16

BUSINESS

BMonday, 27 May, 2013

Effort only fully releases its

reward after a person refuses to

quit. — Napoleon Hill

Shipping activity at Port QasimKARACHI: Three ships arrived at the Port

to load/offload containers at QICT,

furnace oil at FOTCO, phosphoric acid at

EVTL on May 25, 2013, port sources said

here Sunday. Berth occupancy was

maintained at 35% at the Port on

Saturday where a total of five ships

namely M.V KPS-I Alican Bey-Powership,

MV President Adam, M.V Bulk Pangaea,

M.T Arietis, M.T Princes Park, are

currently occupying berths to load/offload

containers, coal, furnace oil, phosphoric

acid. Cargo handling operations were

carried out smoothly at the Port where a

cargo volume 22,307 tonnes comprising

22,101 tonnes import and 206 tonnes

export 80 (TUEs) was handled at the Port

during last 24 hours. MV President Adam

sailed on Saturday afternoon. MT Wan

Zhou Xing 9 at LCT, MV Asian Express at

MW-3, MV Maersk Memphis at QICT

arrived on May 26, 2013. APP

RCCI terms ChinesePremier’s visit fruitfulRAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi

Chamber of Commerce and Industry

RCCI on Sunday termed the visit of

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Pakistan

fruitful and result-oriented. Talking to

APP, RCCI President Manzar Khurshid

said that Premier Li Keqiang’s visit

would further enhance the volume of

trade between the countries. He said

that there were vast investment

opportunities for Chinese private and

public sectors, particularly as joint

ventures in energy, agriculture,

livestock and information technology.

The RCCI President said the people of

Pakistan always attached great

importance to the Chinese people as

China was a time-tested friend. All

weather friendship between the two

countries was precious than gold. He

said the Chinese Premier’s visit would

go a long way towards strengthening

and exploring new avenues of

partnership for the betterment of two

countries. APP

HEC, IT Ministry to work jointlyfor proliferation of ICT sector

ISLAMABAD

APP

HIgHER Education Commis-sion (HEC) and Ministry of In-formation Technology andTelecom will share each other’sexpertise for proliferation of

Information and Communication Technol-ogy (ICT) in the country.

It was agreed during the visit of highlevel delegation of Ministry of Informa-tion Technology and Telecom (MoIT&T)to HEC. HEC Executive Director Profes-sor Dr Mukhtar Ahmed apprised the dele-gation about the working, functions androle of HEC for strengthening higher ed-ucation sector in the country.

He informed that the establishment ofthe HEC in 2002 has heralded a revolutionin higher education in ten years since its es-tablishment than was achieved in the first55 years of Pakistan’s existence. Researchoutput has grown eight-folds since 2002(from 815 in 2002 to 6,200 in 2011) while90% of these research publications fromPakistan are coming from Higher EducationInstitutes (HEIs). Output has more thandoubled just in the last 3 years and is ex-pected to double again in the next 3 years.

Speaking on the occasion, HEC Chair-person Dr Javaid R Laghari said Pakistan

today was a regional leader in ICTs whichother countries are following.

The Digital Library pro-vides access to 75% of theWorld’s literature (23,000e-journals and 45,000e-books). The videoconferencing facilityhas been provided at79 sites having foot-prints in 32 citiesthroughout the country.

He also informed thatdue to revolutionary re-forms in the sector, Pak-istani universities havebeen included among thetop world and Asian universities andPakistani higher education model is beingfollowed by other Asian countries. Thedelegation was also given a detailed pres-entation by Director general (IT) AnwarAmjad on ICT initiatives of HEC whichact as catalyst in changing landscape ofhigher education. The benefits of PakistanEducation and Research Network, its rolein uplifting the overall standard of researchand education in the country, and opera-tional activities were also highlighted.

The delegation was apprised on theNational and Regional Data Centers as es-tablished by HEC in Islamabad and

provincial centers which are hostingICT services to higher education sec-

tor. The video conferencingfacility is used for inter-active meetings and lec-

tures delivered underVirtual EducationProgram as well as inthe field of Telemed-icine and Agriculture

field research. Livedemonstration on the

initiatives of videostreaming and archiving,multimedia library, andunified communicationwere also presented to

the delegation. Research repository containing more

than 6,400 Pakistani PhD thesis in digi-tized form, plagiarism eradication tool asprovided to all HEIs, HEC -Microsoft Ed-ucation Alliance, higher education man-agement information system as beingprovided in first phase to 30 HEIs to helpthese improve academic and administra-tive governance, and business intelligencesolution to help all stakeholders in their de-cision making were also briefed to the del-egates. During the meeting, HEC offeredunified communication services; videoconferencing facility and file tracking sys-

tem to the ministry and the ministry offi-cials also assured their cooperation to-wards HEC’s proposal to UniversalService Fund (USF) operating under Min-istry of IT for connectivity of about hun-dred degree colleges in Balochistan. Thedelegation appreciated the role of HEC inbringing vibrant and effective changes es-pecially in ICT sector of Pakistan.

They acknowledged that HEC hasfunctioned extremely well and has deliv-ered during the last decade.

They remarked that they have beenimpressed by visionary and capable lead-ership of HEC, the development strategyof HEC and various steps undertaken toimprove quality of teaching and researchand IT infrastructure development andhuman resource development in Pakistan.

The delegation was led by the FederalSecretary, Ministry of IT Dr Zafar IqbalQadir accompanied by Additional Secre-tary Ministry of IT Muhammad Ijaz JointSecretary Admin Ministry of IT Ali As-ghar, Joint Secretary Development Min-istry of IT M Anwar Sheikh, MemberTelecom Yasir Qadir, Managing DirectorPakistan Software Export Board SaleemAhmad Ranjha, Director general PakistanComputer Bureau Qaiser Sohail and Ex-ecutive Director Electronic governmentDirectorate Rizwan Malik.

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Federal Minister for Textile and

Industry Maqbool H H Rahimtoola, Ambassador of

Argentina Rodolfo Martin J Saravia, former Foreign

Minister Sahibzada Yaqoob Khan and others cutting cake

on the occasion of National Day of Argentina. oNlINe

JEDDAH

NNI

The Ministry of Labor has advisedexpatriates not to pay their spon-sors any fee for rectifying their

status in the country.This comes amid reports

that unscrupulous sponsors areillegally charging expatriatesbetween SR 3,000 and SR15,000 for transferring their

sponsorship and getting newresidency permits.

The sponsors aretaking advantage

of the three-month grace pe-riod, which endson July 3, forworkers to sort

out their work permits or go home. No fees arecharged by the Saudi government for theseprocesses. Ministry spokesman Hattab Al-Enizi told Arab News that expatriate workersare not obliged to pay any money to their indi-vidual employers to transfer their sponsorship.

Al-Enizi confirmed that there have been re-ports of Saudi individuals asking expatriates topay them sponsorship transfer fees and “some-times commission.” “The Labor Ministrywants to clarify that expats should not obeysponsors who are looking for money,” he said.He added that there are no penalties for suchillegal behavior. “We don’t have any law topunish sponsors who are asking for money orcommission. What we can do is to just warnexpats not to pay money, when it’s the spon-sor’s duty to pay the fees.”

Arab News spoke to a number of expatriateswho said they had been forced to pay their spon-sors a lot of money, even though they know they

do not have to do so. Abdullah Al-Zaidi, a Yemeniprivate driver, said: “I’ve been working as a pri-vate driver for two years without the permissionof my sponsor. The king’s latest decision encour-aged me to correct my status and find a new spon-sor. I have been looking for sponsors, butunfortunately all of them asked me to pay highamounts in fees, work for them at a low salary, andpay commission to their business managers.” “Mynew sponsor asked me to pay SR 10,000 to himand SR 5,000 to his business manager. They con-sider the SR 5,000 a commission.”

Al-Zaidi said he does not have a problempaying sponsorship fees, but not the commis-sion. “It is totally unfair to pay that muchmoney, especially when the king decreed thateverything should be done for free. Thosesponsors are really violating the rules, and un-dermining the efforts of King Abdullah,” hesaid. A Syrian who works for a Saudi businessowner as a manager admitted that he is using

the three-month grace period to make money.“Since the decision was announced, most il-

legal workers in the company asked me to helpthem transfer their sponsorship. I have to get mycommission too even though the Ministry ofLabor facilitates everything. My boss knows thisand agreed because he also asked the workers topay sponsorship fees, which is against Saudirules,” he said. Arab News found that expatriateshave to pay between SR 5,000 and SR 10,000 andan additional commission for various services. Ifa worker does not have an identity card, the com-mission could be as high as SR 7,000. If theworker has an identity document but ran awayfrom his or her sponsor, then the commission isabout SR 5,000. For Asian expatriates who areworking in unskilled, low-paying jobs, the com-mission is between SR 3,000 and SR 5,000. ForArab expatriates, including Egyptians, Syrians,Jordanians and the Lebanese, the commission isusually between SR 6,000 and SR 10,000.

Sponsors charge expats fees illegally: Saudi Labour Ministry

Hattab Al-Enizi

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BUSINESSMonday, 27 May, 2013

17

B

Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes.

It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with

improving your other innovations. — Steve Jobs

MonItorIng DESk

THE Pakistan Automotive ManufacturersAssociation (PAMA) has said the re-cently proposed five percent withholdingtax on the automobile industry wouldraise prices of cars by thousands of ru-

pees and cause further decline in automobile salesin subsequent months, a report in a private news-paper said.

In a statement, director general of PAMAAbdul Waheed Khan has opposed strongly themove, saying the new proposed fiscal measureswould hit the auto industry hard, which is alreadystruggling to recover from its significant sale dropin the past two years.

“The auto industry, which contributes two per-cent to the gross domestic products of the country,does not expect such harsh measures from busi-ness friendly government as it would result insharp decrease in sales,” he said, adding that thiswill also cease the new expected investment in theindustry and the current automakers would con-sider reducing the numbers of their skilled work-force. “Local auto industry has long been thevictim of unfavorable policies, including importof used cars and the amnesty scheme. No prudentgovernment would like to follow in the footsteps

of previous governments, which failed to formu-late investor-friendly policies, and in fact sidelinedlocal manufacturers and vendors,” he added in thestatement.

He said that the cumulative sales for tenmonths of financial 2012-13 fell 24 percent year-on-year due to huge influx of used cars thatclocked in at 55,000 units in financial 2011-12 and40,000 in ongoing fiscal 2012-13 till April 2013.

“The amnesty scheme to register smuggled carsfurther worsens the situation,” he said.

He further said that the industry’s productionslowed down against its capacity in the last twofinancial years and now the new taxes will put fur-ther the sustainability of the automobile sectorcompanies in crisis. Hence, the sales and revenueswill not be maintained for longer period, he added.

In the same statement, Pakistan Association ofAutomotive Parts Accessories ManufacturersChairman Munir Bana said the auto industry pro-vided direct and indirect employment to around200,000 skilled and unskilled workforce, but hun-dreds of skilled technicians lost their jobs at thedozens of small and medium sized vending unitsof the automobile industry due to significant dropin cars demand.

He urged the government to avoid new levieson the automobile industry in the larger interest ofthe nation and restore the confidence of foreignand local investors. “The government should givea lease of life to automobile industry, which hasbeen providing livelihood to millions of people di-rectly and indirectly,” he said, adding that if theautomobile industry grows the revenues of thegovernment, investment inflows and job genera-tion will increase by leaps and bounds automati-cally in the future.

AUToMAkERS SlAMproposed tax on new cars

PBM demands

Rs 6b for next budgetISLAMABAD: Pakistan Bait-ul-Maal (PBM)Managing Director Tariq Khursheed Malik onSunday demanded the federal government al-locate Rs 6 billion in the next fiscal budget2013-14 to meet expenditures for its currentprojects. Talking to APP here on Sunday, hesaid the department had been facing severeproblems for last two years as it was difficultfor it to meet its expenditure due to inflationand raise in staff salaries in the yearly budget-ary allocation Rs 2 billion. “We got a supple-mentary grant of Rs 1 billion to meet ourexpenditure. This time we have prepared anestimate of Rs 6 billion to run our projectswithout any difficulty”, he said. Responding toa query regarding launching of new projects,Malik said the new government would takedecision in this regard. “Politicians have togive the vision and the department will deviseprojects according to it,” Tariq Malik said. Hesaid projects like Child Support Programme,Medical grant for Deserving People, Educa-tion Assistance for Needy Students, FinancialAssistance to Destitutes of Society had beenworking for the last so many years. APP

BERLIN: Ambassador Abdul Basit with ambassadors

and diplomats of different countries on the eve on BMZ

development day organised by German Federal

Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. INP

CORPORATE CORNERHEC shares excellence through

video conferencing at IoBMProf Colin N Peiris from Quality Assurance and Accreditation

Council (QAA) of Sri Lanka conducted recently a training

workshop for strengthening capacity of quality enhancement

cell activities of different public and private sector universities

in Pakistan through video conferencing from Islamabad. This

workshop was organized by the Quality Assurance Agency

(QAA) of the Higher Education Commission (HEC),

Government of Pakistan at the Institute of Business

Management (IoBM), according to IoBM Public Affairs Section.

In this regard, HEC preferred IoBM from among top public and

private universities and HEI’s to host video conferencing of this

workshop. There were three modules of this workshop: The

need for Internal Quality Assurance; the process of Program

Accreditation Assessments; Monitoring and Evaluation. It

covered a whole range of topics from the Sri Lankan

experience pertaining to Internal Quality Assurance to the

advantages and benefits of External Quality Assurance.

Besides the resource person Prof Colin N Peiris from Sri Lanka,

Fakiha Zafar, Programme Coordinator/ Director and Ms. Zia

Batool Director General, Quality Assurance Agency, HEC,

Islamabad played an instrumental role towards the success of

this workshop. The beneficiaries of this workshop have been

private and public sector universities in Pakistan through

dissemination and sharing of information and expertise from

the Sri Lankan experience and from within the country. The

Quality Enhancement Cell (QEC) of IoBM with Dr. Akhlaq

Ahmed, Director and Mr. Moinuddin Ali Khan, Deputy Director,

was complimented on the successful video conferencing of this

workshop at its state-of-the-art Entrepreneurship and

Management Excellence Center (EMEC). Press releAse

UAE aid for Balochistanearthquake victims

Relief assistance was distributed among 20,000 families of

Mashkhel, Balochistan by the Sheikh Khalifa Foundation of

United Arab Emirates on Friday. A ceremony was held to

distribute the relief goods among affected people in Korangi at

TCP Godown No 22 at which Head of Operations of Sheikh

Khalifa Foundation Abdul Raheem Jani was present. He said

that the Sheikh Khalifa Foundation of United Arab Emirates, in

keeping with its tradition of helping its brothers and sisters in

need, had decided to provide humanitarian aid to the

earthquake affected people. He added that the Sheik Khalifa

Foundation is sending 16,000 relief bags containing rice, sugar,

wheat, pulses, dates, cooking oil, milk, tea, beverages besides

1,500 tents for shelter. The above mentioned aid will help at

least 20,000 families of Balochistan. Besides Head of

Operations of Sheikh Khalifa Foundation Mr Abdul Raheem Jani,

diplomats were also present on the occasion. Press releAse

BLooMBErg

Saudi Arabia may need to persuade OPEC mem-bers to cut output to help keep oil prices above$100 level through the rest of the year, accordingto the Kingdom’s largest lender by assets NationalCommercial Bank.

Producers in the Organization of PetroleumExporting Countries need to make the cuts in thesecond quarter and bring production to the cur-rent official target level of 30 million barrels aday, the Jeddah-based bank, known as NCB, saidin an e-mailed report. “While Saudi Arabia hasbeen willing to make large cuts to production inthe past, its resolve to continue willbe tested if other OPEC membersraise their own production during2013,” it said.

Maintaining oil prices above$100 for the rest of 2013, “mayprove to be a more difficult proposi-

tion than if the Kingdom were to act unilaterally asin the recent past”, it said.

OPEC’s 12 members pumped 30.5 million bar-rels a day of crude in May, according to the group’slatest monthly market report published May 10.The group, which suppliesabout 40 percent of theworld’s oil, has an offi-cial production ceilingof 30 million barrels.Demand for crude fromOPEC will average29.8 million barrels aday in 2013, it said.

Saudi Arabia May need to makeOPEC cut to stabilize prices, NCB

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