Pages: 3 profit.com.pk Tuesday, 24 January, 2012

Record turnover at Karachi stockmarket on CGT reforms Page 03

KARACHI

GHULAM ABBAS

AFter a successful test burnof Pakistan’s firstunderground CoalGasification (uCG)

programme, the oil importers lobbyhas become active against theimportant project in the country. AsPakistan is said to be the only countrywhich depends on oil to meet nearly 60per cent of its energy demand, thestrong lobby of oil importers havestarted their move against the new

project which might provide therequired gas in the next few years,sources told Profit. the alreadyscheduled meeting of ministries ofpetroleum, finance and otherconcerned authorises to be held onJanuary 16 has also been postponed forunknown reasons. the meeting wasscheduled to be held to discuss andapprove financial requirements of theuCG programme at that, Sindh. Ameeting of the same kind, sourcesclaimed, had earlier been postponed bythe ministry of finance.the powerful lobby besides creating

hindrance in the process of releasingfinancial package and others has alsostarted propagating negative and falseaspects of the project aiming to makeit ultimately a fails programme, theyalleged.“It is a matter of interest that thedebate against the uCG project seemsto have picked up momentum eversince the breakthrough at the projectand the successful production of coalgas has begun,” they added.According to the sources the renownedscientists of the country, who havetaken initiative of the project, are now

seen visiting different offices inIslamabad for the release of therequired funds of the project. While onthe other hand the oil lobby is stilltrying to keep the burden of heavyimport bill of oil on the shoulders ofthe people of the country.Sindh government which claims tohave explored thar reserves is also yetto release the decided rs200 million tothe project while the federalgovernment is also reluctant to give thers5 billon required for purchasingpower engines and other equipmentsfor uCG.

Interestingly, despite the majorbreakthrough in the project, none ofthe political figures at both Sindh andfederal level bother to actually visit thesite. “though it could be counted as amajor success story of the presentgovernment, the oil lobby and interestgroup in bureaucracy were involved inkeeping the government under dark,”sources alleged.referring to some negativepropaganda about the successfulproject, experts in the coalgasification field said that thar coalproject is not a push button project.

ISLAMABAD

AMER SIAL

Petroleum minister Dr AsimHussain left for India onmonday to hold talks with hisIndian counterpart on the

issues of security of the turkmenistanAfghanistan Pakistan and India (tAPI)gas pipeline and transit fee, which will beheld in New Delhi on January 24 and 25.An official source said the Pakistanidelegation also includes Joint SecretaryAdmin of the ministry of Petroleum andmanaging Director of Inter State GasSystem. He said the two day talks willcenter around the security cover for thepipeline through Pakistan andsubsequent transit fee. For the transit feetwo international formulas of the transitpipeline length and volume of thenatural gas will be discussed. Duringtalks both the countries would bepresenting their proposals on the transitfee that would be shared with both thegovernments before the final decision. turkmenistan has already finalised theGas Sale Purchase Agreement (GSPA)with all the participating countries forthe $7.6 billion worth tAPI gas pipelinethat will pave the way for the supply of3.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas perday (bcfd) from the South Yolotan/osman and adjacent gas fields to theSouth Asian states through a pipeline.the pipeline will cover 1,680 km fromturkmenistan through Herat andKandahar in Afghanistan, cross thePakistan border near Chaman to pass

near Zhob, DG Khan, multan, andonwards to Fazilka near the Pak-Indiaborder. Asian Development Bank (ADB)is acting as the facilitator andcoordinator for the project and hadfunded a feasibility study of the project.Pakistan and turkmenistan have agreedon the gas sale price of $360 millioncubic meter (mcm) at the turkmenistanAfghanistan border after deduction of$29 mcm as transit and transportationcost through Afghanistan. the cost willbe $10.28 mmBtu. the base pricecomes to 70 per cent of Brent oil parityin the mid country delivery point ofmultan. the contract price formulacomprising basket fuels of HSFo 380centistokes (cst), HSFo 180 cst andGasoil 0.5 sulphur, is based on prices ofSingapore quotation of Platts oil gram.to share the risk of transportation andtransit variability through Afghanterritory both the countries also agreedon a risk sharing formula. theagreement also contains a clause for gasprice review after five years.the source said the price of gas hasremained the major outstanding issue.Pakistan wants buyers to negotiate pricejointly with the seller but Afghanistanand India negotiated price on bilateralbasis with turkmenistan. After thesigning of GSPA by the four participatingcountries, the process for hiringtransaction Advisor is expected to bestarted. the project will take betweenfour to five years to complete after thesigning of all the contracts with gas flowtarget of 2016.

Oil importers lobby active against coal gasification project

Pakistan-India tohold TAPI pipelinetalks on Jan 24-25

PRO 24-01-2012_Layout 1 1/24/2012 6:39 AM Page 1

news02Tuesday, 24 January, 2012

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

All Pakistan textile millsAssociation (APtmA)Chairman mohsin Aziz hasexpressed concerns over

drop worth $305 million in exportsof textile quantity in December 2011,when juxtaposed with the correspon-ding period of last year. He said un-precedented energy shortage was themajor reason behind the substantialdrop in exports. According to him,the situation may be even morealarming further in the month ofJanuary, as Punjab textile industry isbeing denied electricity and gas sup-plies since December 25. He said tex-tile exports were 40 per cent down inDecember 2011 in quantity terms. InNovember 2011, textile exports werealso 32 per cent down in quantityterms, he added.

It may be noted that exports ofcotton yarn, cotton cloth, other yarn,knitwear, bed wear and towel are de-clined by 23 per cent, 26 per cent, 44per cent, 38 per cent, 33 per cent andeight per cent respectively in themonth of December 2011, causing aloss of $305 million to the exports.

APtmA Chairman said custom-

arily textile industry crossing $1 bil-lion mark on a monthly basis but ithas becoming impossible to reachthat mark over the last three months.He said APtmA is repeatedly show-ing concerns over the situation, butunfortunately all of its hue and crywas falling on deaf ears of the policymakers. He deplored that govern-ment was not addressing the causesbehind export drop.

mohsin said government’s poli-cymakers were not serious in re-solving gas supply issue of thetextile industry. Instead, helamented that available gas is beingsupplied to unproductive sectorsand segments, causing a loss interms of foreign exchange.

He said the situation is becom-ing unbearable for industry and aconstant inefficiency was plaguingthe viability of production units.textile industry is heading towardsdisaster due to non-availability ofenergy, he added.

He said textile industry has lost$1 billion exports in first half of cur-rent fiscal and is likely to lose an-other $2 billion in second half of it.this drop in exports would have direimpact on economy with current ac-count balance and Pak rupee value

already under pressure.He said while the industry was

committed to achieving $16 billionworth of exports during current fis-cal, it would not be able to achievemore than $12 billion exports if en-ergy crisis persists. mohsin furthersaid interest rate is also highly un-affordable, causing negative impacton industry. He said textile industryis a premier industry of Pakistanearning foreign exchange and pro-viding jobs to millions of workers.APtmA Chairman urged the presi-dent and prime minister to takestock of the situation and ensuresmooth supply of electricity and gasto textile industry immediately toavoid further loss of exports. man-aging director PePCo rasul Khanmahsud said that the governmenthas arranged sufficient fuel suppliesafter which the power generationhas increased from an average of8500 mW to 9500 mW, stating thatload shedding would reduce with in-duction of hydel power in few days.He was addressing members of theAll Pakistan textile mills Associa-tion on monday. He said hydro elec-tric generation would resume in thenext few days that would add an-other 2000 mW in the system.

KARACHI

JAVED MAHMOOD

ABout 88 per cent ofthe income of thePak Business train,to be launched from

Feb 3 in private-publicpartnership, would go toPakistan railways. the train,having American locomotives,will depart daily from Karachiat 3.30 pm and reach lahore in18 hours. the same will be thetime duration for the traindeparting from lahore. “Wewill pay 88 per cent of theseating capacity (486 seats percoach) to Pakistan railwaysand retain the remainingincome,” mian Shafqat Ali,director, Pak Business traintold Profit. mian Shafqat Ali isin Karachi for the last one weekto oversee the arrangements tolaunch non-stop train servicefrom Feb 3. “Whether we earnor not according to thecapacity, we will pay 88 percent amount of 486 seats pertrain to Pakistan railways.Annually we will pay rs1.20billion to Pakistan railwaysunder this private-publicpartnership venture,” he said.

the agreement is for five years,but it is extendable for anotherfive years, he added. He,however, said general public’sresponse to Pak Business trainservice was very encouragingand at some stage his companycould ask railways to increasethe number of coaches toaccommodate growing numberof passengers.When questioned that whetheror not 12 per cent of the train’sincome was enough for hiscompany, he said: “ourprimary purpose is to provide abetter traveling culture andfacility to the people and not toearn money.” “Secondly, theforeign investors were notwilling to make any deal withgovernment and our companytook the initiative to startprivate-public partnership withPakistan railways to extend itsupport and to improvetraveling facilities,” he said.“When Pakistani companieswill make investment in state-run entities, foreigners wouldalso take initiatives and makeinvestment here,” mianShafqat added. He said thecoaches of Pakistan railwayshave been upgraded to make

the journey convenient for thepassengers and his companywould install lCDs and otherfacilities to provideentertainment to thepassengers. He was optimisticthat Pak Business trainventure would not onlyenhance image of Pakistanrailways, but also improve itsearnings. the private sectorcompany Four Brothers investedrs226 million in the businesstrain, which consists of ninecoaches; nine air conditionedcoaches. Pakistan railways andFour Brothers InternationalPrivate limited signed anagreement on August 18, 2011 tooperate the train between thecapitals of Punjab and Sindh.one-way ticket costs rs5,000while two-way ticket would beprovided at rs9,000 withdiscount of rs1,000. onlinebooking facility is also availableon the website of the companywww.pakbusinessexpress.comand people can get their seatsbooked through internetanywhere from the world. eachcabin, having six seats, will havean lCD television, chargingpoints for laptop, mobile andother devices.

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

ComPetItIoN Commission ofPakistan (CCP) has disposed of theshow cause notice, issued to m/s S CJohnsons & Sons for violation of

Section 10 of the competition act, 2010, uponsubmission of the compliance report by theundertaking and its assurance of withdrawal ofthe deceptive marketing campaign of itsproducts. CCP received a complaint from reckittBenckiser Pakistan limited alleging that S CJohnsons & Sons has recently launched amarketing campaign through print and electronicmedia all across Pakistan for its products underthe brand “Baygon” and claiming their brand tobe “No 1 in Pakistan” which is false, deceptive andmisleading. It was also submitted in thecomplaint that according to the AC Neilson retailAudit Survey, the product of the reckittBenckiser Pakistan limited (Complainant) undertheir brand “mortein” has an overall market valueshare of 39.7 per cent in Pakistan whereas S CJohnsons & Sons (respondent)’s products underthe brand “Baygon” has an overall market valueshare of 5.7 per cent in Pakistan. CCP uponreceipt of the complaint initiated an enquiryunder section 37 of competition act to investigate

the allegation of deceptive marketing practicesagainst S C Johnsons & Sons (respondent).Pursuant to the enquiry report, show cause noticeunder section 30 was issued. During the hearing,the respondents did argue that the claim ‘No 1 inPakistan’ at best is puffery which is notprohibited. CCP while relying on the judgmentsof FtC observed that a puffing statement isgenerally vague and unquantifiable, or is sogrossly exaggerated that no ordinary consumerwould rely on it. Puffery as a legal term refers topromotional statements and claims that expresssubjective rather than objective views, which no“reasonable person” would take literally.However, in the subject claim, neither the word‘No 1’ nor ‘Pakistan’ in any manner suggest ageneral impression towards the consumers andcan be identified and quantified; hence the claim‘No 1 in Pakistan’ cannot be termed puffery, thecommission observed. regarding the reasonablebasis CCP observed ‘Brand of the Year Award2010’ was awarded to the respondent for their‘aerosol products’, whereas, in the advertisement,the claim of being ‘No 1 in Pakistan’ is used withreference to all of the products of the respondent,even otherwise, just by winning the ‘Award of theYear’ in any particular category from the BrandsFoundation, would not entitle any undertaking tomake any such absolute claim.

LAHORE

IMRAN ADNAN

F eDerAl Board of revenue’sKarachi model CustomsCollectorate (Appraisement) hasissued a list of 97 suspected

importers that are allegedly involved inunder-invoicing, wrong declaration ofgood and illegal removal of good fromcontainer terminals in Karachi, Profitlearnt on monday.Documents made available to Profitindicate the model Customs Collectorate(mCC) deputy collector omer Shafiquehas directed all examination andappraising officials to thoroughlyscrutinise import documents andconsignment imported by any of theseimporters. He has also directed that the

cancellation and amendment in gooddeclaration and the manifest pertainingto these importers should also beintimated to the appraisementcollectorate before its approval. However,sources pointed out that instead ofappreciating the efforts of the customsofficials, these importers and some high-ranking political and FBr officials wereputting pressures on customs departmentto immediately withdraw the list ofsuspected importers. official circularshows that importers allegedly involvedin illegal removal of goods from m/S PakShaheeen off Dock Container terminal,Karachi, includes Zam Zam traders,Bakhshi engineering Works, PunjabAutos, Yaqoob traders, trading House,Shahrukh enterprises, Babarenterprises, Sikandar traders, Khadim

motors, Haji razzak Haji Ismail, HajiIbrahim Haji Ismail, Nizami motors, F Jtrading Corporation, Khalid AutoCorporation, Kauser enterprises, unionAuto Corporation, Zaman traders,Ashfaq Ahmed, Automate Industries(Pvt) ltd, uzair enterprises, Al Qamarmotors, munir motor Storage, Bilalelectronic, universal Auto engineering,Hino Autos, united motors, mach Parts,J r International, Shan International, AlHilal motor Stores, Zahid Impex, HomeImpex, Naseeb traders, mubashirBrothers, mukati Corporation, Noor Zebtraders, Sohajee Shaikhjee & Sons,Shahid Automobiles, Zahoor Sons, Bilaltraders, m A Khan & Co, Saad Autos,Naeem traders, tahir enterprises,Afaque & Co, Food links International,Fine traders, Imran Agencies, A S

traders, Haji Autos, Shahzadenterprises, Gul Brothers, World trading& Communication, makkah madinatraders, Amir Asim & Co, Asifenterprises, Aftab Impex, Ali & Co, m YIqbal & Co, universal traders, off roadDiesel Spares, m S enterprises, omertrade Corporation, A I m Corporation,Swan International, SBS Group ofCompanies, Shariq enterprises, orientAutomobiles, Progressive Business, Alienterprises, SQm Import & exportenterprises, Saqib traders, mohammadSohail, techno, Sharafat Brothers,raamis Impex, F S enterprises, oSmengineering, Pearl trade Corporation,Kohinoor traders, Zam Zam Autotraders, Suhaib traders, JilaniInternational, Nayab Fashion, N Aenterprises, A Z enterprises, mutahar

Corporation, Kaleem enterprises, PakAsia Impex, Waqas traders, Salmantraders, Kashif & Co, technologyleaders, Ali enterprises, Amir tradersand Huzefa Brothers. though, most ofthese importers are supplying engineercomponents to automobile industry. But,industry leaders have appreciated themove as it would curb anti-competitionpractices. Speaking to Profit, an automanufacturer underscored that declaringlower weight of auto parts cause majorduty reduction by not following Sro 329that mandates clearance of goods at theiractual weight. these consignments arecleared in units either or at lower weightto save actual duty and taxes. Heelaborated that wrong specification ofimported goods might illegally lowertheir duties as goods are cleared underwrong Pakistan Customs tariff (PCt)heading, which saves additional duty /anti-dumping duty. this practice hits thelocal industries, including auto partsvendors besides resulting in substantialrevenue loss to national exchequer.

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

PAKIStAN telecommunicationCompany limited (PtCl) leadsall operators in wireline broad-

band category of 1 mbps quality ofservice survey (QoS) conducted byPakistan telecommunication Author-ity (PtA). PtCl is placed in category Aat lahore, rawalpindi, Peshawar andQuetta and in category B at Karachi.

According to a statement of PtAfor 1mbps broadband package of wire-less broadband service providers, Wa-teen telecom has been placed incategory A at lahore and rawalpindiand category B at Karachi, Quetta andPeshawar. Similarly, Qubee andWorldCall are also in category A at la-hore and category B at Karachi and Wi-tribe is in category B at rawalpindi.

PtA carried out the second na-tionwide broadband QoS survey of allwireless and wireline service providersthroughout the country during thethird and fourth quarter of 2011. Dur-ing the survey the already devised QoSKey Performance Indicators (KPIs) inconsultation with services providerswere measured.

KPIs were network availability,service availability, download and up-load bandwidth speed, how much dataa subscriber can receive or send to themaximum, round-trip time, the timetaken for the data to reach a particulardestination and return, contentionratio, the ratio of total bandwidth andnumber of subscribers or number ofsubscribers per unit of bandwidth andretain ability, for how much time a con-nection remained connected during theperiod of 60 minutes. the higher thebandwidth of download or uploadspeed and retain-ability and lower theround trip time and contention ratio,the higher is service quality.

Government is trying to expand In-ternet access throughout the country;there is direct digital Internet connectiv-ity in more than 2,389 cities and towns.Customers are able to access Internetthrough legacy dial-up connections aswell as DSl services in both fixed andwireless media. to promote broadbandInternet services, PtA directed PtCl toenter into agreements with ISPs for theprovision of Digital Subscriber line(DSl) services. Currently, there areseven major players providing broad-band facilities in the country both fixed

and wireless including PtCl, micronet,link Dot Net, WorldCall, Wi-tribe,Qubee and Wateen.

Pakistan’s broadband market has alot of growth potential as so far thebroadband penetration rate is quite low- only one per cent to be precise – but onthe other side the growth rate of broad-band penetration has been 150 per centconsistently for the last few years. thenumber of broadband subscribers wasover 1.7 million till october 2011.

telecom sector in Pakistan hasshown significant growth in the recentyears. However, it still lags behindmany of its comparable economies interms of fixed line density, mobilepenetration and internet usage. A sub-stantial population is still devoid oftelecommunication services; there isan enormous potential for growth oftelecommunications in the country.Pakistan currently has over 111 millioncellular subscribers. the number ofsubscribers has increased more thanfifteen times in the past seven yearsbut there is still high demand for cel-lular services in the country. the startof operations by ufone in 2001, andtelenor and Warid in 2005 facilitatedgrowth in number of subscribers.

88 per cent income of BusinessTrain to go to Railways

Competition Commission disposes of show cause notice

APTMA concernedover $305m export drop

PTCL leads broadband QOS survey

Customs identifies 97 unscrupulous importers

PRO 24-01-2012_Layout 1 1/24/2012 6:39 AM Page 2

news

Tuesday, 24 January, 2012

03

CORPORATE CORNERNBP President inaugurates WaterComplex facility at Tuwairqi Steel Mills

KARACHI: the President of National Bank ofPakistan mr. Qamar Hussain inaugurated the state-of-the-art Water Complex facility at tuwairqi Steel millslimited. the event marked a major milestone in thecompletion of the tSml DrI-Plant, the first privatesector integrated steel manufacturing utility in Karachi,Pakistan. mr. Qamar attended the ceremony held at the220-acre tSml site located at Port Qasim.Accompanied by Director (Projects) tSml, mr.Zaigham Adil rizvi, he toured the plant and wasbriefed about the steel-manufacturing process.Addressing an audience of enthusiastic engineers, mr.Qamar said “We feel highly honored that we are apartner of Al-tuwairqi Holding and PoSCo in thiseffort, and National Bank of Pakistan shall remain apartner in the future as well. PRESS RELEASE

PTCL trains 115 seniorexecutives for high effectivenessISLAMABAD: Pakistan telecommunicationsCompany limited (PtCl) has successfully trained 115of its senior executives through an ongoing dynamicsenior management program “the Seven Habits ofHighly effective People” pioneered by world-renownedu.S. expert, Stephen r. Covey. A comprehensive three-days training program organized by PtCl’s training &Development department in collaboration with m/SFrankline Covey, ‘the 7 Habits’ workshop helpedparticipants to improve their performance byendeavoring at the highest levels of effectiveness andteamwork. each habit was divided into segments andprinciples. With workshop facilitators’ help,participants applied their learning through casestudies, group discussions, role-playing and reflectivethinking. PRESS RELEASE

Samsung offers fabulousopportunity for aspiring actorsLAHORE: Samsung electronics Company ltd., aglobal leader in Digital media andtelecommunication technology has now launched anew online offer, whereby aspiring artists, modelsand actors are being given a chance to become a partof Samsung’s next Advertising campaign. this offeris being presented to the young, vibrant and talentedpeople with good creative skills and a pleasantpersonal aura. Social media website facebook isbeing used to promote this campaign and reach outto the right segment. PRESS RELEASE

Long-Range aircraft onstatic display at public eventDOHA, QATAR: Qatar Airways last week took part in itsfirst major event of the year displaying one of its flagshipBoeing 777 long-haul aircraft at the Bahrain InternationalAir Show. thousands of trade and public visitors attendedthe three-day event which took place at Sakhir Air Base inthe Kingdom of Bahrain. Qatar Airways also had a luxurychalet at the show. Now in its 15th year of operations, theairline has a modern fleet of 104 aircraft flying to 110 keybusiness and leisure destinations across six continents.Almost a quarter of Qatar Airways’ fleet is made up ofBoeing 777 long range (lr) and extended range (er)passenger and cargo aircraft, forming the backbone of itslong-haul fleet. PRESS RELEASE

BOK Jhelum Branch formally inauguratedJHELuM: the Bank of Khyber (BoK) is committed toincrease its branches’ network in order to providebanking and financial services to business communityand general public across the country, this was statedby mr. Bilal mustafa managing Director BoK whileformally inaugurating BoK Jhelum branch by pushingcomputer button this afternoon. the BoK Jhelumbranch formal inauguration ceremony was also gracedby BoK executive Director mir Javed Hashmat, GroupHead Credits mr. Imran Samad, Group Head HrD mr.Ayub Hamid, Head Business Development mr. lalNawaz Khattak, Head marketing Syed Ali Nawaz Gilaniwhile mr. Sarmad Waseem Dar manager of BoKJhelum branch coordinate the formal inaugurationceremony. PRESS RELEASE

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

K ArACHI bourse mondaygained 262.96 points asthe equity investors posi-tively reacted to the federalfinance minister’s approval

to SeCP proposals on the rationalisa-tion of the Capital Gains tax (CGt)that would now be paid without de-claring the taxpayers’ source of in-come up to 2014.

With benchmark KSe-100 indexcrossing the rare 12,000 mark, tradingvolumes at Karachi Stock exchange hit,what the analysts said was a record,230.138 million shares on the back ofgood news on the unpopular CGt.

According to Ahsan mehanti, asenior analyst and director at ArifHabib Investments, the stocksclosed bullish with record exchangevolume after the federal ministerapproved all proposals submittedby the apex regulator during hisvisit to KSe on Saturday to resolveCGt issues. the proposals, he said,

were regarding the relief on disclo-sure of source of funds, maintainingrate of the CGt, tax collection by theNCCPl, withdrawal of withholdingtaxes and relief in margin tradingSystem margins.

the day saw KSe 100-shareindex climbing to 12,037.66 pointsagainst 11,774.68 points of Fridaywhich too had seen the tradingturnover jumping to a historic178.424 million shares. At one pointthe index hit the intraday high of12,070.89 points and then easeddown to the intraday low of

11,774.68 points. “KSe-100 indexmanaged to close above 12000 levelon easing political outlook aftermemo scandal case central charactermansoor Ijaz refused to arrive inPakistan and appear before the judi-cial commission,” said mehanti.

trading value rose to 7.647 billioncompared to the previous rs6.817 bil-lion. the market capitalisation also fin-ished higher at rs3.123 trillion againstFriday’s rs3.056 trillion. the compa-nies performed well as of the total 358traded scrips, 221 gained, 61 lost and76 remained unchanged.

KSe-30 index too finished in thegreen zone and gained 313.93 points at11,221.38 against 10,907.45 points ofthe previous day. the recovery inglobal stocks, foreign interest in blue-chip scrips and renewed institutionalinterest on strong valuations wereother factors that played a catalyst rolein bullish sentiment in stock across theboard at KSe, said Ahsan mehanti. Ja-hangir Siddiqui Company was volumeleader of the day counting 35.9 millionof its shares traded with the openingand closing rates standing, respec-tively, at rs5.55 and rs6.49.

Record turnover at KSE on CGT reforms

Auto industry to missout on production target

KARACHI

WAQAR HAMZA

oWING to politicalchange, law and ordersituation, slow eco-nomic growth, incon-sistent policies, lower

auto financing, inflation, and highinput costs, auto industry of the coun-try is not going to achieve the produc-tion targets set by the governmentunder the auto development pro-gramme by 2016.

the four wheeler production tar-get under Auto Industry DevelopmentProgramme (AIDP) of 2001-16 set bythe government is highly ambitious;vying to produce 660,000 cars in theyear 2016, while actual productionwould not be more than 312,000 vehi-cles in the said year.

According to the data of PakistanAssociation of Automotive Parts andmanufacturers Association (PAA-PAm) auto industry is in continuousdecline for many years and it couldnot achieve even last year’s govern-ment target of production of 0.4 mil-lion vehicles in the year 2011-11, andthe actual production stood at178,000 vehicles.

the actual production is half of

the government’s target underAIDP. one of the things believed tobe conducive for this trend is incon-sistent government policies andused car imports. In the last re-ported year 2010 till June 2011,production of cars stood at 133,972;busses 490; jeep and light Com-mercial Vehicles 883; pick-up andlCVs 19,142; tractors 70,770; andmotorcycle 83,8550.

the best years for the auto in-dustry were the years 2005, 2006,and 2007 when the industry expe-rienced its apogee by dint of stablegovernment, economic growth,availability of auto financing, con-sistent auto policy, and infrastruc-ture development. In those yearsthe annual production of passengercars reached up to 190,000 units.Ground realities suggest a tremen-dous potential in this sector of thecountry as the current motorisa-tion ratio is 12 cars per 1000 per-sons. this is quite low incomparison with turkey whosemotorisation ratio is 67 cars per1000 persons. the industry proj-ects that if in 2030 Pakistan is atthe same level as turkey is in 2010,the total vehicle population wouldbe 12 million. Hence the vehicles

Pakistan needs to produce in 20years from 2011 to 2030 would be495,000 vehicles per year.

At this production level the indus-try’s contribution in terms of employ-ment would be 0.5 million persons; interms of investment rs225billion,and in terms of taxes rs190 billion. Itis to be noted that currently auto in-dustry of Pakistan has total invest-ment of rs92 billion, with theemployment of over 0.2 million peo-ple; last year it contributed rs64 bil-lion to the national exchequer. Butthis industry has many issues thatare hampering its growth, and oneof the key issues is the import ofused cars policy. In regional per-spective, Pakistan has two per centper month depreciation allowanceon two year old vehicles that can goup to 60 per cent, while India has108 per cent duty on two year oldvehicle. In thailand it ranges from125 per cent to 145 per cent.

the required conditions of usedcars import in Pakistan is that itcan be five years old at maximum,while minimum stay abroad for im-port as personal baggage, gift or tris 180, 700 and 700 days respec-tively. In India, maximum threeyear old model is allowed; registra-

tion in importers name for oneyear; and there is no gift scheme.

In thailand, only foreigners liv-ing in thailand for one year can im-port used cars, while registrationshould be in the name of the userfor at least one year. And thai resi-dents have to own vehicles for 1.5years with driving license. on thepart of restrictions, Pakistan has norestrictions at all. While in Indiathe restrictions include: right handdrive; speedometer in Km/h; sub-mission of pre-shipment certificatefor conformance to India motor Ve-hicle Act; and obtaining of approvalfrom Indian testing Agency. Simi-larly in thailand used cars are re-stricted goods (except under importpermit by ministry of Commerce),while a test of exhaust emission isalso conducted at environmentProtection office.

If we look at the price differences,most popular used cars brands wit-nessed sudden increase in their pricesin just two years. For example, toyotaVits and Passo were available in rs0.7million in the year 2008, but the priceof the same brand was rs0.9 million inthe year 2011. While in the same cate-gory the price of locally produced Cul-tus was rs950,000.

LCCI condemns failure ofgas supply restorationLAHORE: lahore Chamber ofCommerce and Industry mondayseverely criticised SNGPl authoritiesfor their failure to restore supply ofgas to Pakistan re-rolling millsdespite a promise of gas supply onJanuary 23rd. In a statement issuedafter receiving a number complaintsfrom re-rolling mills Association,lCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikhand Senior Vice President KashifYounis meher said if SNGPlauthorities had kept their words, overthree to four hundred thousandworkers attached with the industrywould not be jobless today. “It is verydisturbing that the people came totheir jobs in the morning and aftera few hours they were asked to goback as gas could not be restored.”lCCI office-bearers urged thepresident and Pm to play their duerole and direct concernedauthorities into restoring gas tosteel industry. STAFF REPORT

Agri-Forum apprehensiveabout present regime LAHORE: Four years of the presentgovernment, which came into poweron the promise of ensuring provisionof ‘roti, Kapra aur makan’ (bread,clothing and shelter) have witnessed ahike of 150 to 200 per cent in theprices of these items. Bread priceshave registered a jump of 200 per cent,textile 135 per cent and constructionmaterial rose by 200 per cent duringthe present regime despite the fact thatthere was no decline in production.During the last four years poverty hasincreased by 50 to 70 per cent in thecountry, whereas prices of agriculturalcommodities are stagnant, while pricesof agricultural inputs have increasedfrom 150 to 200 per cent; thusrendering them out of the reach of thegrowers. these views were expressedby Agri-Forum Pakistan Chairmanmuhammad Ibrahim mughal whiletalking to journalists after the meetingof the forum’s executive committeehere on monday. STAFF REPORT

Naeem Yahya Mirnominated MD at PSO KARACHI: Naeem Yahya mir hasassumed the charge of managingDirector, of Pakistan State oil (PSo).According to a statement issued byPSo, a commercial marketing andrefining expert Naeem Yahya who hasover 21 years of experience in leadingnational and multi-national oilcompanies with an emphasis indownstream operations includingmarketing, distribution, refining andshipping has been nominated as mDPSo. most recently he held the post oftechnical Advisor-Internationalmarketing at Kuwait. Combining in-depth technical knowledge and anextensive experience of marketing Polproducts including motor gasoline,diesel, fuel oil, lPG and jet fuel,Naeem has developed expertise inmultiple disciplines including salesand marketing, supply chainmanagement, quality control, productdevelopment, refinery upgrades andworkforce development. STAFF REPORT

US to help boostagriculture exportsISLAMABAD: united Stateshas launched a series ofworkshops to help increaseexport of agricultural productsfrom Pakistan by theintroduction of internationalstandards and improvingmanufacturing, processing,and packaging of agriculturalgoods for internationalmarkets. these workshopswill bring togethergovernment representatives,private businesses, andfarmers to discussinternational standards foragricultural exports andidentify ways for improvedmanufacturing, processing,and packaging of agriculturalgoods for internationalmarkets. these two-dayworkshops will take place inIslamabad, lahore, Karachi,and Quetta. STAFF REPORT

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