BUSINESS 09
Sunday, 25 May, 2014
PIBC expects better trade ties with India
PM aPProves two More coal-fired Power Plants LAHORE
LAHORE APP
The Pak-India Business Council (PIBC) has congratulated Indian Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi and expressed hope that his administration would work for strengthening business and trade ties with regional countries specially Pakistan. PIBC Chairman Noor Muhammad Kasuri said this on Saturday. He said that Modi's party BJP had won trust of people to bring economic prosperity in India and it was possible through promotion of regional trade ties. He expressed hope that corporate sectors in India and Pakistan would play a very important role in promotion of regional trade and business relation. He said both the countries could share expertise in education, health, infrastructure development, railways and other public utilities. He was confident that under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi both the nations would further strengthen their friendly relations and use their resources for socio, economic uplift of their people. Kasuri said services of the PIBC and the India Pak Business Council (IPBC) were available to facilitate the businessmen of both the countries to promote trade.
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APP
RIMe Minister Nawaz Sharif Saturday approved two additional coal-fired power plants in Gadani in the mode of independent power producer. The approval to this effect was granted by the prime minister in a meeting held here under his chair to review the pace of work on Gadani power project. The prime minister said that attractive tariff for coal-fired power plants had drawn investors from the world to invest in the power projects in Pakistan. He also appreciated the Chinese investment in energy sector and especially Gadani Power Park. During the meeting, the prime minister also directed that sufficient funds should be allocated for these additional projects
in the public sector development programme. earlier, the prime minister was given a detailed briefing on the status of the project. He was told that the feasibility study of the infrastructure installation would be completed by end of June which included geo-technical investigation, water resource survey, jetty break water and cooling water intake system. The environment impact system study would be completed by June 30. Prime Minister Nawaz Zharif was told that work on land levelling and grading on the site would start within three weeks and be completed in three months. He was also briefed that the coal handling and conveying system infrastructure would be installed in 22 months. Similarly, jetty break water and allied infrastructure would be completed in 32 months.
Govt to provide protection to SROs where required: Dar
Pakistan, US among countries that systematically violate rights of workers: report NEWS DESK
CORPORATE CORNER Kids excel in royal Palm summer sports LAHORE: The Annual Junior Summer Sports Camp to be conducted over 31 days commenced at the multi sports arenas of Royal Palm Golf and Country Club. Comprehensive sports training has started in sports like cricket, golf, soccer, tennis, swimming, squash, snooker and other activities related to fitness, martial arts and aerobics. Kids in the age categories ranging from four years to eighteen years have swarmed the various state of the art sports arenas of Royal Palm Golf and Country Club. The more popular sports that catch the juniors attention are cricket, golf, soccer, tennis and swimming and kids who seek expertise number hundreds and they look so eager to acquire techniques from the skilled coaches in each discipline and become champions. Of course the little ones in the age bracket ten and below are doing it for the first time and their love comes from watching sports on TV while the kids aged over ten have previous exposure to the basics and seek the champions touch as they apply themselves to fine tune what they already know. They are fortunate indeed that some of the really good and dedicated coaches will be at their beck and call provided they show intensity of approach and respond to what is taught. In golf the coaches are Col (r) Jameel Khalid, Shahid Javed Khan, an accomplished golf professional and backed up by the seasoned Siraj Khan. Cricket coaching will revolve around Babar and his team, while the most popular Mehdi heads the Soccer coaching team. For tennis the coaches are Ghulam Mohammed and Akhter, and swimming coaching team comprises Ruqqia and Aneela for ladies section and Zohaib for the boys section. In other arenas like squash,snooker,Fitness and martial arts the instructors are Faisal and Asim,Nawaz,Arshad Mahmood,and Kabir Butt. Omer Mir,General Manager,Royal Palm rightly pointed out that development of sports is a priority for us and getting noticed on the international front is an aspect that gets priority.Already Royal Palm Golf Course has been recognised internationally as a golf course that stands out in Asia.He further said that the most heartening feature is that parents ,especially mothers are so keen to see their young ones develop into sports personalities. PRESS RELEASE
ISLAMABAD INP
Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar has said that the government will provide protection where required and will not impose any burden where it is not sustainable or impacts the common man. He added that the SROs aimed at providing relief to charitable institutions will be given protection. He informed that the whole process will take few years to be completed. The finance minister was chairing a meeting of the committee constituted by the prime minister to review the concessionary regime (SROs) at the finance ministry on Saturday. In his opening remarks, the finance minister who is the convener of the committee said that the committee in its eight meetings held in last three months, had reviewed the Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs) with an independent and open mind and conducted an exercise in keeping with the national interest. The finance minister said that the prime minister’s decision to constitute the committee
and including in it the representatives of relevant ministries as well as stakeholders including business persons was aimed at taking all stakeholders on board so that the decisions were made with collective wisdom. The FBR chairman gave a detailed presentation on the plan for phasing out of the SROs in three years timeframe. He informed that the plan encompasses principles to remove contradictions and distortions. He said that after consultations with the stakeholders the recommendations had been prepared for the committee to consider and take appropriate decision. He added that there was a general consensus that local manufacturing and exports should be encouraged and they should save money where possible on imports. In this connection, the finance minister said that the committee and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had worked hard to rationalise and streamline SROs and he had been himself holding several meetings. The purpose of carrying out this exercise was to remove distortions and disparities created due to the issuance of arbitrary SROs, he added.
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), an alliance of regional trade confederations that advocates for labour rights around the world, ranked Pakistan alongside the US among countries where systematic violations of rights of workers are reported. Pakistan was given a score of 4 along with countries like United States, Kuwait, Bahrain on the global rights index: the world’s worst countries for workers. The report ranked countries on a scale of 1-5 (1 being best and 5 worst) on the basis of standards of fundamental rights at work, in particular the right to freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike. The workers in countries with the rating of 4 have reported systematic violations. The government and, or companies are engaged in serious efforts to crush the collective voice of workers putting fundamental rights under continuous threat. The report put Central African Republic, Libya, Palestine, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine as the worst country to work. In countries with a score of 5+ on the Index, workers were reported to have no guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of the rule of law. The situation in India and Bangladesh was worse than Pakistan with both countries scoring 5 on the index. While the legislation in countries with a rating of 5 may spell out certain rights workers but workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labour practices.
GOVT WORKING TO ENHANCE MANGO EXPORT: BOSAN MULTAN APP
Federal Minister for Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Bosan said that Pakistan would take tough decisions to enhance mango export. Addressing a seminar by the Fruits exporters Association, Sikandar Hayat Bosan said a ban on Indian mangos due to fruit-fly issue in the european Union had provided an excellent opportunity to Pakistani growers to grab market. He added that tough decisions could reduce export but all possible measures would be taken to avoid a ban on exports. Bosan urged the farmers to be highly careful of mango fruit-fly because it was the main issue behind its export in european market. He urged them to nurture their mango orchards properly and follow instructions of experts to tackle fruit-fly. He added that a special campaign was in progress in the country to sensitise growers about
issues of fruit-fly. He also urged traders and exporters to follow standards of exports to capture new markets and earn a good name to Pakistan. About cotton seeds, he said a bill on the seed policy would be tabled in the
National Assembly after its approval by the cabinet. He said that sellers of supurious seeds would be fined up to Rs 200,000 besides six months imprisonment. He said that work on a new bill on patent rights was also in progress and
would be presented very soon. He hoped that renowned companies of the world would provide standard seed after the passage of the bill of patent rights. The minister said the government was working for the welfare of small farmers.