladimir Putin signs it intolaw.

The Federation Council votedoverwhelmingly in favour of joiningthe World Trade Organization(WTO), bringing Russia to the vergeof finally joining the organisationafter 18 years of often acrimoniousnegotiations.

The upper house approved thebill with 144 votes in favour andthree votes against and no absten-tions, following its passing by the

State Duma lower house last week.The accession will become Russianlaw 30 days after Putin signs themeasure.

Economists have long arguedthat Russia needed to join the WTOas it was the only major global econ-omy outside the body — followingChina’s membership in 2001 — andthe government hopes accessionwill stimulate growth.

But the membership has alsobeen controversial, with somemedium-sized firms expressing con-cern that they will be put out ofbusiness by being unable to com-pete against imports made cheaperby a reduction in customs tariffs.

The reduction of customs tar-iffs is a key condition for Russia’sWTO membership and will fallfrom a current average level of9.5 percent to 7.4 percentin 2013, 6.9 percent in2014 and 6.0 percentin 2015.

The head of theforeign affairs com-mittee at the Feder-ation Council,Mikhail Margelov,said Russia’s entryto become the 156thmember of theWTO was a nec-essary step. AFP

Petroleum Ministry wantsto grab oGRA’s lunchbox!

ISLAMABAD

ONLINE

The Ministry of Petroleum’s hectic efforts to bring Oil andGas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) under its administra-tive control will make the Authority toothless to protectrights of the consumers. This was said by President Pak-istan Economy Watch (PEW) Dr.Murtaza Mughal in astatement issued here on Wednesday.He said some reports suggest that Ministry of Petroleumwas making all-out efforts to bring OGRA under its controlin order to get its desire objectives of importing LiquefiedNatural Gas (LNG) according to its own wish as ogra hadopposed LNG import on the existing terms and conditionsby disagreeing with the ministry on six points and relaxedrules for import of LNG. Dr.Murtaza Mughal said afterfailing to get Ogra nod over imported LNG and LPG proj-ects ministry started to clip the powers of the authoritywhich will also loose its independent role as a Regulator.“The OGRA had consistently been opposing imported LNGand LPG projects at higher rates because of various rea-sons that being the reason why ministry of petroleumwanted to clip the powers of OGRA by utilizing the powersand authority of the Prime minister,” he observed.

‘Markets to be set up in Balochistanto boost Pak-Iran trade’

ISLAMABAD

APP

Pakistan Peoples Party leader Bismillah Khan Kakar saidthat new markets will be established in Balochistanfor boosting trade with Iran. Talking to a private newschannel, he said Pakistan and Iran have lot of trade

opportunities and markets will increase bilateraltrade and job opportunities for people of both

countries. He said Pakistan is exporting fruitsand vegetables to Iran from Quetta. Simi-larly, “We are importing fruits and otherutilities from Iran especially in case ofshortage” he added. He said Iranian Am-bassador has recently arranged a meeting

of traders in Quetta and promised thattraders will be provided all facilities. Bismillah

Kakar said Iran has supplied 100 MW electricity to Pakistanso for and Iran has agreed to supply additional 1000 MW.

And 18 years later…Russia WTo membership passes final legislative hurdle

Why so Moody?Moody’s downgrades top 5 Pak banks

LIMASSOL: Moody’sInvestors Service hasdowngraded the local-currency deposit rat-ings of the top fivePakistani banks by onenotch to B3, with neg-ative outlook, from B2,and lowered their

standalone credit assessments to caa1 from b3. The affectedbanks are Allied Bank Limited, Habib Bank Ltd, MuslimCommercial Bank Limited, National Bank of Pakistan andUnited Bank Ltd. Moody’s also downgraded the foreign-currency deposit ratings of the five banks by two notches toCaa2, from B3, to reflect the lowering of the foreign-cur-rency deposit ceiling in Pakistan, which is the highest rat-ing that can be assigned to a foreign-currency depositobligation of a domestic bank. The short-term ratings havebeen affirmed. These actions follow the downgrade of Pak-istan’s government bond ratings to Caa1, with negative out-look, from B3, on 13 July 2012. INP

KARACHI: Pakistan’s richest man has ap-plied to open Pakistani bank branches inIndia for the first time since partition 65years ago, officials said Wednesday. TheMuslim Commercial Bank (MCB), Pak-istan’s largest by market capitalisation at$1.2 billion, is hoping to tap into the poten-tial riches of India’s estimated 1.2 billionpeople. “We have applied to the State Bank

of Pakistan and the Reserve Bank of India,the central banks of the two countries,which regulate the banking sector to openbranches in India,” a senior MCB officialtold AFP on Wednesday. Mian MohammadMansha, Pakistan’s richest tycoon, told theFinancial Times that his Nishat group —which has a controlling stake in MCB — hadbeen the first to apply to open branches inIndia, following recent rule changes. “Ourmajor rationale is that India is a very prof-itable market,” he was quoted as telling thenewspaper in an interview. MCB has fourmillion customers, with 1,165 branches inPakistan and eight abroad. A spokesman forPakistan’s central bank confirmed the ap-plication was under examination. The nu-clear-armed neighbours have fought threewars since independence in 1947, but in2010 resumed a fragile peace process sus-pended by the 2008 Mumbai attacksblamed on Pakistani gunmen. AFP

Mansha gazes beyond bordersMCB seeks branches in India

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19Thursday, 19 July, 2012

Financial Institutions of

Pakistan can improve payment

systems through oracle

KARACHI: Business Process Management hasgained broad acceptance as a key enabler forachieving operational efficiency and process com-pliance for businesses in various industries. Finan-cial institutions and intermediaries in Pakistan arelooking to significantly improve their paymentprocessing systems, in order to meet complianceand regulatory needs.Oracle can help enable institutions to build sharedprocesses that unify existing payments systemsacross internal and external interfaces in a timelyand cost efficient manner.

PC/Internet bundle provides 3

month line rent waiver, zero

subscription charges

KARACHI: Intel Pakistan and Wateen Telecomhave joined hands to offer internet access program

to local consumers in Pakistan in order to makeinternet more accessible and affordable for all newsubscribers. Under this offer, a consumer purchas-ing an Intel ® processors-based PC, will get a freeWateen Wimax Broadband connection, enablingconsumers to enjoy speedy internet connectivitywith their new PC’s. Consumers can save up to sixthousand rupees by utilizing this special programavailable for the first time in Pakistan.

south Africa is the economic

gateway to rest of Africa

ISLAMABAD: A group of 33 businessmen rep-resenting 21 companies participated in SouthAfrican International Trade Exhibition (SAI-TEX) and Africa Big Seven held from 15 th to 17th of July 2012. The Exhibitors from Pakistanrepresented businessmen across different sec-tors which interalia include Textile and Made-up, Sport Goods, Pharmaceutical Industry,Furniture, Rice, Confectioneries, etc. Thou-sands of visitors and prospective buyers be-longing to various sectors visited Pakistanistalls and showed keen interest in Pakistan

products. First two days of the Exhibition wasrestricted to buyers from different trading sec-tors whereas on the last the exhibition wasopened to public.

Beneficiary families of BIsP to get

10% discount in the Utility stores

ISLAMABAD: Benazir Income Support Pro-gramme (BISP) has successfully achieved the tar-get of making Pakistan a social welfare state aspromised by the Government of Pakistan PeoplesParty. The programme is regarded as one of the

best among such initiatives in the social sector inthe 44 countries of the world. BISP has achievedthe level of success in the span of just four yearsfor which several other countries have taken 4decades. The success of the programme could bemeasured by the fact that more than five countrieshave contacted BISP to seek its support to repli-cate the programme in those countries. FederalMinister and BISP Chairperson Farzana Raja saidduring a press conference.

RoZEE.PK part of All World

Network and IFC top

entrepreneurs summit at harvard

LAHORE: ROZEE.PK Pakistan’s leading jobportal, recently participated in the 100 All Worldfast growth entrepreneurs and business leadersAll World Summit at Harvard. Business leadersfrom the Middle East North Africa (MENA) re-gion, Pakistan and Turkey participated in thethree-day event.

Major Gainers

COMPANY OPEN HIGH LOW CLOSE CHANGE TURNOVERUniLever Pak 7156.00 7287.00 7275.00 7280.25 124.25 4Unilever Food 2752.50 2849.00 2828.00 2840.98 88.48 12Millat Tractors 491.10 515.65 494.00 515.59 24.49 134,771Wyeth Pak Limited 860.57 875.00 869.00 874.99 14.42 43Mithchells Fruit 302.76 317.00 288.00 316.77 14.01 1,029

Major LosersAkzo Nobel Pak. 112.39 109.98 106.78 106.78 -5.61 615,734Philip Morris Pak. 148.01 147.01 143.00 143.52 -4.49 3,804J.D.W.Sugar 106.52 102.51 102.50 102.50 -4.02 1,561Clover Pakistan 83.32 83.50 82.00 82.00 -1.32 385Pak.Int.Cont SD 149.17 153.00 148.00 148.04 -1.13 3,749

Volume LeadersJah.Sidd. Co. 14.66 15.66 14.80 15.66 1.00 17,644,864D.G.K.Cement 44.92 45.90 44.60 45.68 0.76 12,464,417Azgard Nine 6.69 7.30 6.73 7.22 0.53 12,181,108Hub Power Company 43.63 44.29 43.41 43.80 0.17 6,926,463Fauji Cement 5.85 6.13 5.81 6.09 0.24 6,751,896

Interbank RatesUS Dollar 94.4100UK Pound 147.2230Japanese Yen 1.1942Euro 115.5106

Dollar EastBUY SELL

US Dollar 94.60 95.40Euro 114.89 116.16Great Britain Pound 146.68 148.26Japanese Yen 1.1866 1.1993Canadian Dollar 92.36 93.86Hong Kong Dollar 12.01 12.21UAE Dirham 25.65 25.90Saudi Riyal 25.15 25.35Australian Dollar 96.37 98.86

Business

CORPORATE CORNER

ISLAMABAD

APP

ISLAMABAD Stock Exchange (ISE-10) on Wednesday witnessed bullishtrend as the index was up by 30.76points to close at 2921.91 as com-pared to the previous day’s trading.AAH Securities Pvt Ltd, Stock Ana-

lyst, Zaheer Ahmed told APP that the resultsannounced by HUBCO led the bullish rally inthe local stock market.

“The HUBCO has declared 7.05earning per share (EPS) for full yearended on June 30, 2012 and inaddition, it announced Rs.3dividend per share for halfyear”, he said, adding, “ithas already dispatchedRs.3 dividend for firsthalf totaling Rs.6 divi-dend per year”.

He said that the resultsession had started and the market wasexpecting positive earning of the com-panies because whatever the results an-nounced by the companies were abovethe expectation of the market whichwas the positive indicator for themarket. Moreover, the volume ofthe bourse was also increased be-cause the investors have takenmajor positions in the blue chipscompanies and low-priced

shares, he added. Total volume of sharestraded was 82,793, which was up by 20,493 ascompared to a day earlier closing. Out of 130companies’ shares traded, the price of 103 wasincreased while the price of 27 decreased. Theprice of top gainer Unilever Pakistan was in-creased by Rs.124.25 and the price of top loserAkzo Noble Pakistan decreased by Rs.5.61.DK Khan Cement, Fauji Cement Companyand Bank of Punjab remained volume lead-ers on Wednesday, with volume 40,000,

15,000 and 10,000shares respectively.

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to create regionalmarkets by removing trade barriers, the Re-gional Conference on Economic Cooperationand Trade is expected to be held in the endof this year. The Planning Commission incollaboration with World Bank and the De-partment for International Development UKhas proposed to hold a Conference on “Re-gional Conference on Economic Cooperationand Trade” during the last quarter of 2012.The government has also declared 2012 asthe Year of Regional Cooperation and Eco-nomic Activity. According to the official, theConference will build on the current mo-mentum for greater regional trade and uti-lize opportunities to take full advantage ofemerging economic cooperation.

The official said the conference will helpto address overarching challenges in build-

ing greater regional trade by enhancing con-nectivity between people and economic sec-tor and by opening access to finance asmeans to expand opportunities for cross-border investment and financial risk mitiga-tion. The Conference is expected to helpbuild the knowledge and analytical base forthese efforts. The focus countries for thisConference are regional partners that sharea border with or have recently announcedthe intention to signing a free trade commit-ment with Pakistan. This includes:Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, and Turkeyother developments that could enhancetrade with Pakistan’s neighbors include:progress in structuring commercial arrange-ments to underpin the proposed TAPI gaspipeline between Turkmenistan,Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. ONLINE

ISLAMABAD: The Senior Commerce MinisterMakhdoom Amin Fahim on Wednesday soughtmembers of European Parliament to use theirinfluence for early legislation of trade conces-sions in EU parliament, whose meeting isscheduled to be held in September, 2012. Hestated this while talking to a visiting delega-tion comprising members of European Par-liament which called on him here today. Thedelegation comprising members of EuropeanParliament included Chair of the South Asia del-egation Ms Jean Lambert MEP, Agricultural andEconomic Policy specialists Phil Bennion, LassWeigmark EU delegation Head, Committee on In-dustry, Research and Energy SalvadorSedo, Administrator DelegationSecretariat Philipee Kamaris

and Political Advisor Ms Sabine Meyer. Both the sides dis-cussed matters of mutual interest and ways of enhancing

trade between Pakistan and EU. The EU delegation em-phasized on proper compliance of 27 international con-ventions mandatory for becoming eligible for duty freeexcess through GSP Plus scheme for EU, said a state-ment issued by the Ministry of Commerce. Theseconventions pertain to human rights good gover-nance, labor rights, environment and narcotics con-

trol. The Commerce Minister informed the meetingthat Government of Pakistan has ratified all these con-

ventions. The EU delegation appreciated the liberaliza-tion of trade between Pakistan and India. It will not

only enhance the bilateral trade but also behelpful in improving political relations

between the two countries, EUdelegation added. APP

Facebook shares slide

SAN FRANCISCO: Shares of FacebookInc. fell about 1 percent on Tuesday, extend-ing the previous day’s losses after an invest-ment analyst reported a decline in U.S. usersfor the No. 1 social network. Capstone ana-lyst Rory Maher said he used proprietarysoftware to track user numbers by countryover the past six months across more than200 countries and worked out that the socialnetwork had shed users in both the UnitedStates and Europe. U.S. users declined by 1.1percent, he said in a research note. Of the 23countries where Facebook’s penetration ex-ceeded 50 percent, only nine expanded theiruser base over the past three months, whilethe remaining 14 countries either had fewerusers or saw little change. Facebook repre-sentatives did not immediately respond torequests for comment. Facebook, which lastreported more than 900 million users, hasundergone phenomenal growth since its2004 inception, culminating in a recordMay initial public offering that valued thecompany at more than $100 billion, but thestock has since lost a third of its value. OnTuesday, it slid as low as $27.15, after fallingby more than 8 percent on Monday. APP

Bulls at ISE

PTCL 3G EVO Wireless Broadband Internet best rated project in LUMS

Sanofi Pakistan’s employees that received certification inBusiness Management from the IBA

discusses matters regarding GsP Plus status to Pakistan with EU

Let’s cooperate, shall we?Regional Conference on Economic Cooperation this year

Fahim entices EU delegation

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