IccI demandstraders’representationin govt bodiesISLAMABAD: The Islamabad

Chamber of Commerce and Industry

(ICCI) urged the government on

Wednesday to give the business

community representation to the

government’s decision making bodies

for formulating business friendly

economic policies and to recognize

their role. “Businessmen play an

important role in the development of

national economy by promoting

business, creating jobs and paying

taxes. therefore, they should be

included in the government decision-

making bodies”, Zafar Bakhtawari

President ICCI said while talking to

Iftikhar Ali Malik, Vice President of

SAARC Chamber of Commerce who

visited ICCI here. Bakhtawari said

that ICCI also urged the Government

to give representation to the

businessmen in the boards of

directors of Capital Development

Authority (CDA) and other

government institutions which would

ultimately create an environment of

trust between the business

community and Government. The

ICCI President said that the economy

of Pakistan was facing multiple

challenges and the government

should address these challenges on

priority for creating better business

environment in the country. He said

that facilitating the growth of private

enterprises would create multiple

benefits for the economy as it will

improve productivity, trade, exports,

employment and revenue generation

for the country. Speaking on the

occasion, Iftikhar Ali Malik discussed

the matters of mutual interest with

ICCI President and stressed on

developing strong networking among

the Chambers and business

associations of the country for

effective advocacy on common

issues. APP

UK to continuesupport forgrant of gsPPlus to PakistanFAISALABAD: Alison McEwen, Head

of Bilateral Team for Pakistan British

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

(FCO), said the United Kingdom (UK)

will continue its support for grant of

Generalized System of Preferences

(GSP) Plus to Pakistan from

European Union. Addressing a

meeting at the Faisalabad Chamber

of Commerce and Industry (FCCI)

here on Wednesday, she said the UK

would continue its support for grant

of GSP Plus to Pakistan by EU in

2014. Earlier, President FCCI Mian

Zahid Aslam, in his welcome address,

said the UK and Pakistan were

enjoying people-to-people contacts.

He said the UK was a close friend to

the government and people, and had

always vowed to stronger

relationship with Pakistan in building

up ties in the trade, health and

education sectors. He said due to

prolonged energy deficit in Pakistan,

the power sector offered great

potential for investment from British

Companies for joint ventures. APP

01

buSiNeSS

BThursday, 14 February, 2013

Pakistan is an investment-friendly country and international companies

are working there smoothly which reflects the normal situation

prevailing in the country. – Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf

ISLAMABAD

APP

ECONOMIC expertshave termed the rise inremittances as a strongcushion for the coun-try’s ailing economy,providing a bailout

package at a much needed time to bringabout stabilization.

“Being the one of most important pos-itive indicators, the record increase in re-mittances is very good for the economy ofthe country,” Former Finance Minister Dr.Salman Shah said. He said that the boostin remittances would also help ease thepressure of balance of payment of thecountry. Dr.Salman was of the view thatOverseas Pakistanis were the one of thebiggest resource to boost economy of thecountry adding that Overseas Chinese andIndians have made huge investment intheir respective countries.

“If Pakistani government serves itsoverseas Pakistanis and take initiatives byproviding them incentives then they canplay a vital role in boosting Pakistan’seconomy through their remittances and in-vestments for the socio economic prosper-

ity of Pakistan”, he remarked. Citing another reason for increase in

remittances, he said due to the recovery invarious economies including USA, SaudiArabia where overseas Pakistanis live, theremittances have increased considerably.

The Pakistan Remittance Initiative(PRI) launched by the government to facil-itate overseas Pakistanis has been bearingfruits as the remittances have touchedrecord high during the seven months ofthe current fiscal year. The governmenthad launched PRI in April 2009through the joint cooperation of StateBank of Pakistan, Min-istry of OverseasPakistanis andthe Ministryof Finance inorder to pro-vide anownershipstructure inPakis tanfor remit-tance fa-cilitation.This ini-tiative fa-cilitated

and supported faster, cheaper, convenientand efficient flow of remittances.

PRI had taken a number of steps to en-hance the flow of remittances through for-mal channels which include (i) preparationof national strategies on remittances (ii)taking all necessary steps to implement theoverall strategy (iii) playing the advisory

role for financial sector in terms ofpreparing a business case, rela-

tionship building with over-seas correspondents,creating separate efficientremittance payment high-ways.

Experts believe that thecontinued growth in workers’

remittances is the result ofthe efforts made by

PRI in collabora-tion with otherstakeholders tofacilitate both

o v e r s e a sPakistanis

and theirf a m i -l i e sb a c khome.

It is pertinent to mention here that overseasPakistani workers remitted a recordamount of more than $ 8.206 billion in thefirst seven months (July January) of thecurrent fiscal year 2012-13 (FY13), up by10.36 % or $770.41 million when com-pared with $ 7.436 billion received duringthe same period of last fiscal year (July-January 2012).

The inflow of remittances in July Janu-ary, 2013 from Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA,UK, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) coun-tries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar andOman) and EU countries amounted to$2,292.02 million, $1,669.36 million,$1,324.00 million, $1,155.35 million,$941.83 million and $217.89 million respec-tively as compared with the inflow of$2,008.47 million, $1,644.34 million,$1,328.31 million, $853.47 million, $845.41million and $215.64 million respectively inJuly January 2012. According to latest dataof State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) remittancesreceived from Norway, Switzerland, Aus-tralia, Canada, Japan and other countriesduring the first seven months of current fis-cal year (July January FY13) amounted to$605.89 million as against $540.34 millionreceived in the first seven months of last fis-cal year (July January FY12).

PRI helPs RaIse RemITTancesTo bolsTeR aIlIng economy

ISLAMABAD

APP

Pakistan Gems and Jewellery Develop-ment Company (PGJDC) has established astate of the art Gems Exchange Center anda Gems and Jewellery Training and Man-ufacturing Center (GJTMC) in Quetta.

Balochistan is a province with greatpotential with respect to colored gemstonesector and is famous for its colored vari-eties of quartz. Gem Exchange center pro-vides all indispensable facilities for

gemstone buyers, seller and exporterunder one roof so that they can trade, in-vest and export with maximum confi-dence.

According to official sources,GJTMC impart essential training to theindustry and is helping in bridging tech-nological gap prevailing in the industry.Both of these facilities are equipped withstate of the art equipment and are success-fully serving the industry with vital sup-port, official said.

It is equipped with latest Lapidary

Machines, Gemological tools and equip-ments and carving machines. The primemotive of GJTMC-Quetta is to upgradethe skill and technology of the Gems andJewellery sector of Balochistan and toprovide a platform to the Gems and Jew-ellery manufacturers and businessmen ofthe region to avail the manufacturing fa-cilities through state of the art machiner-ies and equipments, resulting inimprovement in quality and value addi-tion, leading toward enhancement in ex-ports, official said.

GemS aNd JewelleRY Training and manufacturingCenter established

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

The Sui North Gas Pipeline Limited(SNGP) is expected to have regis-tered an increase of 35%YoY in itsprofit after tax (PAT) to Rs 1.517 bil-lion, marking the Rs 2.63 earning pershare of (EPS) for FY12.

The sharp rise in the bottomlineduring the period is projected mainlydue to rise in operating assets by4%YoY to Rs76.6bn, increase in non-operating income by 5%YoY toRs4.2bn and decline in financialcharges by 9%YoY to Rs3.5bn,” saidAbdul Azeem of InvestCap Research.

However, the analyst said, rise of19% YoY in Unaccounted for Gas(UFG) losses was expected to haverestricted the bottomline to grow fur-ther in FY12. The company is spend-ing hefty amount to curb the UFGlosses. “We expect Rs1.50/share ascash dividend to be announced alongwith the FY12 results,” he said.

On quarterly basis, the com-pany’s profit after tax (PAT) is ex-

pected to increase by 155pc toRs503mn (EPS Rs0.87) during4QFY12.

With the addition of 2pc in oper-ating assets, the company would beable to improve its EBIT by 15pc.

Reduction in UFG losses is ex-pected to be the helping hand improv-ing EBIT during the 4QFY12 as UFGlooses declined by a massive 72pc toRs645mn.

However, minimal 8%QoQ de-cline in non-operating income is ex-pected during 4QFY12.

“This healthy improvement in thecompany’s results is prominentlybased on Lahore High court’s deci-sion in FY10 to keep UFG losseslimit at 7pc and treated late paymentsurcharge and interest on gas sales ar-rears as non operating income,”Abdul Azeem observed.

Trade deficit narrows by 12%

as exports increase 7.24%,

imports decrease 2.44%

ISLAMABAD: In yet another positive development after

record growth in remittances, the country’s trade deficit

decreased by 12.05 percent during the first seven

months of the current fiscal year as exports expanded

by 7.24 percent and imports witnessed negative growth

of 2.44 percent. The overall exports from the country

increased from $13.118 billion in July December 2011-

12 to US$14.068 billion during July-December

(2012-13), according to the data of Pakistan Bureau of

Statistics (PBS) released here Wednesday. On the other

hand, the imports decreased from $26.327 billion last

year to $25.685 billion during the current fiscal year,

showing negative growth of 2.44 percent, the data

revealed. According to the data, the trade deficit during

the fist seven months of current fiscal stood at $11.617

billion against the deficit of $13.209 billion last year,

showing negative growth of 12.05 percent. Meanwhile,

exports during the month of January 2013 witnessed

growth of 5.58 percent when compared to the same

month of last year. On year-on-year basis, the exports

during January 2013 were recorded at $2.023 billion

against the exports of $1.916 billion during January

2012 2011. On the other hand, the imports into the

country also witnessed increase of 3.12 percent to

$3.763 billion in January 2013 against the imports of

$3.649 billion during January 2012. The trade deficit

during January stood at $1.740 billion against the deficit

of $1.733 billion during January 2012, showing slight

growth of 0.40 percent. On month on month basis, the

exports as well as imports increased by 2.74 percent

and 1.48 percent respectively in January 2013 as

compared to December 2012 2011. APP

SNGP may post Rs 1.517b profit for FY12

PRO 14-02-2013_Layout 1 2/14/2013 12:30 AM Page 1

buSiNeSSThursday, 14 February, 2013

major Gainers

COMPANY OPEN HIGH LOW CLOSE CHANGE TURNOVERBata (Pak) 1457.00 1473.90 1405.10 1473.90 16.90 200National Foods 293.95 308.64 295.00 308.62 14.67 15,300Siemens Pakistan 602.85 619.00 600.00 617.00 14.15 1,700Indus Motor Co 291.23 302.80 293.00 302.38 11.15 120,500Colgate Palmolive 1490.00 1500.00 1500.00 1500.00 10.00 200

major losersNestle Pakistan Ltd. 5030.00 5280.00 4955.00 4955.00 -75.00 120UniLever Pak 10350.00 10300.00 10200.00 10275.00 -75.00 1,420Exide (PAK) 323.00 318.00 314.01 314.44 -8.56 1,400Pak Gum & Chemical 164.95 164.00 158.00 159.75 -5.20 1,600J.D.W.Sugar 98.75 94.31 93.82 93.82 -4.93 2,900

Volume leaders

P.T.C.L.A 19.91 20.64 19.59 20.10 0.19 44,810,000NIB Bank Limited 2.61 2.85 2.59 2.77 0.16 16,290,500P.I.A.C.(A) 4.72 5.41 4.52 5.27 0.55 15,654,000Sui North Gas 24.27 25.48 24.70 25.46 1.19 13,383,000Telecard Limited 4.74 4.93 4.31 4.65 -0.09 12,824,500

interbank RatesUSD PKR 98.1088GBP PKR 153.5108JPY PKR 1.0511EURO PKR 132.2114

ForexBUY SELL

US Dollar 99.00 99.25 Euro 132.23 132.48 Great Britain Pound 152.86 153.11 Japanese Yen 1.0437 1.0546 Canadian Dollar 97.18 98.89 Hong Kong Dollar 12.46 12.72 UAE Dirham 26.75 27.00 Saudi Riyal 26.25 26.49

KARACHI: The Consul General of the Russian

Federation Andrey V.Demidov hosted a film show

reception at the Consulate. Picture shows Acting

Governor of Sindh Nisar Ahmed Khuro, Jam

Madad Ali, AR Sattar and Nafees Siddique. PR

Week-long exhibition ofart books from Pakistanopens in new DelhiNEW DELHI: A week-long exhibition of “Art Books &

Periodicals from Pakistan” opened today at the Art

Gallery of the India International Centre (IIC) in New

Delhi. This is the first such exhibition on the subject

to be held in India, and it has been jointly sponsored

by the IIC and the Fomma Trust. It comprises more

than 70 art publications made available by some of

the leading art publishers in Pakistan. Art the

conclusion of the Exhibition, the books will stand

donated to the Library of the IIC in New Delhi as a

reference resource on Pakistan art and artists. In a

special message on this occasion, the Chairman of

the Fomma Trust, Zulfiqar A Lakhani, warmly

welcomed the initiative to hold this exhibition in

collaboration with the IIC in New Delhi. PR

Wateen supports inaugural

lahore literary FestivalLAHORE: Wateen Telecom, Pakistan’s leading

converged communications provider, is proud to

announce its support for the first ever Lahore

Literary Festival (LLF). The inaugural LLF, being held

on the 23rd and 24th of February at the Alhamra

Arts Complex, aims to revive the Lahore spirit of art

and creativity. The annual event promises to be the

first step in re-establishing Lahore as the cultural

heartbeat of Pakistan and enriching the cultural

experience of the city’s residents by creating an

institutional platform for fostering and furthering

Lahore’s literary traditions. As part of its support for

the Festival and Lahore’s revival as Pakistan’s

cultural capital, Wateen Telecom will be providing

guests and visitors at the event with continuous

high-speed wireless broadband. PR

Indo-Pak fusion exhibitionheld on Feb 9th

KARACHI: The Indo-Pak Fusion Exhibition was

held in Karachi on Feb 9 by leading international

designers Sam Seid, Ayesha Hashim khan and

Bubble Sabarwal to launch their brand “V

Collections” which brings together fashion

designers from both Pakistan and India. The

colourful event was hosted at the Wah Villa House.

This initiative celebrates great talent and craft from

both countries and provides opportunities for

collaboration in international markets. The designer

duo Sam and Bubble have conducted various

exhibitions in India, Dubai, Dhaka, Switzerland, and

the USA. Considered pioneers of block printing their

design philosophy is style is a woman’s soul. Indo-

Pak Fusion is supported by VII Gates Ark

Foundation, an Islamabad-based NGO, which has

been working for the cause of humanity in areas of

empowerment of women and youth, social uplift

and sustainable development. PR

barclays and UnIceF renew partnership for‘building young Futures’

KARACHI: Barclays and UNICEF have today

renewed their highly-successful “Building Young

Futures” partnership for a further two years with an

additional £450,000 (UK Pound Sterling)

investment from Barclays to be utilised in Punjab

by UNICEF for imparting a comprehensive

vocational and entrepreneurial skills to the most

excluded adolescents of Punjab. The second phase

of the partnership launched here today, aims to

help tackle youth unemployment by improving the

prospects of 6,000 disadvantaged young people in

Punjab; strengthening their economic and social

resilience against the devastating challenges of

chronic poverty, inequality and changing economic

circumstances. Speaking at the partnership launch,

today, Barclays Pakistan CEO, Mr. Shazad Dada,

said, “This partnership between Barclays and

UNICEF comes at the right time for the Pakistani

youth. Investing in them is key for the future. PR

Ubl Funds launches Pak’sfirst open-end gold FundKARACHI: After an array of products and plans to

suit everyone, UBL Funds has yet again taken the

pioneer position in the financial industry by

launching Pakistan’s first open-end Gold Fund,

namely UBL Gold Fund. This fund aims to offer its

investors the benefit of investing and trading in

paper gold without having to worry about security,

purity or storage. Keeping the core value of

convenience and affordability in mind, UBL Funds

has announced account opening with just Rs. 10,000

with subsequent investments of as low as Rs. 1000

per month. Mir Muhammad Ali, CEO UBL Funds said,

“As part of our client centric strategy to offer value

added products we are excited to offer exposure to

this precious metal. Historically investment in gold

has given investors good diversification due to low

correlation with equities and fixed income. PR

KARACHI: Naeem Y Mir, CEO & MD-PSO and

Teizoon Kisat, CEO ORIX, renew the strategic

agreement between the two companies for

provision of technological support for PSO

Fuel Cards-the leading electronic fuel solution

in Pakistan. The ceremony was held at PSO

House Karachi in the presence of senior

officials from both companies. From L to R

(Sitting): Sohail Butt (DMD-F&IT,PSO),

Jehangir A Shah (DMD-Ops PSO), Naeem Y

Mir (CEO & MD, PSO), Teizoon Kisat

(CEO,ORIX), Giasuddin Khan (GM e-Business,

ORIX) and Imran Qureshi (ORIX). From L to R

(Standing): Taban R Kizilbash (PSO), Imran A

Shabbir (PSO), Adeel Zahid (PSO), Rustom H

Mavalvala (DGM Cards, PSO), Asrar Alvi

(ORIX) and Mahreen Moosa (ORIX). PR

Tag heUeR caRReRa1887 -

aUTomaTIc chRonogRaPh

KARACHI: TAG Heuer has expanded the use of its

Calibre 1887 movement to another model in the

Carrera range- the 2012 Carrera 1887 43mm

Chronograph. As the name implies, the watch has a

43mm case diameter, 2mm larger than the existing

Carrera 1887 Chronograph.Along with the larger

diameter come a range of tweaks to the design,

many of which we have seen on other watches in the

Carrera range. While the 41mm Carrera 1887 is still

very much a sporting TAG Heuer Chronograph, the

larger models veers towards the luxury end of the

scale. Design Putting aside the obviously larger case,

the new watch effectively brings together the design

of the Carrera Heritage series with the second version

(“V2″) of the Carrera 1887 41mm (above left). PR

etihad airways offers firstlook in WashingtonKARACHI: Etihad Airways, the national airline of

the United Arab Emirates, today opened the doors

to one of its brand new aircraft for the airline’s

first-ever ‘on-board showcase’ in Washington, DC.

The new B777 aircraft made its maiden voyage

from the Boeing Everett factory this week, stopping

at Dulles International Airport for the one-day-only

event. An exclusive audience from diplomatic,

business and government circles was welcomed

onboard the aircraft for a review of Etihad Airways’

award-winning guest experience, in advance of the

launch of its daily flights to Washington, DC from

March 31. A team of more than 25 cabin crew were

on hand to escort guests around the beautifully

designed aircraft interior, with seats by Sogerma,

BE Aerospace and Weber, and bespoke features

highlighting collaborations with Poltrona Frau,

Ettore Billotta, and Panasonic. PR

LAHORE: Nominee director of Maybank

Malaysia on the board of MCB, Dato’ Seri

Ismail Shahudin inaugurates “MCB Centre

Branch” at Airport Road near Rangers

Headquarters. MCB Chairman Mian

Muhammad Mansha, Director Sarmad Amin,

Malaysian Director Abdul Farid and President

Imran Maqbool are also seen in the picture. PR

CORPORATE CORNER

02

B

Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) will

support three million children to receive primary

education. – BISP Chairperson Farzana Raja

Ubl and Indus motorcompany join hands

KARACHI: UBL, Indus Motor Company

(IMC) and UBL Insurers recently entered into

an alliance offering an exclusive financing

deal on all Toyota cars. This alliance provides

an exciting offer to customers and dealers

and includes attractive terms such as low

mark up and processing fees, quicker turn-

around time, lower insurance rates and

immediate delivery on the sale of Toyota

cars. The signing ceremony for this alliance

was held at the IMC’s Head Office, Port

Qasim, Karachi. Mr. Aameer Karachiwalla,

Group Executive Retail Bank UBL, Mr. Shariq

Abdullah, CEO UBL Insurers, Mr. Ali Asghar

Jamali, Director Marketing Division, IMC, Mr.

Najeeb Agrawalla, Group Head-Marketing,

UBL and Mr. Ali Hasnain, Group Head-Sales,

UBL, with their respective teams were

present for the signing ceremony. “This is

another step by Indus Motors for fulfilling its

commitment towards consumer

empowerment by providing the best auto

financing solution to its valued customers ”,

commented Mr. Jamali, Director Marketing

Division, IMC, at the occasion, “With UBL

and UBL Insurers as partners, we are certain

that this financing deal will be widely

accepted by customers throughout Pakistan”.

Mr. Aameer Karachiwalla, Group Executive

Retail Bank said “Toyota is the most widely

sold automobile brand in Pakistan and UBL

along with our sister-concern UBL Insurers

is looking forward to providing premium

value to customers all across Pakistan with

this alliance”. PR

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

NINETY-FOUR percent ofbanks’ branches in the countryare now offering Real-TimeOnline Branches (RTOB)services, said the central bankin its Payment Systems Re-

view issued Wednesday for second quarter of thecurrent fiscal year. At least 484 more brancheswere added to the RTOB network during October-December FY13, it added.

Overall 9,896 branches of banks out of 10,523now offer RTOB services across the country.

The value and volume of RTOB transactionsalso increased by 18.82 percent and 14.29 percentrespectively during the quarter compared to theprevious quarter, the bank said. The value andvolume of overall e-banking transactions in thecountry increased by 18.02 percent and 11.31 per-cent to Rs 7.6 trillion and 79.45 million, respec-tively, compared to the first quarter.

The Payment Systems infrastructure in thecountry maintained an increasing growth trendduring the second quarter of FY13 and 245 moreAutomated Teller Machines (ATMs) were in-stalled by the banks bringing the total number ofATMs in the country to 6,232, the SBP said.

It said the ATM transactions, in terms of vol-ume of overall e-banking transactions, had amajor share of 61.12 percent with an average

value of Rs 9,779 per transaction.The overall value and volume of ATM trans-

actions increased by 10.33 percent and 10.68 per-cent, respectively, during the quarter under reviewcompared to the previous quarter.

The share of ATM transactions in overall e-banking transactions in value terms was 6.27 per-cent, the regulator said adding the number ofplastic cards in the country also increased by 5.33percent compared to 20.72 million plastic cardsissued during the preceding quarter.

The value and volume of transactions throughPoint of Sale (POS) terminals stood at Rs 22.1 bil-lion and 4.5 million, showing a growth of 6.25and 5.06 percent, respectively, compared to thefirst quarter. The central bank pointed out that therecorded value and volume of large-value pay-ments through Real Time Gross Settlement(RTGS) was Rs 42.13 trillion and 1,21,663, re-spectively, depicting an increase of 9.46 percentin value and 10.35 percent in volume as comparedto the first quarter.

The major portion for the increased numberof overall Pakistan Real Time Interbank Settle-ment Mechanism (PRISM) transactions duringthe review period was contributed by InterbankFunds Transfer (IBFT) which increased by 14.06percent as compared to the last quarter.

Similarly, the largest contribution in the valueof overall PRISM transactions was due to securi-ties settlement which increased by 14.96 percent,the bank added.

94% online banks take e-banking transactions to Rs 7.6tn in 2QFy13

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