KP governor vowssetting up ofindustrial estate inDarra Adamkhel

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Governor Engr Shaukatullah on

Saturday formally launched natural gas

project, costing Rs.76.468 at Darra

Adam Khal in F.R. Kohat on Saturday

and has also declared to establish an

industrial estate in the area. The 17

kilometer long main pipeline laying

project for supply of natural gas on

completion within next couple of

months will offer 50 connections for

commercial purposes besides providing

3,500 domestic links to a population of

about 45,000 of the area. He also

announced to expedite efforts for

establishment of a grid station, besides

exploring possibility for launching

socio-economic uplift project in the

area which also included up-gradation

of a historic high school at

Zarghunkhel, working since pre-

partition era. Principal Secretary to

Governor Muhammad Abid Majeed,

Secretary Social Sector, FATA, Aftab

Akbar Durrani, Commissioner Kohat,

Sahibzada Muhammad Anis and

Deputy Commissioner Kohat Saadat

Hassan who also acts as Political Agent

for the region, Ex-Federal Minister,

Senator Abdul Razzaq, ex-

Parliamentarians Haji Noor Sher Afridi

and Haji Baz Gul Afridi were present on

the occasion. Initiation of gas supply

project coupled with commitment for

establishment of an industrial estate in

the area will lead to launch of more

projects of similar nature in rest of

FATA in a gradual way, he said.

Responding to the demands put

forward by a tribal elder, Haji Noor

Zaman Afridi, the Governor further

stated that the FATA Development

Authority has already completed

feasibility study with regard to

establishment of the Industrial Estate

and funds will be allocated for this

purpose under the ensuing Annual

Development Program. APP

NEW DELHI

AGENCIES

Despite threats and clashes between the two arch-ri-vals, India still hoping that Pakistan would soon grantthe most Favoured Nation (mFN) status to India,India’s top diplomat to the US has said that such amove would clear the ways for closer trade ties be-tween the two neighbours.

“Pakistan has assured us that it is going to providemost favoured nation status to India. We are waitingfor that decision to actually be announced formally andimplemented. That would certainly be a boost not onlyto confidence but also would clear the ways for muchcloser trade ties between the two countries,” Indian am-bassador Nirupama rao said.

She was responding to questions after deliveringremarks on ‘US-India economic Agenda in 2013′ at theCentre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS),a Washington-based eminent think-tank.

“India and Pakistan are two close neighbours. Wecannot disregard that basic fact, whatever the differ-ences between us may be. We have put in place aprocess of dialogue between India and Pakistan and

significant part of that process does focus on how wemay build better trade ties between the two countries.And there has been considerable movement on thatfront in the last 18 months,” she said.

The business constituency, especially in Pakistan,rao argued, has a bigger desire to open trade withIndia. “They see benefit. They see good thing flowingout of that process. That itself is very encouraging,”she said. Noting that Afghanistan is a hub of Asia, theheart of Asia, the connective tissue between South andCentral Asia, rao said: “We have to ensure thatAfghanistan plays that role, for its own well-being, forour own well-being.”

Transit and trade with Afghanistan through Pakistaninto India is important in that context, she added. “I amnot saying this because I have been authorised at the pol-icy level to say this. I am saying this from my ownknowledge of the subject and the constraints that wehave faced and to allow Afghanistan to come into itsown to really make its debut in terms of being tradingpartner for other South Asian nations, to enable free flowof goods and services to the rest of the region,” she said.

responding to questions, rao said New Delhi iscommitted to expeditious conclusion of the negotia-

tions on bilateral in-vestment treaty(BIT). “It isfairly a com-p l e xp r o c e s s .We aregetting toa stagew h e r ewe areexamin-i n gm o d e ltexts, aretalking toeach other atthe technicallevel. The goal isshared by two sidesthat we need to completethis negotiation as quickly aspossible. So I am reasonably optimistic that the giventhe direction and the political will by the two govern-

ments, we are headed in the rightdirection,”

once the BIT is in place, thiswould set the stage for closer economic

arrangement, rao said, in response to aquestion on possibility of free trade agreement

with the US. India has entered into discussion andlooking into comprehensively into regional economicpartnership for ties with the ASeAN and with othermajor economies in Asia.

LAHORE

ONLINE

Former FBr Chairman Abdul-lah Yousaf has said that the eco-nomic growth of the country hadslide down since 2006 owing tothe inconsistent tax system lack of

business-friendly policies.While speaking during to a session at

the Lahore Chamber of Commerce andIndustry on Saturday, Former Chairman

Federal Bureau of revenue (FBr)pointed out that Foreign Direct Invest-ment (FDI) stood at $ 8.5 billion that hasnow come down to $500 million, depict-ing sliding of the economy in 2013.

He noted that Pakistan has a greatgrowth potential that could not be tappedso far because of inconsistency in policies,distortion in tax system, cumbersome tax-ation procedures and absence of business-friendly policies.

LCCI office-bearers including LCCIPresident Farooq Iftikhar, Senior VicePresident Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, Vice Presi-dent mian Abuzar Shad, former Presi-dents and executive Committee membersspoke on various challenges being facedby the economy.

He said that although there are a num-ber of factors that could be blamed for thisunlikely situation but frequent changes atpolicy level, regional instability and bu-reaucratic hurdles are the major reasons of

this decline. He said that we would haveto look into these issues to attract muchneeded foreign investment.

He called for increase intax to GDP ratio to over-come the issue of fis-cal deficit. He saidthat the phenome-nal increase incountry’s over-all debts fromrs.6 trillion in2008 to rs.14trillion in2013 has alsoaffected theeconomic ac-

tivities to much extent. He said that theheavy government borrowing and cur-rency devaluation could be blamed forhuge debt that increases by more than

rs.63 billion when the dollar gains rs.1.He said that out of total rs.2 trillion

government revenues, 58% goes toprovinces under NFC award

while out of remaining42%, rs. 1 trillion is

utilized for debts e r v i c i n g ,

rs.600 billionfor defenceand rs.500billion arespent onpublic sectorenterprisesi n c l u d i n g

r a i l w a y s ,PIA, Pakistan

Steel mills andWAPDA etc.

He suggested re-source mobilization and

privatization of public sectorenterprises to ensure economic recov-

ery. He said that the right taxation policiescoupled with good tax administrationwould help ensure resource mobilization.

He said that the documentation ofcash economy would help resolve low taxto GDP ration phenomena and for docu-mentation, the creation of data warehouseof potential sectors and third party infor-mation are of prime importance.

He said that Tax-to-GDP ratio of Pak-istan is lowest in the world, which stands

at 9.0 percent of the GDP, however, low-income countries normally have tax-to-GDP ratio between 15 percent of the GDPto 18 percent of the GDP. middle-incomecountries have tax-to-GDP ratio rangingbetween 22 percent of the GDP to 25 per-cent of the GDP and tax-to-GDP ratio inhigh income countries is recorded at 40percent of the GDP.

Speaking on the occasion, LCCI Pres-ident Farooq Iftikhar said that the businesscommunity understands that the govern-ment should not introduce any economicpolicy without due consultation with thestakeholders for true implementation.

The LCCI President said that re-peated issuance of Sros by the FBr iscreating multiple problem for the busi-ness community therefore, in the largerinterest of the economy, culture of Srosshould be done away.

He said that all sectors of the econ-omy should be taxed. He said that theagriculture having 20.1% share in GDP iscontributing only 1.2% to the nationaltaxes. on the other hand, manufacturingsector has 25.5% share in GDP and is con-tributing 62.2% in the national taxes.Services sector share is 54.4% in GDPwhile is paying only one third of its sharein the national taxes.

Farooq Iftikhar said that under invoic-ing and smuggling are hitting the busi-nesses hard and stringent measures areneeded to weed out these evils.

01

buSINeSS

BSunday, 17 March, 2013

The government should not introduce any

economic policy without due consultation with the

stakeholders. — LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar

Economy suffering since 2006due to bad policies: Ex-FBR chief

LAHORE: European Union Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) CEO Javed Akbar and heads of

several other authorities hold a meeting on Saturday. NNI

Although there are a number of factors

that could be blamedfor this unlikely

situation, frequentchanges at policy level,regional instability and

bureaucratic hurdlesare the major reasons

of this decline

Pakistan has assured us that it is going to provide most favoured

nation status to India. We arewaiting for that decision to

actually be announcedformally and implemented.

That would certainly be aboost not only to confidencebut also would clear the ways

for much closer trade ties between the

two countries

Former FBR Chairman Abdullah Yousaf

Indian ambassador Nirupama Rao

India hopes Pakistan will soon give it MFN status

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buSINeSSSunday, 17 March, 2013

LG recognized with redDot and iF design awards

LAHORE: Twenty

seven of LG

Electronics’ (LG)

2013 products were

recognized by the

red dot design

awards for their

excellence in the

field of design. A

panel of 37

independent judges

considered over

4,662 products

from 1,865

manufacturers,

designers and

architects from 54

countries. LG took

top honors by

receiving the

coveted red dot:

best of the best

award for its new

curved OLED TV. LG also received 24 other red dot

design awards in addition to two honorable

mentions. “Design has always been an important

part of our DNA and in recent years it’s become even

more important that we differentiate our products in

an industry that has become synonymous with great

looking products,” said Dr. Scott Ahn, head of

Corporate Design at LG Electronics. “Our ultimate

philosophy is to incorporate designs that work but

also evoke an emotional response. The design

awards are a testament to the company’s success in

this regard.” PrESS rELEASE

Bank of Punjab opensfirst Islamic Bankingbranch in Lahore

LAHORE: The Bank of Punjab (BOP) has launched

Islamic Banking to provide its customers with Shariah

compliant services under licence issued by the State

Bank of Pakistan. The first of BOP’s Islamic Banking

branches was inaugurated on March 15, 2013, by

Hon. Chief Minister of Punjab, Mian Shahbaz Sharif at

a ceremony held at BOP’s branch in Main Boulevard

New Garden Town, Lahore. While addressing the

guests at the inauguration ceremony, the President of

BOP, Mr. Naeemuddin Khan said that Pakistan has

always been positioned to promote Islamic Banking

considering its constitutional obligation to establish a

riba-free economic system as well as its population of

95 percent Muslims serving as a promising prospect.

The start of Islamic Banking at BOP comes in the

wake of four years of committed hard work by the

management to turn the bank around. Even though

BOP has entered the Islamic Banking industry much

later than a number of other banks, it aspires to

catch up with its peers in the not too distant future

and become the bank of choice for Shariah conscious

customers. PrESS rELEASE

CORPORATE CORNER

02

B

Resource mobilisation and privatisation of

public sector enterprises will ensure economic

recovery. — Former FBR chairman Abdullah Yousaf

KARACHI: Zong arranged a training workshop for journalists on branchless banking at Institute

of Business Administration. Pr

ISLAMABAD

NNI

Viewing Gwadar as a strate-gic location for China to thedisadvantage of other globalpowers was a mere misper-ception. The economic

prospects were definitely there forboth the countries and it will be mutu-ally beneficial for Pakistan and Chinaas well as for many other countriesacross the region.

This was the crux of a roundtablediscussion held at the Institute of Pol-icy Studies on the topic of “Gwadar:Current Status and Future Prospects”in collaboration with Pakistan StudyCentre, Sichuan University, China.

Senior research associate of IPS,Commander (r) Azhar Ahmad andChinese analyst Professor Zhourong were the main speakers whileformer ambassador Arif Ayubchaired the session.

The participants viewed that ifChina was interested in establishing its

strategic presence in the Arabian Sea,it could have availed other options al-ready available to it. China maintainsone of the largest merchant ship fleetand if the management of port opera-tions was with Chinese and related in-frastructure was provided by thegovernment, then Gwadar was suchthat it will definitely attract Chineseships which would trans-ship into thePersian Gulf. Hence, a Chinese com-pany was best suited for the port oper-ations at Gwadar, while thepredecessor company had no such in-terest with respect to this port.

Presenting a survey of historicaland geostrategic significance ofGwadar, Azhar Ahmed said that Pak-istan had always neglected its mar-itime sector and had paid the price ina number of ways, including economicand strategic. Gwadar possesses greatpotential and its handing over to a Chi-nese company has offered an opportu-nity to undo some of the mistakesPakistan has made in past years andshould not be missed. Pakistan needs

to proceed on the project on war-foot-ing and start using the port to thefullest of its potential. The leadershipneeds to show political will and deter-mination to national interests.

He said further the port’s closeproximity to Persian Gulf, which pro-vides 60 percent of world’s oiland overlooking thestrategic lines ofcommunicationadds value tothe port. It wasmuch less vul-nerable incase of anys t r a t e g i cthreat. Severalreports haveshown the eco-nomic viability of theport but to meet the envi-sioned targets, the port needsfurther development of its infrastruc-ture and connectivity with the hinter-land. Contrary to what was generallyprojected, local population in the areawas not averse to the port project andsee it as window of opportunity andemployment for their future, he in-formed.

other analysts said the transitroute through China towards CentralAsia would offer the most viable op-

tion for international trade to westernpart of China which lays at long dis-tance from Chinese ports in the east aswell as for Gulf countries and CentralAsian states.

The government needs to buildroad and railway linkages to use

Gwadar as an alternative port forthe country and to offer its

utilities to regionalland-locked states. A

comparison wasmade with otherregional coasts toshow that the portis located at aplace where it of-

fers the best optionfor trans-shipment.

There were anumber of other aspects

too which came under dis-cussion, including putting up a

coastal refinery and it was recalled thatsuch a project was jointly conceived byPakistan and Iran. It was suggested thatthe idea could be translated into oper-ation through assistance of China.Khalid rahman, DG-IPS, concludedthat the Gwadar port project, if handledwith wisdom and dedication, wouldcontribute significantly to the develop-ment and security of the whole coun-try, particularly of Balochistan.

ASTANA

INP

For implementation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India(TAPI) natural gas pipeline, as was the case with realisation of the projectof Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, support for oil and gas companies isnecessary, KazTransoil JSC General manager Kairgeldy Kabyldin said.

“TAPI is a very good project, which will have international repercus-sions. And its implementation requires support of oil and gas companies,as was the case with realisation of Baku-Tbilisi–Ceyhan oil pipeline. Thatis, the agreements must be signed among the resource owners who shouldensure stability of supplies and security,” Kabyldin said, responding toquestions here.

According to him, gas not only from the western regions of Kaza-khstan in case of industrial production, but also from russia can go bytransit to get to the fast growing market of South Asia.

“In my opinion, there is nothing better than such economically attrac-tive projects that actually help to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan andPakistan. After all, a lot of money for transit will go to social projects inthese transit countries,” he said.

Pakistan names15 members forJoint BusinessCouncil with India

ISLAMABAD

ONLINE

The Pakistan government has nominated 15 membersfor the Pakistan-India Joint Business Council followinga decision by the two countries to create the body toboost commerce and economic ties. Bashir Ali muham-mad, the chairman of Gul Ahmed Textiles, Lucky Ce-ment Ceo muhammad Ali Tabba, Habib BankPresident and Ceo Nauman Dar, Iftikhar Ali malik, theowner of the Guard Group of Companies, Farmers As-sociates president muhammad Tariq Bucha and Pak-istan-India Business Council chairman Noormuhammad Kasuri are among the nominated members.A notification regarding the nominated members hasbeen issued by the Commerce ministry here in line witha decision made by the Commerce ministers of Indiaand Pakistan in April last year to set up the Joint Busi-ness Council, officials said. The Commerce ministrywill facilitate the first meeting of the Joint BusinessCouncil and the Foreign ministry has been asked toarrange dates for the meet.

Nishat hotel,shopping mallinaugurated

LAHORE

StAff rEPOrt

Chairman Nishat Group mian muhammad manshaperformed ground breaking of Nishat Hotel andShopping mall, a project on around 15 Acres (around120 Kanals) by Nishat Hotels & Properties Limited, aNishat Group company, in Lahore on Friday. The La-hore Development Authority had auctioned this pieceof land a couple of months ago to the Nishat group.The project consists of a high quality state of the arthotel and shopping mall of international standard aswell as large banquet hall catering to the needs of thesurrounding areas. Located near expo Center (Tradeand Finance Centre), m.A. Johar Town, the projectwill be completed within the next 2 to 3 years. Theproposed building has a covered area of 2.75 millionsquare feet comprising 11 levels (i.e. eight floors plusthree basements with adequate parking bays) housing4 Star 100 beds hotel, banquet halls, shopping mallsand stores with food courts, cineplex, health andleisure zones etc.

‘Gwadar can be win-winproject for all stakeholders’

TAPI pipeline counts on oil and gas companies’ support

The leadershipneeds to show

political will anddetermination toachieve national

interests

KARACHI: Girls participate in Pak Suzuki’s beach

cleaning campaign at Sea View Clifton. StAff PHOtO

ANALYST SAYS HANDING OVER OF GWADAR TOCHINA HAS OFFERED OPPORTUNITY TO UNDO SOMEOF MISTAKES PAKISTAN HAS MADE IN PAST

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