Thursday, 27 December, 2012

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

The domestic urea manufacturing plantshave provided a benefit of Rs 365 billionto the farmers over the last five years,said the Fertilizer Manufacturers Pak-istan Advisory Council (FMPAC)Wednesday.

The benefit, the council said, was inthe face of keeping the local urea pricessignificantly below international levels.“That is a huge benefit to the agricultureindustry and the economy,” said aFMPAC spokesman in a statement issuedhere.

The spokesman said all the fourSNGPL based fertilizer plants had in-curred significant losses in the last 2years due to non-supply of gas and fur-ther benefit to the agri-economy wasbeing eroded.

He added that there was a miscon-ception that fertilizer manufacturers wereenjoying raw material subsidy from thegovernment in the form of reduced feedgas prices.

This subsidy was not for the manu-facturers, but was in fact passed on to the

farmers via reduced prices and this gov-ernment policy had historically protectedfarmers and the agriculture economyfrom price fluctuations of internationalurea market, rupee depreciation and for-eign exchange requirements.

Based on current feed and fuel gasprices, gas subsidy per bag of urea worksout to be Rs.228 per bag. In essence ifGovernment subsidy on gas price wastaken away, urea prices would only in-crease by Rs. 228 per bag.

On the other hand difference betweenprice of domestic and international ureathroughout 2012 has been more than Rs.1,000 per bag. Therefore, he said, thatnot only is the fertilizer industry passingon feed gas subsidy to the farmer, it isalso passing on a much larger benefit oflocal urea production in addition to pay-ing taxes to Government.

The official further added that out ofthe total urea price increase since 2010,about 80% has resulted from impositionof GST on urea and CESS on gas, andgeneral inflation while balance 20% isdue to factors such as significant less pro-duction due to Gas curtailment and othercosts which remain constant irrespective

of less production etc. Government didnot honor its gas supply contracts withthe fertilizer manufacturers despite thefact that industry has recently invested$2.3 billion in the country based on thegovernment approved policy designed toencourage investment in the sector.

Domestic urea plants in the countryare now faced with a production loss ofover 2.8 million tons in 2012 as theycould only produce 4.1 million tons ofurea against a total production capacityof over 6.9 million tons per annum whichhas increased foreign outflow instead ofspending within the country.

The government has also incurred sig-nificant losses by importing urea worthover $ 1 billion and providing subsidy ofover Rs. 50 billion on imported urea in thelast 2 years. urea is the most expensiveform of energy that is imported costingaround $23/MMBTu, whereas RFO andLNG would be 30-50% on average less ex-pensive than urea on a MMBTu basis.

The FMPAC official further clarifiedthat domestically produced urea is alwaysavailable around the length and breadthof Pakistan eliminating pocket shortages.Whereas imported urea is generally not

available at the right time needed forsowing of crops due to unavoidable de-lays in imports.

He said that there are a host of otherreasons including food autarky and foodself-sufficiency which warrants sustainedand regular production of domesticallyproduced urea. He said that the entirecrisis has primarily been due to non-ad-

herence of the Government approved pri-ority for gas supply to the fertilizer indus-try who had sovereign contracts in placeto receive gas unlike other sectors.

The continued non supply of gas tothe SNGPL plants is already creating fi-nancial turmoil for these manufacturers,as well as severely denting the agricultureeconomy.

‘UREA MANUFACTURERS HAVE GIVEN FARMERS RS 365B BOOST’

Byco opens 25-metre

deep oil terminal

in Balochistang First oil tanker arrives at

‘Single Point Mooring’

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

Byco has achieved yet another historic mile-stone by bringing the first ever oil tanker to itsnewly-established deep sea Single Point Moor-ing (SPM) facility constructed by the Byco Ter-minal Pakistan Ltd, a Byco group company.Byco’s crude oil tanker, M.T ARIETIS, carrying70,000 tons of upper zakum crude oil from AbuDahbi was berthed at first ever SPM Tuesday.This marks the commissioning of 3rd portwhich will be used for import of crude oil andpetroleum related products. With a clear draftof 25 meters this facility can accommodatelarger size vessels carrying Crude/ Petroleumproducts in cargo sizes of over 100,000 tons.The full operation of SPM will cause to createadequate availability of other oil piers leadingto reduced waiting time and consequential de-murrage.In the initial stages, the SPM shall be used toimport Crude Oil for Byco’s newly completed120,000 bpd and the existing fully operativesmaller refinery of 35,000 bpd. The SPM has been set up on the coast of Ara-bian Sea at a distance of approximately 14kmfrom the Byco’s Mouza Kund Site and is ap-proximately 10 kilometers from the sea shore at25 meters depth. It is connected to the storagetanks through 28 inch diameter offshore andonshore pipeline.Speaking on the occasion, Imran Farookhi, CEOByco Terminals Pakistan, the company thatowns and operates the SPM, said that the ar-rival of M.T ARIETIS marked the end of onejourney and the beginning of a new one. “Withthe blessings of the Almighty, we have con-quered all obstacles and are ready to meet theneeds of Pakistan’s growing oil needs,” he said.Presently the petroleum products are being im-ported through Karachi and Port Qasim andboth these ports had a draft limitation and assuch cannot accommodate larger ships.The SPM facility with a draft of 25 meterswould allow mooring of the larger crude carri-ers, which would not only result into lower ad-ministrative cost but would also bring insubstantial savings on account of difference infreight charges, thus giving SPM facility astrategic advantage.Byco Terminals Pakistan is an infrastructurecompany setup to facilitate the logistics of pe-troleum products, Byco Terminals Pakistan(formerly universal Terminal Limited) is awholly owned subsidiary of Byco PetroleumPakistan Limited (BPPL).

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

RuSSIA plans to increasethe volume of bilateraltrade with Pakistan tothe 2008 level of $ 600million, Consul General

of Russia Andrey V. Demidov has said.“Still we plan to reach the level of uS $600 million by the end of 2012,” Demi-dov told a gathering organized by theAsian union Forum (AuF) here.

Present among others were Patron-in-Chief Justice Said-uz-Zaman Sid-diqui, Chairman Waseem Yasin,Secretary General Tariq Shadab andmembers of the AuF’s executive com-mittee. “We were and are prepared tocooperate with Pakistan in differentspheres and primarily in commerce andin economy,” he said.

In the last two decades of the 20thcentury the cooperation between thetwo countries remained on a very lowlevel, he recalled. “The bilateral tradevolume in 1980 was uS $ 95 milliononly and in 1990 – 138 mln. These fig-ures were negligible,” said the consulgeneral. He said the record high volumeof bilateral trade, about $ 600 million,was reached in 2008.

“But later we experienced the ef-fects of the World financial crises andthe volume of trade dropped to the levelof uS $ 300 mln in 2009,” he said.Demidov said he had already men-tioned a very good example of mutuallybeneficial cooperation that was the Pak-istani Steel Mills. The project was inau-gurated more than 30 years ago. And itwas still operational. The machinerybuilt in the Soviet union, although old,was still working without any serioustechnical problem.

Nevertheless, the Pakistani SteelMills needed to be upgraded, he said.The new machinery was to be supplied

and fit in. The production level was tobe brought up. “And we are prepared tocome and to modernize the project.About four years ago we presented themanagement of the Steel Mills with adetailed plan of upgrading the produc-tion to the level of 3 million tons. Thisplan is still under consideration by ourpartners,” the consul general said.

In this respect, Demidov stressedhis conviction that the follow-up of bi-lateral cooperation around the PakistaniSteel Mills could move forward thewhole complex of our bilateral ties. “Weknow that Pakistan is experiencing en-ergy deficit. But Russia is the world’sbiggest energy supplier. Our assistancein the field of energy can be rendered inthe form of oil and gas supplies. Our ex-perts assisted the Iranians in bringingthe gas pipeline to the Iran-Pakistanborder,” said the Russian consul gen-eral. It had been announced that Russiahad a plan to allocate $ 500 million forthe upgrading of the Pakistani SteelMills, he said.

Special agreements, he said, wereunderway on construction of a South

Asian Electricity Trade and Develop-ment Project CASA-1000 and gaspipeline TAPI. Demidov said goodprospects for fruitful bilateral coopera-tion could be found in the fields of rail-roads and highway construction,energy, coal mining and others.

A very important and a very fruitfulsphere of bilateral cooperation wasRussian possible participation in build-ing irrigation projects in Pakistan.

“Russia has a very serious experi-ence of using modern machinery in thisfield. In the past we built a lot of irriga-tion systems in Central Asia,” said he.

Both the parties can cooperate inthe field of transport, building roads,railroads, bridges etc, including airtransport. On May 5 this year, he re-called, a Russian-made passenger air-plane of latest brand “Sukhoi Superjet”performed demonstration flights in theJinnah International Airport, Karachi,in the presence of officials from the CivilAviation Authority of Pakistan.

“In our view the biggest prospectsfor the future development of mankindlie in outer space. Space is an inex-

haustible source of energy, raw materi-als. And of course it is an importantsource of human knowledge. Russianow is an undoubtedly world leader inspace exploration, in manned space-flights,” Demidov said.

The two countries, he said, had al-ready started cooperation in the space.In December 2001, a Russian missilelaunched into orbit a Pakistani satellite“BADAR-2”. In September 2012, thetwo sides witnessed the second sessionof Inter-ministerial Russian-PakistaniCommission on trade, economic, scien-tific and technical cooperation held inIslamabad.

“We can cooperate in the field of ed-ucation that is in training of Pakistanistudents in Russian universities,” hesaid. Also, according to Demidov, thetwo countries had an intense politicaldialogue including regular contacts atthe sidelines of the Shanghai Coopera-tion Organization and the so called“Dushanbe Four”. “Both sides have reg-ular consultations between foreign min-isters,” he said.

The consul general said Russia andPakistan had close approaches to maininternational issues. “This cooperationshould be continued,” he said.

“Of course the moving forwardcloser with Russia is not and should notbe the only option for Pakistan. Wethink that Pakistan should continue itslong-time cooperation with the unitedStates. And, undoubtedly we will onlysupport Pakistan in its aspiration tomaintain its time-tested all-weatherfriendship with China. What we want isto complement the existing cooperationwith these nations. We wish to add whatthe listed nations could not and possiblydo not want to give to Pakistan,” he said.

Russian businesspeople, Demidovsaid, were listed among quite fortunateones. “But they are to be encouraged tocome and to invest in Pakistan. They areto be invited to invest in Pakistan. Inwhat way invited? Invited to businessand investment exhibitions and fairs.Invited to take part in business forums,in talks and negotiations on specificprojects,” he said.

He said his side was awaiting withkeen interest the visit to Pakistan ofRussian President Vladimir V. Putin. “Iwould like to stress that the visit was notcancelled, it was postponed.

Russia eyes $ 600 milliontrade with Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Chief executive officer of Pakistan Steel Mills is on a visit to Iran to discuss and secure suppliesof iron ore from a less expensive and quick source of raw material to boost PS production. The spokesperson ofthe PS said that the main purpose of the visit is to explore possibilities of securing a continuous supply for theSteel Mills, IRNA News Agency Reported. The mill is experiencing difficulties in importing iron ore from Aus-tralia, Canada and Brazil as shipments take 50 to 60 days with a high freight compared to a 10-12-day cost-effec-tive shipment from the neighbouring country. The spokesperson said the PS delegation would meetrepresentatives of five Iranian companies and would also discuss possibility of barter trade, under which PSwould supply metallurgical coke in exchange for Iranian ore. APP

PSM to iMPort iron ore froM iran

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fiSH eXPort

02

Thursday, 27 December, 2012

Major Gainers

COMPANY OPEN HIGH LOW CLOSE CHANGE TURNOVERWyeth Pak Limited 944.76 955.00 955.00 955.00 10.24 50Siemens Pakistan 762.00 770.00 761.00 770.00 8.00 4,500Khyber TobaccoXD 118.89 124.83 124.83 124.83 5.94 500Pak Oilfields 435.36 442.10 434.99 440.67 5.31 516,700Millat Tractors Ltd. 561.05 565.00 559.90 564.86 3.81 80,400

Major LosersUniLever Pak 10150.00 10030.00 10000.00 10007.50 -142.50 100Mithchells Fruit 384.00 403.20 364.80 366.00 -18.00 2,600Pak.Int.Cont. SD 242.48 247.00 230.36 235.08 -7.40 14,600Murree Brewery 140.10 139.00 133.10 133.10 -7.00 20,600AL-Abbas Sugur 103.95 98.76 98.76 98.76 -5.19 500

Volume Leaders

P.I.A.C.(A) 2.99 3.99 3.20 3.99 1.00 14,901,500TRG Pakistan Ltd. 6.18 6.50 6.05 6.15 -0.03 9,980,000Maple Leaf Cement 14.79 14.90 14.45 14.62 -0.17 4,254,000Fauji Fert Bin 38.50 39.10 38.35 38.69 0.19 4,193,500Fauji Cement 6.40 6.57 6.35 6.37 -0.03 3,674,000

Interbank RatesUS Dollar 97.2994UK Pound 156.9342Japanese Yen 1.1388Euro 128.4352

Dollar EastBUY SELL

US Dollar 97.50 98.20Euro 127.66 129.56Great Britain Pound 155.69 157.95Japanese Yen 1.1241 1.1397Canadian Dollar 96.72 98.77Hong Kong Dollar 12.35 12.58UAE Dirham 26.36 26.70Saudi Riyal 25.82 26.15Australian Dollar 99.53 102.46

Business

Faysal Bank Limited signs MoU

with auto dealers

KARACHI: Faysal Bank Limited’s Car FinanceBusiness has taken another initiative towards pro-viding innovative and value-added products andservices to its customers by joining hands with topAuto dealers countrywide. under this alliancecustomers will avail exclusive benefits and dis-counts, with precedence over delivery of vehicles.A signing ceremony of MOu was held at FaysalBank, head office Karachi between Mir Nejib Rah-man (Head - Consumer Finance, Wealth Manage-ment and e-Banking) and The Auto Dealers(Toyota Central Motors, Toyota Hyderabad Mo-tors, Honda Shahrah-e-Faisal and Suzuki Mar-galla Motors).On the occasion, Mr. Naved A Khan (President &CEO - Faysal Bank Limited) addressing the forumsaid, ”Our ambition is to provide par excellenceservices for our customers while meeting all theirfinancial needs. The Bank is committed to offersuperior car financing options and to promote onewindow operation with support of our alliancepartners.”

Naeem Zamindar hosts

dinner in honour of Declan

LAHORE: Declan Byrne, President of WiMAXforum, the global body that certifies and promotes thecompatibility and interoperability of WiMAX productsand services, recently visited Pakistan to meet withregulator and government officials. Along with localpartners, WiMAX forum has put immense efforts instreamlining the WiMAX businesses in Pakistan thathave been undergoing stagnant growth after boomingperiod few years ago. Declan, speaking on the occa-sion said, “My visit to Pakistan is not only aimed atconvincing the government in bringing more trans-parency in laws and market practices but also to en-courage WiMAX investors who are apparentlyhesitant in putting more capital in their businesseslately.” Declan further suggested that WiMAX opera-tors can partner with cellular companies to form part-nerships to offer broadband services to cross-networkusers, eventually to boost their revenues on currentworking ecosystem. Pakistan is the first country in theworld to have rolled out a nationwide WiMAX net-work, established by Wateen Telecom. WiMAX Presi-dent further proposed that WiMAX operators can

even contract with each other to offer broadbandroaming services to cross-operator users – makingservice availability (on WiMAX or WiFi) available tolarger pool of customers in wider range of areas.

Colgate Sensitive lets you enjoy

your hot drinks without toothache

KARACHI: Colgate Palmolive has always been at theforefront of creating awareness regarding oral health-care in Pakistan. Colgate, the #1 brand recommendedby dentists, has now introduced New Colgate SensitiveMultiprotection, specifically designed to cure and pre-vent dental sensitivity and provide complete gum carewith the additional benefits of whitening and cavityprotection. During December, COLGATE SENSITIVEcame to your favorite McDonalds and asked you totake the sensitivity challenge. After consumers wereasked to take a sip from a hot cup of tea, our suspi-cions were confirmed; that one in every three individ-uals suffers from dentine hypersensitivity. ColgateSensitive has been the leader in educating consumersabout the symptoms and effects of dental sensitivityand continued that trend by treating patients sufferingfrom dental sensitivity on the spot.

KaRaChi: Chief Justice Fedrel Shariat Court agha Rafig

ahmed Khan is awarding Gold Medal to student o Boman

Lakhani (Chancellor) and Kashif Roll Registrar) of the

institute of Business & Technology look on.

FRESh congratulates COThM

KARACHI: Chief Executive of Foundation forRehabilitation & Education of Slow Children(FRESH) Ashba Kamran has congratulated MrAhmed Shafiq, Executive Director of the Collegeof Tourism & Hotel Management (COTHM) on hisappointment as Chairman of Standing Committeeon Travel, Tourism, Hospitality and Sector Skill ofthe LCCI for the year 2012-13. Ashba Kamran hasexpressed the hope that Ahmed Shafiq will playeffective role in formulating the tourism policy forthe province of Punjab through the platform ofLCCI. She said the COTHM has also signed aMemorandum of understanding (Mou) withFRESH on educating and training of FRESH stu-dents in hospitality and hotel management. Ac-cordingly, a good number of slow learners havejoined COTHM under the leadership of AhmedShafiq for their bright future.

CORPORATE CORNER

Mobile banking transactionshit Rs 139b in 1QFY13KARACHI: Mobile banking accounts in the country climbed to 1.8million registering what the central bank described it a remark-able growth of 25 percent during the first quarter of FY13. Accord-ing to Branchless Banking Newsletter issued by the State Bank ofPakistan (SBP) Wednesday, during July-September FY13 thebranchless banking (BB) customers conducted almost 31.5 milliontransactions worth Rs 139 billion. The average size of each trans-action was Rs 4,420, while the average number of transaction perday increased to 0.349 million. The accounts’ activity level hasalso improved considerably during the quarter at the back of sig-nificant growth of 84% in Level ‘0’ accounts and 7% growth inLevel ‘1’ accounts. These accounts are opened at the agents’ loca-tion largely by those who have traditionally been excluded fromthe banking services. The agents’ network has reached to 31,637as of 30th September, 2012 from 29,525 as on 30th June, 2012registering an increase of 7 percent. It may be pointed out thattransaction limits for Level ‘0’ & Level ‘1’ accounts are Rs 15,000and Rs 25,000 per day respectively. Bills payments & mobile top-ups remained the dominating activity during July-September2012 quarter with 45 percent share in total numbers, followed byperson to person (over the counter) fund transfers with a share of38 percent.STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD

APP

THE Sindh govern-ment aims to en-hance the seafoodexports from thecurrent $300 mil-lion to $1 billion

by adopting new technologies topromote aquaculture, developinginfrastructure and enhancing ca-pacity building of fishermen in theprovince.

“At present Pakistan’s seafoodexports stand at just $300 millionand major share in exports is con-tributed by Sindh province,” Di-rector of Fisheries (Hatcheries &Trainings) at Department of Fish-eries, Khawar Pervez Awan toldreporters during their visit tocoastal areas of the province.

He said that the country’s totalfish production stands at 400,000metric tons per annum out ofwhich 282,000 metric tons is pro-

duced by Sindh and remaining byother provinces. He was of theview that fish production in thecountry has remained stagnantwhich needs attention to propel itand earn foreign exchange.

He said that among the allseafood exports, the major

share of 60%is con-tributed byshrimps.

Mr.Awansaid that valueaddition couldalso help en-hance the costof the seafoodadding thatseveral coun-tries were im-porting fishfrom Pakistan and exporting toother countries by using theirown labels and trade mark.

He added that despite the banby European union on the exports

of Pakistani fish, the exports didnot decrease as the fish exportswere diverted to other interestedcountries.

Meanwhile, the exports of fishand fish preparations during thefirst five months of the current fis-cal year witnessed slight increase

of 0.57 percent.S e a f o o d

exports dur-ing July-November(2012-13)stood at $

126.294 mil-lion against

the exportsof $125.683

million duringthe same period

of last year.The Asian Develop-

ment Bank (ADB) hasbeen financing Sindh Coastal

Community Development Projectand development of fisheries is a

sub-component of that project.The project is aimed at pro-

moting fish raising and growingculture instead of just catching.

under the project, 30 fishponds are to be constructed inThatta besides installing 100 raftsfor Oyster rearing and rehabilita-tion of Fish Hatchery in Badin dis-trict to produce quality seed.

The fisheries developmentprogram is the part of Asia Devel-opment Bank’s (ADB) fundedproject which has been launchedto uplift the poor of the coastalareas. The ADB has been provid-ing funds for the Sindh CoastalCommunity Development Project(SCCDP) to diversify householdincome generation options and ac-cess to service.

Besides, the purpose of theADB-Funded project is to improvecostal zone management by stabi-lizing environmental degradation,protecting coastal areas from ac-celerated coastal erosion.

$1b worth fish on the table

SMEs ‘imperative’ for promotionof economic activitiesRAWALPINDI: The role of Small and Medium Enterprises SMEs isimperative for promotion of economic activities which would help tocreate job opportunities, investment attractions and human resourcedevelopment at grass root level. A collaborated development net-work is required to provide platform to all the stakeholders for con-tribution of their inputs for economic wellbeing of the country. This was stated by the Chairman IPO-Pakistan Mr. Hameed ullahJan Afridi MNA while addressing the concluding session of SMEsConference and Seminar on IPR held at Rawalpindi Chamber ofCommerce & Industries which was jointly organized by Industries,Commerce & Investment Department Punjab in collaboration withIntellectual Property Organization (IPO-Pakistan), Agriculture De-partment, PSIC and RCCI on Wednesday. The Chairman IPO said that IPO has got legal entity after passage ofIP Act 2012 and the organization has initiated a number of projectsfocusing on developing institutional framework, capacity building,enhancing mutual cooperation and rectifying memorandum of un-derstanding with different organizations. He said SME sector hasgreat potential to promote indigenous creative capabilities. He fur-ther said that IPO-Pakistan has set up IP facilitation Desks at LCCI,KCCI and SMEDA offices at Lahore and Karachi to facilitate IP rightholders for information dissemination and guidance about their IPrights registration. He also announced for opening similar Facilita-tion Desk at RCCI with the cooperation of SMEDA. The Chairmanemphasized on cooperation among IP stakeholders for promotionand protection of IPRs in the country.The Director General IPO-Pak-istan Mr. Sajjad Ahmad Bhutta underlined the need of developingmarket oriented innovative capabilities among the IP right creatorsin SME sector. He further said that database of SMEs is being devel-oped to address their sectoral issues. IPR enforcement is beingstrengthened for effective IP rights protection. ONLINE

CSR activities should be

transparent: SECPISLAMABAD: The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is fastbecoming an integral part of businesses all over the world and inPakistan a large number of businesses are doing commendablework in this area. SECP believes that transparency and corporateaccountability are essential in carrying out the CSR activities.Tahir Mahmood, the SECP Commissioner, Company Law Divi-sion, stated this while speaking at a roundtable discussion onCSR Voluntary Guidelines, 2012, on Wednesday in Islamabad.He reaffirmed the SECP’s commitment to facilitate stakeholders’engagement for strengthening accountability and transparency inreporting framework. The discussion was attended by distin-guished representatives of public companies, professional insti-tutions, research institutions and NGOs involved in the CSRprojects. The SECP representatives informed the participantsthat in May 2012, the SECP has in principle granted approval forintroducing corporate social responsibility (CSR) guidelines forpublic companies which is a significant step towards streamlin-ing reporting requirements and corporate accountability of theCSR activities. It was stressed that ownership of strategic policyfor planning, execution and reporting CSR activities shall restwith Board of Directors so that the CSR policy permeatesthrough the business structure for effective implementation. Theguidelines provides for forming a CSR consultative committee,ideally led by a CSR expert, for purpose of ensuring transparent,specialized supervision and reporting progress. The guidelinescall for obtaining independent assurance of CSR projects and thereport of assurer thereof forming part of the CSR report of com-pany. The participants appreciated the SECP’s efforts and intentfor introducing guidelines. APP

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