Tuesday, 21 February, 2012profit.com.pk

Global stocks encourage bull surge,index up 22 pts Page 03

KARACHI

GHULAM ABBAS

THE government which islikely to phase out theproposed negative list fortrade with India by the end

of this year may bring trouble for theauto industry as the sector will notable to sustain liberalised trade withthe neighbouring country in a shortperiod of time.Ministry of Commerce, which hadearlier assured the auto industry toprotect it from the influx of Indianmade ups through formulating anegative list, has not consulted the

sector while finalising the list, AliAsghar Jamali, Senior GeneralManager Sales and Marketing ofIndus Motor Company Limited saidin an informal meeting with selectedmedia persons here on Monday.However, he said, his company wasstill analysing the proposed 311items of auto sector enlisted asnegative products/items for trade,and the detailed observations couldonly be shared once the list wasstudied in detail. However, theproposed timing for graduallyphasing out the list was contrary tothe ground realities.It is worth mentioning here that the

ministry has proposed to allow toprogressively phasing out the list inthree installments on quarterly basisafter approval of the cabinet withquarters ending June 30, September30 and December 31, 2012.Talking about the performance of thecompany, he said despite economiccrisis in the world, the sale target of55,000 units during this financialyear was expected to be met easily.Besides that there was already arequired stock of vehicles, ensuringtimely delivery of units. Like othersectors, auto sector was also facingthe acute shortage of gas/electricitywhich has forced it to get supply

from rental power plants makingadditional expenditures of Rs20million monthly which also reflectsin vehicles’ prices. In reply to aquery, Jamali informed the companywas thinking on the factory fittedLiquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) afterthe government’s ban on CNG kitsand factory fitted CNG through SRONo 80. “But it is too early to saysomething about conversion of fuelwith LPG power,” he added. Talkingabout localisation of the unitsassembled in the country, he said thecompany was preparing unitsthrough 30 per cent localised and 30per cent imported parts besides

paying 30 to 34 per cent taxes.In an answer to a question he said,over 27,000 used cars have beenimported during the last sevenmonths, while the number of theused vehicles was expected to cross40,000 by the end of this fiscalyear. The increasing number ofused vehicles was also badlyaffecting the demand of smart cars.In reply to a query, Babar Saleem,Corporate CommunicationManager of the company said thecompany was against the import ofCBU, while it would not oppose theimport of CKD, if that wascommercially viable.

Acting ChairmanFBR promises toreview SRO821(I) 2011

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

ACTING Chairman of FederalBoard of Revenue (FBR) MumtazHaider Rizvi has promised toreview SRO 821(I) 2011 and high

rate of turnover tax, in consultation with thestakeholders. FBR Acting Chairman wastalking to a seven member delegationheaded by Lahore Chamber of Commerceand Industry (LCCI) President Irfan QaiserSheikh, other members of the delegation,included LCCI Senior Vice President KashifYounis Meher, former Presidents Bashir ABaksh, Mohsin Raza Bukhari, ShahidHassan Sheikh, LCCI Executive CommitteeMembers, Rehman Aziz Chan and HusnainReze Mirza. Mumtaz Rizvi said FBR wantsto broaden tax net through facilitation to thebusiness community and not the other wayround. Therefore, he said, no anti businesspolicy would be implemented. Since thebusiness community has reservation overSRO 821 (I) 2011 and high rate of turnovertax, therefore, FBR was ready to discussthese issues with the stakeholders, he added.Speaking on the occasion, LCCI PresidentIrfan Qaiser Sheikh informed ChairmanFBR that the SRO 821(I) 2011 is impracticaland should be withdrawn without furtherdelay. He said formulation of policieswithout due consultation of the stakeholdersis sheer injustice and FBR should initiateprocess of consultation with the privatesector for true implementation of all thepolicies. While severely criticising SRO821(I), LCCI President said FBR shouldavoid implementing SROs withoutconsultation of the business community forbeing the main stakeholders. Irfan QaiserSheikh said LCCI feels FBR is shifting itsburden of monitoring and tracking of the taxsystem on business community which isunjust and unethical. “If FBR wasinterested in broadening of tax net, it musthave brought the agriculture sector into thetax net instead of creating troubles for theregistered persons who were already doingbusinesses in the presence of multipleinternal and external challenges.” Earlier,Irfan Qaiser Sheikh urged Mumtaz Rizvi tobring down the turnover tax to 0.5 per centfrom existing 1 per cent, as early as possible.It would be a great relief for the businesscommunity of the country who is doingbusiness in the presence of multiplechallenges, including massive energy crisis,high input cost, etc, he explained.

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Athree-member delegationof the FrenchDevelopment Agency –Agence Francaise de

Development (AFD) – headed by theCountry Director Nicolas Fomagevisited Munda Dam MultipurposeProject site, located five kilometersupstream of Munda Headworks inMohmand Agency of FederallyAdministered Area (FATA).WAPDA General Manager (Projects)North Rashid Ali Khan Bangash,General Manager (Planning andDesign) Irshad Ahmad, MohamandAgency Political Agent Adil Siddiq,and WAPDA officers concerned were

also present during the visit.Besides a briefing on the project, thedelegation also exchanged views withthe local tribesmen who also hostedrefreshments for the guests at site.Speaking on the occasion, the AFDCountry Director said that MundaDam Project would go a long way forsocio-economic uplift of the country,particularly Mohmand Agency andKhyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Hesaid AFD was exploring ways andmeans to join the project andbecome a partner of the people of Pakistan in their way toprogress and prosperity.It is pertinent to mention that theAFD has shown their keen interestin providing financial assistance fordesign as well as construction

phase of Munda Dam Project, andthe case is being forwarded to AFDBoard of Directors for formalapproval. WAPDA is implementingMunda Dam as a priority project inthe wake of floods 2010 that playedhavoc in the country. In asignificant development towardsimplementation of the project, aRs611.5 million consultancyagreement for preparation ofdetailed engineering design andtender documents of the projectwas signed with a joint venture ofreputed firms last week. After completion of detailedengineering design in two years,Munda Dam Project will enter itsconstruction phase.The delegation was briefed that

Munda Dam was a multipurposeproject that would help controlfloods, ensure availability of waterfor irrigated agriculture and providelow-cost hydel electricity. Theproject, on completion, will store1.29 million acre feet of water andgenerate 740 megawatt (MW)hydropower, thus contributing 2400million units of low-cost electricity tothe national grid annually. Mostimportantly, the project is vital toprotect Charsadda and Nowsherafrom floods. The dam will store 300million cubic meter floods of RiverSwat restricting accumulation of itspeak flows with that of River Kabul.Annual benefits of the project havebeen calculated at Rs20.2 billion, thedelegation was further briefed.

Munda Dam funding French Development Agency interested in

‘Auto industry not consulted over Indian negative trade list’g Time period for phase out of the list is too short g Auto industry facing acute energy shortages

Munda Dam Project Model

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news02Tuesday, 21 February, 2012

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

KARACHI ElectricSupply Company(KESC) hasembarked on the

first of its kind projectin Pakistan, with the aimto convert its 1,260 MW(210 MW x 6 units) BinQasim Power Plant into acoal-fired generationplant. This project willhave a step-wise execution,phase-one of which will seethe conversion of twounits, with a generatingcapacity of 420 MW.Replacing Residual FuelOil (RFO) based boilerswith coal fired technologywould help KESC inattaining fuel security bydiversifying its existingfuel mix, better utilisationof existing fleet and mostimportantly aid inreducing cost of powergeneration; ultimatelyproviding the consumersrelief by lowering the enduser tariff.KESC is gearing itself totake the pioneering role forcoal conversion in thecountry and is currently inthe process of finalising itsfeasibility study through areputed US basedconsultant, ‘KnightPiesold’, which has anextensive world-wideexperience in coal basedprojects. The first phase ofthe feasibility study has

been completed-demonstrating technicaland economic viability ofthe project. The secondphase of the feasibilitystudy, which involvesdetailing of the

engineering design workflow, is now underway. Inthe near future, KESC willalso be approachingNEPRA for relevantapprovals related to thisproject. To set the above inmotion, KESC has signeda $200 million, JointDevelopment Agreement(JDA) with ‘Bright EagleEnterprises’ (BEE), a HongKong based InvestmentCompany sponsored by

Chinese and Koreaninvestors. For the purposeof this project, BrightEagle Enterprises hasteamed up with leadingenergy companiesfrom China, namely ChinaResources Power (a multi-billion dollar state ownedpower plant, owner andoperator) and ChinaNational Technical Importand Export Corporation.Commenting at the signingceremony, Mr Ping Chen,Chairman Bright EagleEnterprises, Chairman SunTV Hong Kong, and Tide-time said, “We aredelighted to work withKESC on its oil-to-coalconversion project andremain committed to itssuccessful completion. Weapplaud KESCmanagement’s innovativeapproach to reduce thecost and increase theavailability of electricityto Karachi. Bright Eagle isproud to be associatedwith this project which willhelp the peopleof Karachi.”Marking the event, CEOKESC, TabishGauhar stated; “Thisground breaking initiativewill set the course for thecountry’s power sector thatis heavily dependent onRFO. Conversion to coal isthe only sustainable optionand KESC’s lead in thisarea will set an examplefor others to emulate.”

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

ASwedish Clean Technologyand women entrepreneurs’delegation will visit Pakistansoon to help strengthen

bilateral relations between the twocountries, while Sweden would extendevery possible help to Pakistan inwinning GSP plus status from theEuropean Union.Ambassador of Sweden in PakistanLars-Hjalmar Wide was speaking atLahore Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (LCCI) on Monday. LCCIPresident Irfan Qaiser Sheikh, SeniorVice President Kashif Younis Meheraand former President Mian Muzaffar Alialso spoke on the occasion. Mr PerMalmer, Chairman M/s JarnamalmerSweden, was also present in themeeting.The Swedish ambassador said Swedenwas presently doing 80 per cent of itstrade with regional countries in theEuropean Union, therefore, Pakistanshould adopt the same methodologybecause it has a marvelous potential inall the sectors.He said Sweden, being an importantmember of the European Union has ahuge untapped potential and thePakistani businessmen should comeforward to avail these opportunities.There is a dire need to develop a close

liaison between private sectors ofPakistan and Sweden for exchange ofinformation and market research, heunderscored.He said both the countries need toidentify more tradable products toenhance their mutual trade. Pakistan isknown around the globe for its textileproducts, sports goods, surgicalinstruments, fresh fruits andvegetables, rice, carpets, leather madeups, fish and fish preparations,handicrafts, artificial jewelry, fancyfurniture, footwear, hosiery, garments,and so many other consumable items,which still need to be properlyintroduced in the European market.He added, Pakistani businesscommunity would have to adopt anaggressive strategy to enter intoSwedish markets, because Swedes arenot only quality conscious, but veryselective and careful while making dealswith other countries.Speaking on the occasion, LCCIPresident Irfan Qaiser Sheikh saidLCCI attaches great value to theupcoming delegation of Swedishcompanies which promote cleantechnologies. Since the Swedishdelegation is arriving in between midApril to early May, therefore, LCCI hasplanned to organise a seminar prior totheir visit in mid or late March to maketheir members aware of the benefits ofclean technologies. This activity will

certainly be beneficial to boost chancesof matchmaking during B2B meetingsand also for exploring possibilities ofjoint ventures.He said Stockholm Chamber ofCommerce and LCCI had signed anMOU in November 2010 and we keenlylook forward to playing our due role tomake most out of that opportunity.Taking into account the trade figures oflast three years, it is a noticeable factorthat the volume of bilateral tradebetween Pakistan and Sweden hassignificantly dropped. In 2008, the totaltrade was recorded as much as $453.7million. Out of that, Pakistan exporteditems worth $102.1 million and importsfrom Sweden accounted for $351.6million. But in 2009, the bilateral tradewent down by 40 per cent and made nosignificant improvement in 2010, aswell. Though, in 2010 Pakistani exportsrecovered well by touching over $106million mark, but constantly droppinglevel of imports from Sweden greatlycontributed to keep the total trade at$280.3 million. LCCI President said both sides need tomake efforts to cease this decliningtrend in bilateral trade. Pakistan hasalways been experiencing trade deficitwith Sweden. “We would naturally likeSweden to import more from Pakistanto create a win-win situation for boththe countries.”Major exports of Pakistan to Sweden;

include textile products, leatherproducts, cereals, cotton, carpets,electrical equipment sports goods, etc.Irfan Sheikh said Sweden shouldconsider increasing its imports fromPakistan, particularly adding up agroproducts. “We are not only good inquality both in organic and inorganicagro products, but are competitive inthe international market.”On the other hand, Pakistan’s majorimports from Sweden are iron and steel,paper and paper-board, machinery,electrical and electronic equipment,pulp of wood, plastics and copperproducts, chemical products, etc. Thesetoo form a trivial fragment of Pakistan’simports from the world. Hence, there isa possibility of greater export of thesecommodities by Sweden to Pakistan.For broadening our mutual trade andinvestment, there is no other way sopowerful and effective than theexchange of delegations and both thecountries should concentrate onorganising single country exhibitionsand catalogue shows.Former Senior Vice President TahirJaved Malik, former Vice PresidentsShafqat Saeed Piraca, Faisal IqbalSheikh, Executive CommitteeMembers Sheikh Muhammad Ayub,Aftab Ahmad Vohra, Yousaf Shah,Khamis Saeed Butt and former ECmember Mian Zahid Javed, were alsopresent on the occasion.

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

STATE Bank of PakistanGovernor Yaseen Anwarhas said inflation willremain in the targeted

limit and the issue of circulardebt can be tackled through thedevelopment of corporate debtmarket in the country. SBPgovernor was speaking to themedia after the prize distributionceremony of the ‘8th State BankGovernor Cup – Super SeriesInter-Bank CricketTournament 2012’ hereon Monday. Anwarsaid that thegovernmenthad fixedtheinflationtarget of11-12

per cent for the current fiscaland it would remain in the limit.Responding to a question, hesaid that Monetary Policy didnot have immediate effect. Ithad a lagging period of sixmonths to a year. The centralbank reduced discount rate by200 basis points in the pastbecause inflation was dropped atthat time. It provided the SBProom to play with and thecentral bank stroked theopportunity, he underlined.

Anwar said that inresult of

easing out discount rate, creditto private sector witnessedincrease. Right now, as theinflation was persistent thus thecentral bank did not consider itnecessary to reduce discountrate. However, the SBP wasconsciously monitoring thetrend and would react on theright time, he maintained.Speaking about the governmentborrowing, he said that as thegovernment borrowing targethad been fixed for the fiscal yearthus before the end of thefinancial year it could go up anddown. “It does not matter if thegovernment exceeds limits for aquarter. We have enough time toreview the situation,” he saidand added that some good

inflows were expected duringthe current fiscal and if they

materialised fiscal targetscould be achieved.Answering a question about

circular debt, the centralbank governor said that

debt swapping was aremedial step for short-term fix and it was aright decision. However,the country needed along-term solution andpermanent solution tothis problem.

He pointed out that the SBPand Securities and ExchangeCommission of Pakistan

(SECP) were on the same pageto resolve this issue. Heunderscored that the circulardebt issue could only be resolvedby creating liquidity, not only

from the banking system but alsofrom the whole country. He

elaborated that one solution wasdevelopment of corporate debtmarket in the country. It woulddevelop institutional bonds forfixed income up to 30 years andsecondary market that wouldabsorb the circular debt asliquidity would be available.However, it would require sometime, he added.

Inflation will remain withintarget: SBP governor

Swedish delegation to visit Pak for strengthening bi-lateral relations neSPAKmourns demise offormer MD

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

NESPAKmanagement,engineers,

professionals and staffhave expressed deepsorrow and grief on thesad demise of theirformer ManagingDirector Engr SabirPervaiz Chihan. Hisfuneral prayer waslargely attended by thestaff, former employeesof NESPAK, NCL, PHA,engineers, contractorsand friends. In acondolence meeting heldat NESPAK House,Lahore, the presentManaging Director, AsadI A Khan and the staffrecounted the dedicatedservices of late MrChohan in theconsolidation andgrowth of NESPAK andpaid him rich tribute.

KeSC signs $200mJoint DevelopmentAgreement with Bee

We are delighted towork with KESC on its

oil-to-coalconversion project

and remaincommitted to its

successful completion

COnTRACT SIgnATORIeS

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news

Tuesday, 21 February, 2012

03

CORPORATE CORNERUSAID awards 20 grants forresearch in teacher education

LAHORE: The USAID Teacher Education Project(Pre-STEP) organised a cheque distributionceremony at the University of Education Townshiphere the other day. Dr Amjad Saqib, representativeof the USAID Teacher Education Project, presentedthe Vice Chancellor University of Education, DrFaiz-ul-Hasan with a cheque amounting toRs297,000 as first installment. A total of Rs1.5million (approx) will be disbursed in the next 11months and this amount will be used to conductresearch into the Pedagogical Practices of TeacherEducators in Bachelors of Education (B Ed) HonorsElementary and Associate Degree in Education(ADE) Programmes. The grant was awarded after arigorous review process, conducted by the ResearchEvaluation and Advisory Committee (REAC), led bythe Higher Education Commission (HEC). REACcomprises representatives of the Higher EducationCommission and experienced education researchersworking in Pakistan and overseas. PRESS RELEASE

etihad Airways, Hala Abu Dhabi offerpackages for Madonna concert goersLAHORE: Etihad Airways is the national airlineof the United Arab Emirates, which is offering

special packages during Madonna’s concert tourto Abu Dhabi. The world famous singer Madonnahas recently made an announcement to bring herWorld Tour to Abu Dhabi's Yas Arena on 3rdJune, 2012. The Destination ManagementCompany of Etihad Airways – “Hala Abu Dhabi”(halaabudhabi.com), is presenting these fully-loaded packages for concert goers. Hala AbuDhabi, will offer a variety of packages for salefrom February 27, when tickets will go on sale tothe general public. PRESS RELEASE

Lg captures commercialdisplay market with LeD

LAHORE: LG Electronics participated in ISE(Integrated Systems Europe) 2012, the biggestcommercial display show in Europe, held inAmsterdam, the Netherlands, for three daysfrom January 31. During the show, LGEintroduced its new commercial LED displaydevices to enhance its B2B marketing. Thecompany displayed this year’s strategicproducts, which include digital signage, hotel TVsystems and video conference systems. In the598sqm display space, an LED promotion zonewas set up to advertise the unique advantages ofLGE's LED products with the aim of securing astrong leadership position in the commercial

LED display market. PRESS RELEASE

Toyota announces ‘Dream Car’ art contest winners KARACHI: The winners of the first leg of the 6thToyota Dream Car Art Contest organized by IndusMotor Company concluded on Sunday, February19, 2012 in Karachi at a grand event. More than130 schools from across Pakistan participated inthe contest, which was conducted during Januaryand February, 2012.Besides a large number ofschools, students with special needs fromvocational schools also participated in thisnationwide contest. Speaking on the occasion MrParvez Ghias, CEO, Indus Motor Company saidthat the idea behind the Toyota Dream Car ArtContest is to promote creativity and to giveopportunities to children to express their dreamsand use their imagination through art by drawinga “Future Dream Car”. PRESS RELEASE

Mobilink launches gmail SMSLAHORE: Mobilink officially announced thelaunch of Gmail SMS in collaboration with Google.Mobilink and Google signed an MoU to launch thisinnovative service earlier last month. Gmail SMS,a free web-to-SMS service which enables a Gmailuser to send SMS to any Mobilink subscriber viaGmail. Mobilink subscribers can also reply back tothat SMS which will appear on user’s Gmailinterface. Speaking at the occasion, VP MarketingMobilink, Jahanzeb Taj stated, “This is indeed aninnovative step towards enhancing theaccessibility of Mobilink subscribers by allowingthem to be connected with Gmail users anywherein the world via SMS. PRESS RELEASE

The Deli hosts hi tea with fortuneKARACHI: The Deli, one of the city’s best kept

secrets, recently hosted a Hi Tea with fortune. Aunique and novel event, this hi-tea was the first ofits kind to be held in Karachi. “The Tea withFortune is yet another initiative of The Deli toshowcase its creativity and innovation not just interms of the food we serve but also in terms of ourpresentation, ideas and concepts,” said Tina Mehdi,the CEO of The Deli. “While The Deli has alwaysbeen at the cutting-edge of coming up with newfood ideas, now we are also at the cutting-edge ofunique way sto market food.” PRESS RELEASE

KARACHI: Zeeshan Pervaiz, Manager Customer Carewi-tribe, giving away a free CrossRoads voucher worthRs5,000 to one of 50 lucky winners. PRESS RELEASE

LAHORE: Mrs Ayesha M Hamid Chairperson Americanschool of International Academics and Mr Dominqueexchange MOU Documents. PRESS RELEASE

Global stocks encourage bull surge, index up 22 ptsKARACHI

STAFF REPORT

K ARACHI stock market stayed bull-ish on Monday with trading vol-umes remaining in the green zone

on the back of what the analysts said ral-lying global stocks and the investors’speculations ahead of major earning an-nouncements this week.

The first day of the week saw thebenchmark 100-share index finishing upby 0.18 per cent or gaining 22.22 pointsto close at 12,517.90 points compared to12,495.68 points of Friday last week. “Thestocks stayed bullish amid higher vol-umes after global stocks rally and in-vestors speculate ahead of major earningannouncements this week,” said AshenMehanti, a director at Arif Habib Securi-ties. The day saw the trading volumes atthe ready-counter going down but stillhigher at 232.851 million against 233.268million shares of the previous day. The

trading value, however, took a dip of al-most Rs3 billion to stand at Rs4.62 billioncompared to Rs7.045 billion of the lastsession. The intraday high and low were,respectively, counted at 12,595.42 and12,495.68 points.

The market capitalization slightlygrew and finished at Rs3.264 trillionversus Rs3.257 trillion the bourse hadwitnessed on last trading day of previ-ous week. Of the total 445 traded scrips,140 gained, 104 lost and 201 ended up

as unchanged. The free-float KSE-30index also gained 1.59 points and closedat 11,673.22 points against the previous11,671.63 points.

Jahangir Siddique Company contin-ued to remain on the top when it comesto volume leader and counted its tradedshares at 38.075 million against Friday’s30.603 million with the opening andclosing rates, respectively, standing atRs9.41 and Rs10.39.

On the future market, the turnover

registered an upset and declined toRs10.092 million shares compared to13.109 million shares of last week.

Mehanti, a senior market observer,said the factors which played as a cata-lyst at the market on Monday includeHigher local POL prices, higher globalcommodities, easing political outlook,speculations ahead of official announce-ments on resolution of the ill-conceivedCapital Gains Tax issues in the prevail-ing bullish sentiments.

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

MEEZAN Bank, which sawits profit after tax bal-looning by 106 per centto Rs3.4 billion duringthe year ended on De-

cember 31, 2011, would manage theTerm Finance Certificates (TFCs)worth Rs15 billion for the cash-

starved federal government to ad-dress the lingering and economy-crippling circular debt issue.

Also, the bank is all set to establisha separate Agri Finance Departmentwhich would extend advances to thefarmers to buy crop seeds, fertiliserand other agricultural inputs.

“We are in a dialogue with theministry of finance on the issuance ofSukuk (Islamic bonds) by the powerholdings,” said Ariful Islam, Chief Op-erating Officer and Executive Directorof the country’s leading Shariah-com-pliant bank during a briefing here at alocal hotel Monday.

The banker said the amount would

constitute around 10 per cent of thetotal Rs150 billion the federal govern-ment would be arranging through Is-lamic banks to clear the massivecircular debts.

Earlier, Irfan Siddiqui, Presidentand CEO of Meezan Bank said theBoard of Directors of the bank, in itsFeb 19thmeeting here, approved the fi-nancial statements of the bank for 2011.

He said the bank’s total assetscrossed the landmark figure of Rs200billion at December 2011, while de-posits increased by 30 per cent overthe last year to Rs170 billion. While itrecorded 106 per cent growth in itsprofit-after-tax which increased to

Rs3.4 billion for 2011 as compared toRs1.650 billion in 2010.

The banks’ Earning Per Share(EPS) increased to Rs4.22 fromRs2.05 recorded last year, Irfan said.

He said the board recommendedthe issue of 12.5 per cent bonus shares(2010: 15 per cent) for year 2011. Thisdeclaration, together with the earliercash dividend of 10 per cent paid inJuly 2011, brings the total payout forthe year to 22.5 per cent and main-tains the bank’s unbroken payoutrecord since its date of listing on theStock Exchange. The bonus issue willincrease the bank’s paid up capital toRs9 billion and the bank will meet the

SBP’s minimum capital requirementfor 2012 of Rs9 billion a year in ad-vance. “The bank’s excellent depositgrowth is a result of the rapidly grow-ing demand for Islamic financialproducts,” the CEO said. To a query,Irfan said the bank was setting up adedicated department for agri financ-ing to tap the waste potential thecountry had in the face of farming andthat finances would be extended to thefarmers to buy crop seeds, fertiliserand other agri inputs.

In his address, Chairman of theBank’s Board, Sheikh Ebrahim BinKhalifa Al Khalifa said Meezan Bankwould be completing 10 years of Is-lamic commercial banking operationsthis year. The bank has achievedgrowth in all business segments andmaintained its position as the leadingIslamic bank in Pakistan where, hesaid, investing capital or working wasa “viable exercise”. “The investmenthere is secured and that during 2012,we would expand our branch networkto 3,000 (from present 275 in 83 citiesof Pakistan),” he said.

Meezan Bank to manageRs15b Islamic bonds for circular debtg Announces 106pcgrowth in profit for 2011

USAID to extend co-operationfor SMes developmentLAHORE: United States Agency forInternational Development (USAID) willextend cooperation in capacity building ofSmall and Medium Enterprises DevelopmentAuthority (SMEDA). A USAID delegation, ledby Donald R Hart at a meeting with SMEDACEO Yousaf Naseem agreed Pakistan’s SMEsector required broad-based intervention forgrowth, which had not been made possible bySMEDA in the full swing due to scarcity offunds. SMEDA CEO informed the delegationthat SMEDA was trying to bridge the fundingwith assistance of the international and localdonors. Under this approach three importantprogrammes had recently been launched bySMEDA with the funding of internationaldonor agencies, that include “Early Recoveryand Restoration of Flood AffectedCommunities Programme” and ”LegalEmpowerment Programme for marginalisedbusinesses in Pakistan” funded by UNDP and“Economic Revival of KP and FATA” projectfunded by World Bank. STAFF REPORT

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