profit.com.pk

Bulls overcome all odds, keep 13,000ptbarrier in sight Page 02

Tuesday, 28 February, 2012

KARACHI

ISMAIL DILAWAR

Putting some weight

behind the perception

of some international

relations’ experts that

the united States and Russia

had got engaged in a new Cold

War; Moscow on Monday made

public its plans to allocate a

grant worth $500 million for

the dollar-starved country,

Pakistan. Being disenchanted

with its non-nAtO allies in

Washington in the post-May 2

events, islamabad seems to

have enhanced its diplomatic

contacts with Russians with

President Zardari and Foreign

Minister Hina Rabbani Khar

having paid triumphant visits of

Moscow in May 2011 and

February 2012, respectively.

Also, two separate delegations

headed by Sindh Chief Minister

and the President of Federation

of Pakistani Chambers of

Commerce and industry have

been in Moscow and Saint-

Petersburg most recently.

in addition, underway are the

special agreements between

Moscow and islamabad on the

construction of a South Asian

Electricity trade and

Development Project CASA-

l000. On the other hand,

Moscow is critical of the uS and

its western allies for installing

a missile shield in the Eastern

Europe, as well as launching an

international propaganda

against Russian strongman

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin,

one the five hot candidates for

March 4 presidential elections.

Conceived by the

40th American President

Ronald Wilson Reagan, during

his reign ranging from 1981 to

1989, the Russians deem the

missile shield as a direct threat

to their security.

the $500 million aid, Russia

announced for Pakistan on

Monday, would be spent for

upgrading of Pakistani Steel

Mills, one of the loss-making

Public Sector Enterprises,

which was originally set up by

the Soviet union almost three

decades ago in early 1970s.

“Russia plans to allocate an

amount of $500 million for

upgrading the Pakistani Steel

Mills,” Andey V Demidov,

Consul general of Russia in

Pakistan, told a press briefing

here at Karachi Press Club.

He was flanked by Faizullah, an

urdu-speaking Muslim public

relations officer at the Russian

Consulate, hailing from Russian

republic tatarstan. the consul

general said special

agreements were underway

between the two countries on

the construction of a South

Asian Electricity trade and

Development Project CASA-

l000. Recounting the visits of

President Zardari, Foreign

Minister Khar and two Pakistani

delegations headed by Sindh

Chief Minister and FPCCi

president as successful,

Demidov expressed the hope

that the “agreements

concluded during those visits

will be materialized for the

benefit of our two countries

and peoples”. the

consul general said his

government was following with

keen interest “very successful

visits” to Moscow and Saint-

Petersburg of two official and

trade Pakistani delegations.

“We believe that after the

presidential elections in Russia,

the bilateral relations between

Russia and Pakistan will

receive further development,”

said the consul general while

terming February’s (2012) visit

of FM Khar as very successful.

About the March 4 presidential

polls, Demidov said five

candidates running for the

presidential slot included

Sergey Mironov of Fair Russia

Party, guennady Zuganov of

Communist Party, Vladimir

Putin of united Russia Party,

Vladimir Zhirinovsky of Liberal

Democratic Party and the self-

nominated Mikhail Prokhorov.

Stressing on the political

significance of the presidential

elections, the consul general

said the world was living in a

period of time that could not be

considered as “easy”.

“the humanity is now at a

critical stage of its

development without

exaggeration,” he said adding

“A new polycentric

international System in world

politics, economics and finance

is taking shape before our

eyes.” terming international

terrorism as a phenomenon

opposed to that system, the

Russian consul general said

numerous international issues

were being addressed based on

the

threats

of use of force or

the direct use of force. “under

these circumstances, the

foreign policy of Russia has to

settle lots of problems that

become even more complicated

every day. it is our duty to

secure our interests in this

process so that Russia retains a

worthy place in the emerging

global architecture.” Russia, he

said, had no hidden agendas

and wanted stability around its

borders and was striving to

provide the most favourable

external conditions to tackle

the vital tasks of modernising

its economy and transferring it

on to an innovative track.

Demidov said the Russian

foreign policy had become

“more modern”. “Our foreign

policy is based on mutually

beneficial cooperation among

the states, among businesses,

among people,” he said.

During the briefing, Faizullah

told a questioner that the

media worldwide and in

Pakistan was becoming part of

an international propaganda

launched by the uS and its

western friends. “the (anti-

Putin) protesters go to the

American Embassy before

taking to the streets,” claimed

the Russian official. He said the

media was exaggerating the

number of participants in the

protests in Russia which was

inappropriate.

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

STILL confident of the anticipatedexternal inflows, the finance min-istry on Monday remained stuckto its budget deficit of 5 per cent

claiming the projected foreign inflows ofCoalition Support Fund, PTCL arrears andproceeds from auction of 3G licences willmaterialise during the remaining period ofthe current fiscal year.

Briefing the Senate Standing Committeeon finance, Secretary Finance Abdul WajidRana said IMF’s projection of 7 per centbudget deficit was based on certain assump-tions that country’s budgeted foreign inflowswould not materialise during the ongoing fis-

cal year 2011-12. however, he said ministryof finance’s projections were that the budgetdeficit would be less than 5 per cent and itwas also based on certain assumptions thatcountry’s foreign inflows like Coalition Sup-port Fund, PTCL arrears from etisalat, auc-tion of 3-G and 4-G licences, exportsproceeds and remittances would materialiseas per projections before June 30, 2012.

Senator Ahmed Ali chaired the meet-ing which was briefed on the IMF reporton Pakistan’s economy which presented anegative picture of the state of economy.Secretary finance said Pakistan was notdiscussing any new IMF loan programmenor any shadow IMF programme is underimplementation in Pakistan. he saidprovinces gave a budget surplus of Rs134

billion during the last fiscal year and as-sured that they were in a position to createa budget surplus to contain the budgetdeficit at desired level during the currentfiscal year. he assured the committee thatrevenue collection target of Rs1952 billionwould be achieved.

Governor State Bank of Pakistan YasinAnwar informed the committee that Pak-istan would amend its Anti-Terrorism Actto ensure enforcement of its provisions infinancial services sector for conviction ofpersons found involved in money launder-ing. he said to prepare a new legislation formaking amendments in Anti-TerrorismAct and ministry of finance, ministry of in-terior, Securities and exchange Commis-sion of Pakistan (SeCP) and SBP along

with other stakeholders were working onnew legislations to put Pakistan back onAnti-Money Laundering compliant coun-tries list. Governor SBP strongly defendedthe monetary policy and termed IMF’sstance of accommodative monetary policystance as wrong and said the bank’s mon-etary policy was not accommodative. hesaid SBP and SeCP are engaged in devel-opment of debt market in Pakistan as wellas long term financing arrangement.

Secretary finance present in the meet-ing informed that Pakistan was not blacklisted by FATF, however, country’s namehas been placed among the list of countriesthat have been included in the public state-ment. he was of the view that some keyamendments were needed in Pakistan’s

Anti-Money Laundering regime legislation.however, members were concerned

over attitude of the ministry of finance fornot making any effort to avoid such kind ofmishaps at international forums. SenatorAhmad Ali was of the view that black list-ing by FATF would have negative implica-tions on Pakistan. The members werecritical that the committee had passedanti-money laundering legislation to avoidPakistan’s black listing one year ago and itwas decided that further required amend-ments would be brought into Parliamentwithin next six months to strengthen Pak-istan’s status at international forums, how-ever, finance ministry had not taken itseriously as a result of which, the countrygot black listed by FATF.

g Rejects talks of new Cold War with United Statesg Work underway on Pak-Russia South Asian Electricity

Trade and Development Project CASA-l000

Finance ministry sticks to 5pc budget deficit for the fiscal year

Fertiliser sectormost affected by gascurtailment in 2011

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

The year 2011 was the worst periodfor domestic fertiliser plants as theycould hardly produce 4.9 million

tonnes of urea against the installed capacityof 6.9 million tonnes due to announced andunannounced gas curtailment throughout2011. Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited(SNGPL) based fertiliser plants were theworst hit as they could hardly managed toachieve 31 per cent of fertiliser productionagainst their installed capacity, due to non-availability of gas. Currently, all fourfertiliser plants on SNGPL network arefacing a complete shutdown, which hasresulted in a huge production and financialloss to these fertiliser plants. Dawoodhercules plant only produced 39 per cent ofurea, which stood at 199,000 tonnes againsta production capacity of 513,000 tonnes.Pak-Arab Fertiliser hardly produced 27 percent of urea which stood at 29,000 tonnesagainst a production capacity of 106,000tonnes. Agritech only produced 34 per centof urea which stood at 146,000 tonnesagainst a production capacity of 428,000tonnes and engro’s new plant only produced27 per cent of urea which stood at 347,000tons against a production capacity of 1.26million tonnes. Dawood hercules FertiliserCeO Rashid Lone said that SNGPL basedplants could only produce 31 per cent oftheir installed production capacity thatresulted in billions of rupees of loss to thefertiliser industry, which has invested over$2.3 billion in enhancing its productioncapacity in last three years. he informedthat all four fertiliser plants on the SNGPLnetwork, including Pak-Arab, Dawoodhercules, engro’s new plant and Agritech,remained the biggest victims of chaotic gassituation. Instead of providing gas to localfertiliser plants to produce ureadomestically, the government preferred toimport 1.45 tonnes of urea by spending ahefty amount of $783 million from preciousforeign exchange. In addition, thegovernment also paid huge subsidy of Rs54billion on the imported urea to keep it at theprice of locally produced urea. Agriculturecontributes around 24 per cent to the GDPof Pakistan and it also provides rawmaterials to all the major industries ofPakistan including, textiles and sugar. Forthe economy of Pakistan to prosper, it isimportant for agricultural yields to go upwhich is only possible through theapplication of fertilisers in the right quantityat the right time. Decline in productionposes a severe threat to the yield on thecrops, resultantly; the country might miss itsagriculture and export targets and alsoaggravate inflation in the country, which isalready higher than the regional peers.

PRO 28-02-2012_Layout 1 2/27/2012 11:13 PM Page 1

news02Tuesday, 28 February, 2012

Conducive atmosphere has beenprovided for investment: CMLAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif has said a very conducive atmospherehas been provided for investment in the province. hesaid Punjab government has formulated policiesbased on attractive incentives for investors and dueto financial transparency, better law and ordersituation and proper infrastructure, the investmentmade in the province is completely safe andprofitable. he said vast opportunities of investmentare available in information technology, livestock,industries, means of communication and othersectors. he was addressing the 11th meeting of Boardof Directors of Punjab Board of Investment andTrade. Addressing the meeting, Muhammad ShahbazSharif said our country is rich in natural resources.he said the third largest gas reserve of the world isin Pakistan and it is fourth country in cottonproduction and fifth milk producing country atinternational level. Similarly, Pakistan is consideredseventh country in wheat production and 12th in riceproduction. These figures show that there is nodearth of resources in Pakistan but it is need of thehour that necessary infrastructure should beprovided for utilising these resources in publicinterest. Shahbaz Sharif said Pakistani investorsshould fully benefit from the trade opportunities inSaudi Arabia and other gulf countries. he gaveapproval in principle to the posting of honouraryinvestment advisors abroad for the promotion ofinvestment and directed that a comprehensive planshould be evolved for this purpose. These advisorsbesides image promotion of Punjab province in othercountries will also provide necessary informationand guidance to foreign investors regardinginvestment in the province. The meeting reviewedthe alternate resources of energy in detail andproposed that necessary resources of energy requiredto industrial sector can be provided through coal, gasLPG and biomass. Proposed system of “commoditytrading” regarding sale and purchase of agricultureproducts was also reviewed. The meeting alsoconsidered various proposals for making the youthself-reliant economically. Chief Minister directedthat necessary opportunities should be provided tothe youth for better economic future so that insteadof seeking government jobs, they should stand ontheir own feet. While constituting a specialcommittee headed by renowned industrialist SyedBabar Ali, Chief Minister directed this committeeshould consider new prospects of self-employmentfor youth. STAFF REPORT

Seminar on Identification of Geographical Indications of PunjabLAHORE Madrid System for Registration of TradeMarks offers an attractive route for SMes to protecttheir trade marks in all sectors to enhance theirglobal competitiveness while GeographicalIndications (GIs) is a must for development ofnational economies. This was the crux of thespeeches delivered at a seminar on “Identification ofGeographical Indications of Punjab: Madrid Systemof Registration of Trade Marks” jointly organised bythe Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry(LCCI), govt of Punjab and IPO Pakistan here atLCCI on Monday. The speakers included LCCIPresident Irfan Qaiser Sheikh, Senior Vice PresidentKashif Younis Meher, Vice President Saeeda Nazar,LCCI former President Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry,Director Industries Sheikh Mohammad Siddique,Director General IPO Sajjad Bhutta, PresidentBasmati Growers Association hamid Malhi, LCCIexecutive Committee Member Nabila Intisar andformer executive Committee Member RehmatullahJaved. The speakers said registration of trade markand identification of GIs are of great importance fordoing business in the world marketplace inparticular. Trade mark allows a consumer todistinguish between similar products and stopcounterfeiters, while GIs help a country win arespectable place in a global market based on itsagricultural and industrial strengths. They said goodknowledge and clear understanding of theseconcepts can lead the country to a stage where thebusinessmen cannot only secure trade marks basedgeographical indications under Madrid System, butalso develop genuine businesses in a country whichis fully competitive in the international market.Registering a trademark in foreign markets gives acompany the exclusive right to commercialise itsproducts in those markets. This not only provides asolid basis to stop counterfeiters, but also ensuresthat the exporting company enjoys exclusivity overwhat may be one of its most valuable businessassets. It goes without saying that reduced costs canenhance profits for SMes and lead to considerablesavings, which can encourage them to seek broaderprotection of their trademarks abroad, therebyfacilitating and fostering the marketing of theirbranded products in foreign countries. In fact, SMescan perhaps benefit the most from advantagesoffered by Madrid System. STAFF REPORT

KARACHI

GHULAM ABBAS

INCReASING number ofsmuggling of steel productsfrom neighbouring country ishampering the production of

Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) which isalready running below 20 per cent ofits capacity.

The smuggled goods which haveflooded the local markets haveposted a serious threat to PSM whichis already facing huge losses amidstshortage of raw material. In a lettersent to Federal Board of Revenue

(FBR) on February 24, PSM said thesteel products were being smuggledthrough Pak-Iran border under thegarb of scrap which was zero ratedthus, providing cheaper goods byRs8-10/kg as compared to the goodsimported through legal means.

As the international price of theproducts has already declined owingto the worldwide economic reces-sion, the smuggled goods would notonly paralyse production of thecountry’s only mill, but also causehuge losses of revenue to the na-tional exchequer in terms oftaxes/duties. Referring to a letter

sent by Pakistan Steel Line Pipe In-dustry Association (PSPA) on Febru-ary 7 this year, PSM said the illegalact was badly affecting allregular/documented industries affil-iated with PSPA. In order to safe-guard the local steel industry ingeneral and PSM in particular, FBRwas requested to take immediatemeasures to control smuggling fromoutside the border. PSPA, earlier,had also written a letter to FBR tohighlight the issue, but no action wastaken by the concerned authority.

It is worth mentioning here thatthe shortage of raw material was re-

ducing the production level of themill; pushing the national institutiontowards more losses.

In view of financial constrainsand reduced imports, the millwas currently utilising local iron oreand coke from available coke breezeto keep its entire production plantssafe from any technical losses. Butthe mill was mostly depending on thelocal supply which also started de-creasing due to the lack of rules andduty on exports. The locally producedraw material was also being exporteddue to difference of cost and paymentissues, the sources claimed.

ISLAMABAD

AMER SIAL

The Oil and GasRegulatory Authority(OGRA) representativesadmitted before the

National Assembly StandingCommittee on Petroleum onMonday, that on the directives ofthe Prime Minister they haveissued 20 new marketing licencesfor CNG stations. After thesurprising disclosure that thegovernment has lifted themoratorium on the new gasconnections four months back, thecommittee which is enquiring inthe flouting of rules andregulations in the award oflicenses to CNG stations, directedOGRA to submit complete detailson new licenses within next threedays to the committee.

The meeting chaired by SardarTalib hassan Nakai was to discussthe issue of gas load shedding inthe country especially in Punjaband federal capital territory tofinalise its recommendations forthe house. Briefing the committeeSecretary Petroleum ejazChaudhary said that the

government had imposed a oneyear moratorium on new gasconnections in April last year butafter immense pressure from theindustry and court orders policydirectives were issued in Octoberlast year for grant of newconnections for CNG, commercial,industry and residential projects.he admitted that despite themoratorium people managed toget new connections. hanif Abbasiof PML-N asked OGRArepresentatives as to how manynew licenses for CNG stationswere issued on PM directives. Onwhich executive Director GasOGRA Mohammad Yasin saidthere number was approximately20. Abbasi said that PM wasinstrumental in making the policyand then to get approval for newlicenses for cronies. SecretaryPetroleum strongly denied thatPM had issued any directives andsaid the new licences were issuedunder the new policy guidelinesissued by the Petroleum Ministryto OGRA. however, Yasin said thepolicy directives were issued afterapproval from PM. OGRArepresentatives said that they hadnot moved any summary from

lifting the moratorium and policydirectives came directly to them.

The members severelycriticised the government for itslack of seriousness and showedtheir anger that the committee wasnot informed about the lifting ofthe moratorium. Changing hisstance Secretary Petroleum saidthat the moratorium was for a sixmonth period and the new policyguidelines were issued after theperiod. he said that there was noviolation of rules and every thingwas done properly. OGRArepresentatives also changed theirstance and said that the executiveDirector Gas was not theappropriate person to submitreplies on CNG issues as it wasdealt with executive Director CNG.

Nawab Ali Wassan of PPP saidthat had the committee timelydecided on 462 illegal CNG stationlicenses the situation would nothave aroused. Chairman Nakaisaid that the enquiry was delayedas the National AccountabilityBureau (NAB) had taken over theOGRA office. he assured themembers, the enquiry will becompletely at the earliest as nowNAB authorities have left OGRA

office. Abdul Waseem of MQMsaid that the committee was facedwith a difficult task as theSecretary Petroleum himself wasadmitting that he was helpless incontrolling the situation asinfluential manage to have theirway despite moratorium. hedemanded that the committeeshould identify the influentialpersons who were sabotaging theimportant policy decisions.

The committee decided todiscuss the issue of load sheddingon February 28 and decided that ajoint meeting will be held with thechairmen of standing committeeson textiles and water and power.earlier briefing the committeeSecretary Petroleum said that thefailure to develop hydel and coalsector have led to an irrationalenergy mix that was overtlydependent on the most affordablefuel gas. he said during the lastfew years the gas production hasincreased by seven per cent whileits consumption has increased by40 per cent per annum. heidentified CNG sector as the majoruser of gas whose consumptionhas increased by 39 per cent perannum over the last few years.

FAISALABAD

FARAKH SHAHZAD

IRAN is seriously work-ing to overcome energyshortage ofPakistan and has

pledged to boost bilateral tieswith Pakistan, said Iranianenvoy during a visit to FCCI.

he unveiled the businessvisa policy saying under the fasttrack visa process, Iranian em-bassy will issue business visa onthe same day and one year mul-tiple visa may also be issued tothe Pakistani businessmen.These commitments were madeby the Iranian Consulate Gen-eral Mohamamd hossain BaniAsadi during a meeting withFCCI office bearers and busi-ness community of Faisalabad,where a large number of ex-porters and industrialist werealso present.

he further added Pakistanis a big producer of milk andmeat and in this regard, meatand milk may also be exportedto Iran. he also appreciated thetextile industry of Faisalabadwhich is contributing towardseconomic development of Pak-istan. he stressed to workjointly for the betterment oftrade relations. Iran had laid

the gas pipe line till border in avery short time and Pakistanmay initiate to develop the in-frastructure for the import ofgas. Iran is keen to minimisethe energy shortage of Pak-istan, therefore, in this regard100MW electricity project willcomplete in one and half yearand building of 1000MW pro-ject from Zedan to Queta is alsounder consideration, he added.Iranian consulate is arrangingIranian products’ exhibition atexpo centre Lahore in thethird week of April.

earlier in his welcome ad-dress, President FCCI Muzam-mil Sultan said Faisalabadalone has been contributingabout 40-50 per cent of thetotal textile exports of thecountry during the last manyyears. There is a tremendoustrade potential between thetwo countries and it is perti-nent to mention that duringthe Pak-Iran President’s meet-ing in Islamabad, rail and roadlinks between the two coun-tries, energy projects, early re-alisation of Iran-Pakistan gaspipeline, and other projects ofregional connectivity were alsodiscussed. Furthermore, expe-ditious implementation ofIran-Pakistan gas pipeline

project, 1,000 MW electricitytransmission line and 100 MWGwadar port power supply inorder to meet the country’sgrowing demand for energyand power were also part ofthe dsicussion. he furtheradded Iran is Pakistan’s im-portant trading partner, butstill there is a wide scope of co-operation to enhance the bilat-eral trade. Trade between thetwo countries is heavily tiltedtowards Iran and this can begauged from the fact that inthe last financial year, the sizeof bilateral trade between thetwo sides was Rs1.491 billion,out of which exports from Iranstood at $1.233 billion.

During the question an-swer session, Former VicePresident FCCI engr SohailBin Rashid, Ch Asghar Ali andCh Jameel Ahmad, Ch MBoota, Rana Sikandar Azam,Abdul Sattar Alvi, haji MAbid, Malik Muhammad Ar-shad and haji M Basheer alsohighlighted issues before theconsulate. At the end of themeeting, Vice President FCCIRehan Naseem Bharara of-fered vote of thanks, whereby,President FCCI MuzammilSultan presented the FCCI me-mento to the consulate.

Court suspends levy on LPGLAHORE

STAFF REPORT

The Lahore high Court suspended the re-cently-imposed Petroleum DevelopmentLevy (PDL) on locally-produced LPG on

Monday. hearing identical petitions on the mat-ter filed by Senior Advocates Supreme CourtShahid hamid and Khwaja Tariq Rahim, thecourt suspended the notification of January 16,2012, from the Ministry of Petroleum and NaturalResources that imposed a tax of Rs11,486 pertonne on all LPG produced in Pakistan. The min-istry’s decision to impose the PDL, despiteprotests from the LPG industry and consumershad made the liquid gas fuel the country’s mostexpensive. The court’s suspension of the PDL isexpected to rationalise prices of LPG. “We aregrateful to the honorable court for its decision,”said Belal Jabbar, spokesman of the LPG Associa-tion of Pakistan (LPGAP). “This is the secondtime that the court has intervened on behalf ofLPG consumers nationwide,” he said, adding thatLPG demand has dropped some 30 per cent sincethe PDL was imposed last month. “Suspension ofthe levy will improve access to the product andstabilise the market, which had been roiled bypolicy inconsistencies.” The suspension of thePDL has also been welcomed by LPG distributors.“The Petroleum Development Levy had forcedLPG consumers to switch to cheaper alternativesand had put tens of thousands of jobs in the LPGsector at risk,” said Ali haider of the official AllPakistan LPG Distributors Association. “Thecourt’s decision is welcomed by all LPG stake-holders across the value chain and it will providerelief to LPG consumers across the country.”

Smuggled steel productshamper PSM production

‘Iran is committed to boost bilateral trade’

PM directives force OGRA to issue 20 CNG station licences

PRO 28-02-2012_Layout 1 2/27/2012 11:13 PM Page 2

news

Tuesday, 28 February, 2012

03

CORPORATE CORNERNADRA’s first woman DG to head Corporate Quality ManagementISLAMABAD: National Database and RegistrationAuthority, NADRA, has appointed Mrs FizzahShahid as the Director General Corporate QualityManagement Directorate. She is the first woman inNADRA to head top-level position. Mrs Shahid is anIT Graduate from Quaid-e-Azam University Islam-abad with 20 years of IT and management experi-ence and has been working as the senior mostwoman in NADRA for the last eight years. DeputyChairman NADRA Tariq Malik while congratulatingher said NADRA has adopted a fair and equal em-ployment policy to empower the womenfolk; over1,750 female employees have played a pivotal role inregistering the womenfolk of the country. he saidwomen working in NADRA have proved that theyare as competent as men, only they need secure andfair environment where they can apply their experi-ence, skills, education and intelligence. he waspleased that senior female officers are heading var-ious departments including Marketing, Media andCommunication Department. PRESS RELEASE

Samsung launches dual sim GalaxyY Smartphone LAHORE: Samsung electronics Co Ltd, a globalleader in digital media, telecommunications andconvergence technologies, has launched SamsungGalaxy-Y Duos (S-6102) smartphone. This is yetanother innovative smartphone, customized tosuit the communication needs and budget of theyouth, while offering the Android Gingerbread ex-perience along with a dual sim feature. The youth-

ful device includes most of the cutting-edge fea-tures of the Samsung Galaxy range, to deliver apowerful smartphone performance. This sleek,slim, light-weight and easy to handle device fea-tures a 3.14 inch touchscreen along with a 3 MegaPixel Camera and MicroSD storage up to 32 GB.The Galaxy-Y Duos comes with much faster andbroader Wi-Fi and GPS features, along with a So-cial hub and FM Radio. For the music and videoenthusiasts this device has been made compatiblewith MP-3 (Audio) and MPeG4 (Video) formats,while it also supports all other audio and video for-mats. Moreover, the Android market offers plentyof games, handy tools and productivity apps forthe Samsung Galaxy series. PRESS RELEASE

Sindh tourism has a lot of potential: Swiss envoyKARACHI: Sindh holds great potential fortourism which should be explored and realised.This was suggested by Swiss Ambassador to Pak-istan Mr Christoph Bubb who was on a week-longvisit to Sindh with his spouse. During their trip tointerior Sindh, particularly Dadu and Jamshorodistricts, they visited the mausoleum of Sufi Sainthazrat Shahbaz Qalandar and appreciated thegrandeur of Rani Kot Fort. The Swiss envoy pointedout that Sindh has a lot of potential to attract localand international tourists provided an adequate in-frastructure is built. Ambassador Bubb was visitingthe port city for the third time. The main purposewas to meet the representatives of Swiss companiesand the local business community and also explorethe beauty of some areas of interior Sindh. Togetherwith Consul General of Switzerland in Karachi, MrDidier Boschung, the Swiss Ambassador also visited

the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry(KCCI) upon the invitation of Chamber’s President,Mian Ibrar Ahmed who has business ties withSwitzerland. The Swiss diplomats were delighted tointeract with the KCCI President and office bearersand had a fruitful discussion on matters of mutualinterests and possibilities of increasing bilateraltrade and investment between Pakistan andSwitzerland. PRESS RELEASE

PTCL holds Annual Sales Conference 2012

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Com-pany Limited (PTCL) CeO and President, Walid Ir-shaid, has said that the Company is on a growthtrajectory not only because of its innovative prod-ucts and services, but also because of its talentedsales force. “Success in life comes from one simplething: taking ownership of what you do,” said MrIrshaid while chairing PTCL’s Annual Sales Confer-ence 2012 themed “Build, Operate, Own”, held inIslamabad. “The only way we can succeed isthrough collective thinking, combined energies,synergised teamwork, proactive customer engage-ment and ownership of business.” The day-long

conference held at a local hotel was attended byPTCL’s countrywide sales management teams com-prising 71 officials, as well as senior officials fromthe company’s commercial, human resource, andmarketing departments. PRESS RELEASE

Condolence LAHORE: Director General Provincial DisasterManagement Authority, Khalid Sherdil has ex-pressed deep sense of grief and sorrow over thedeath of a person who died due to falling of a newlyconstructed gate of Watan Card Centre in Kot Addu.he directed the local administration to providemedical aid to the injured. he also called for a re-port from the administration regarding falling ofthe gate of Watan Card Centre. PRESS RELEASE

RAWALPINDI: Pearl Continental Hotel Rawalpindiparticipated in the Global Swimarathon 2012 tosupport the global campaign “End Polio Now”. Seenin the picture, Mr Sheharyar Mirza General Manager,Pearl Continental Hotel Rawalpindi (fourth from rightin blue suit) is with the participants of the GlobalSwim-marathon, 2012. PRESS RELEASE

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

PARLIAMeNTARYCommittee ofPakistan Industrialand Traders

Association Front (PIAF) hasurged the prime minister andfederal minister for finance togive priority to Thar CoalProject in the forthcomingbudget to avoid annual loss ofRs230 billion.Chairman PIAF Sohail Lasharipresided over the PIAFparliamentary committeemeeting, while LCCI PresidentIrfan Qaiser Sheikh, formerPresidents Mian Anjum Nisar,Muhammad Ali Mian, formerSenior Vice President SheikhMuhammad Arshad and PIAFSenior Vice Chairman NadirKalam Osman, were alsopresent on the occasion.Sohail Lashari said countryhas vast coal reserves andscientists are making out theirbest efforts to complete theproject in shortest time, butlack of funds is coming in theway.he said country was facingmassive energy crisis.

electricity and gas loadshedding have crippled theindustrial and economicactivities, but the government

is showing least interest insolving the issue of energycrisis. Unavailability of gasand electricity forced a large

number of industrialists toclose down their industrialsectors or shift to the othercountries and millions

industrial workers becamejobless. he said India isgenerating 53 per cent ofenergy through coal and only0.9 through thermalresources, whereas, thesituation in Pakistan is quitedifferent where 60 ofelectricity is being generatedthrough costly thermalresources. Thar Coal Projectcould play a vital role tosolve the energy crisis, heunderscored. The project willface serious threats if the

government does not releasefunds for it, he exclaimed.Sohail Lashari said Thar Coalwas a project of nationalimportance and could not onlysolve the energy crisis, butalso help export extra gasand electricity. Participantsof PIAF parliamentarycommittee meeting urgedthe prime Minister toallocate sufficient funds forThar Coal and other energyprojects to keep theindustrial wheel moving.

Major Gainers

Company Open High Low Close Change TurnoverUnilever Pak Foods 1776.23 1800.00 1751.00 1797.41 21.18 27Indus Dyeing 334.78 351.10 350.00 350.10 15.32 110Atlas Battery Ltd. 174.78 180.80 175.00 180.53 5.75 3,469Siemens Pakistan 784.44 790.00 790.00 790.00 5.56 260Pak.Int.Con. SD 101.59 106.66 101.00 106.66 5.07 59,261

Major Losers

Rafhan Maize Product 2807.14 2800.00 2700.00 2750.00 -57.14 176Bata (Pak) Ltd. 748.00 745.00 710.60 711.84 -36.16 124Wyeth Pak Limited 786.84 790.00 755.00 763.33 -23.51 146Nestle PakistanXD 3359.39 3397.00 3333.00 3343.86 -15.53 226Attock PetroleumXD 453.22 458.00 446.50 447.10 -6.12 36,457

Volume Leaders

Jah.Sidd. Co. 10.50 10.95 10.18 10.49 -0.01 22,360,710D.G.K.Cement 27.16 28.42 27.10 28.23 1.07 20,890,595Lafarge Pakistan 2.53 2.78 2.49 2.62 0.09 17,393,620Fauji Cement 4.18 4.40 4.10 4.25 0.07 12,854,691Azgard Nine 7.21 7.50 6.94 7.17 -0.04 10,982,914

Interbank RatesUS Dollar 90.9626UK Pound 144.2122Japanese Yen 1.1293Euro 122.1355

Buy Sell

US Dollar 90.60 91.10

Euro 120.68 121.91

Great Britain Pound 142.92 144.30

Japanese Yen 1.1165 1.1269

Canadian Dollar 89.59 91.07

Hong Kong Dollar 11.48 11.74

UAE Dirham 24.62 24.82

Saudi Riyal 24.12 24.29

Australian Dollar 95.97 98.44

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

DeSPITe the negatives like a wideningcurrent account deficit, government’sever-rising budgetary borrowingsfrom banks and continued increase in

international oil prices; the investors’ sentimentsat the Karachi stocks market are positive thushelping the benchmark index keep a southwardjourney to hit, what the analysts believe, 13,000point level. Monday saw the KSe 100-share indexgaining 37.14 point or 0.29 per cent to close at12,743.66 points against, what the market ob-servers said, a high of 12,706.52 points of Fridaylast week. The index hit the intraday high of12,790.52 points before plunging to the intradaylow of 12,654.00 points.

The turnover at the ready counter wasrecorded at 205.790 million shares compared tothe previous 192.346 million. The trading value,however, slightly moved down to Rs6.330 billionfrom Friday’s Rs6.749 billion.

The market capitalization rose to Rs3.319trillion against Rs3.310 trillion of the previoussession. Of the total 365 scrips traded, 145 ap-peared as gainers, 151 losers while 69 remained

unchanged. The turnover in the future contractalso closed lower and slid to 13.234 million sharesfrom 23.275 million of the last trading day of theprevious week. “As the KSe 100 waves throughbetter corporate results, higher oil and fertilizerprices, along with positive vibes regarding earlierrelease of the CGT-related SROs, we expect mar-ket to continue its upward march,” said Yawar UzZaman of InvestCap.

however, the analyst said, market sentimentalso depended on the political situation of thecountry and associated foreign flows. “Our toppicks for the coming week are eNGRO, FFC,FFBL, ODGC, PPL, POL and DGKC,” he said. Thecement sector led by D.G Khan Cement (DGKC),the dealers said, played as a catalyst in the Mon-

day’s bullish trend.Jahangir Siddqui Company being the volume

leader of the day counted its traded shares at22.36 million with each of its shares priced atRs10.50 in the opening and Rs10.49 in the clos-ing. The cement giants, including D.G Khan Ce-ment, Lafarge Pakistan and Fauji Cement, alsoperformed well and saw their traded shares at20.89 million, 17.39 million and 12.85 millionshares, respectively. Generally, the market ob-servers believe, the Karachi bourse was movingup on the back of positive like improvement inPak-US relations, the government’s announce-ment on Balochistan package, renewed foreigninterest, record rise in international oil pricesnear to $123 and bullish global stocks.

Bulls overcome all odds, keep 13,000pt barrier in sight

PRO 28-02-2012_Layout 1 2/27/2012 11:13 PM Page 3