profitepaper pakistantoday 03rd october, 2012
2
Wednesday, 3 October, 2012 PTA posts lucrative mobile banking numbers Rs90m transactions made through mobile banking system last year: DG PTA RAWALPINDI APP Information technology is a fast growing sector in the country, which is reflective from the fact that around Rs90 million transactions have been made through mobile banking system during the last year, Director General of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Dr Saleem said on Tuesday. He was addressing a seminar organized by the Punjab College of Information Technology here to highlight importance of E-Commerce in the contemporary world and formal launching of its M. Com. Programme. The DG PTA urged the young generation to equip themselves with latest techniques and modern education to meet the challenges of the present times and future. Concept of E-Commerce and Mobile Commerce is touching new heights and exploring new horizons with each passing day and the younger generation must excel in this sector, he added. The seminar, presided over by Director of Fiscal Policy Study Center of Muhammad Ali Jinnah University Dr Safdar Ali Butt, was attended by Director Punjab Group of Colleges Rawalpindi Chaudhry Muhammad Akram, former President of Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Syed Asad Mashahdi, Deputy Director of Higher Education Commission Hakim Ali Talpur, Senior Vice President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tauseef Zaman and Director University of Central Punjab Professor Khaleel Muhammad. EU advisers to urge structural reform for banks BRUSSELS AGENCIES An EU advisory group will on Tuesday recommend reforms that could include splitting banks’ retail business from their investment operations to protect savers and host nations from the kind of risk-taking that triggered the financial crisis. Bank of Finland Governor Erkki Liikanen, who led the group of academics and experts set up by the European Commission, will announce their verdict on how best to reform bank structures in the wake of the crisis that began five years ago. Making a separation between retail banking and high-risk businesses such as trading could be among the proposals Liikanen will make to stop crises in investment banking dragging down high street banks and the savers and businesses who depend on them. Michel Barnier, the European Commissioner in charge of regulation, will give his initial response to journalists after Liikanen outlines the recommendations at a press conference at 1030 GMT. Legally separating or ring-fencing investment banking would make it easier for the part of the bank that holds savers’ deposits and lends to businesses to keep running even if other parts of the group collapsed, some banking experts say. It would affect European banks such as Britain’s Barclays, Germany’s Deutsche Bank and France’s BNP Paribas, which engage in high street banking alongside riskier trading in stocks, debt and other securities. One source familiar with the group’s work recently said separating retail banking from the high-risk business, dubbed “casino banking” by critics, would be part of the proposals, though this could change in the final report. ISLAMABAD APP P akistan and Russia have signed three memorandums of under- standing (MoUs) for expanding Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), upgrad- ing Pakistan Railways and coopera- tion in the water and power projects. Unveiling the details of the agreements at a press conference here on Tuesday, Minister of State and Chairman Board of Investment (BoI) Saleem H. Mandviwala said that the MoU regard- ing the PSM mainly dealt with cooperating in the project of its modernization, reconstruction and building production capacity up to 2.5 million ton. He said that the Russian Company Tyazhpromex- port helped Pakistan to establish the PSM. Mandviwala said that Russia would provide both technical and financial assistance in all the projects. “In the PSM’s expansion project, Russia is likely to provide assistance of about USD $350 to $500 million, which is expected to be signed within 60 days”, he added. The BoI Chairman said that the Russian com- pany would carry out the technical audit. Talking about the second MoU, which per- tained to upgrading the Pakistan Railways infra- structure, Mandviwala said that a delegation of Russian company, Transmashholding, during its recent visit to Pakistan, was informed about the upcoming tenders for supply of passenger car- riages and exploring opportunities for joint ven- tures for the carriages’ production. The Russian company had also invited the Pak- istan Railways officials to visit its facilities, he added. According to the third MoU for cooperation in the water and power sector, Russia has showed interest to invest in many projects, especially in Muzaffar- garh and Jamshoro power plants, he added. Mandviwala hoped that the MoUs would become a milestone in the bilateral relations of the two countries. By inking the Bilateral Invest- ment Treaty (BIT), Russia has complemented mutual efforts for enhancing cooperation in var- ious development projects launched by Pakistan, he said. Speaking on the occasion, Yuri M. Kozlov, Chief Trade Repre- sentative of Russia in Pakistan, termed the Russian delega- tion’s visit successful. HONG KONG AFP Asian markets rose Tuesday following better- than-expected manufacturing data from the United States that lifted hopes for recovery in the world’s number one economy. The news, which followed minor im- provements in Asian and European activity, also gave a boost to the dollar and euro against the yen, lifting Japanese stocks. Tokyo was 0.25 percent higher by the break, Sydney added 0.60 percent and Seoul was 0.27 percent higher, while Taipei added 0.26 percent. Hong Kong, Shanghai and Mumbai were closed for a public holiday. Traders took their lead from Wall Street, which ended broadly higher after the Insti- tute for Supply Management said its Purchas- ing Managers Index (PMI) edged up to 51.5 last month, from 49.6 in August — represent- ing the first expansion after three months of contraction. A reading above 50 indicates growth and anything below represents shrinkage. On Monday China said its own PMI was at 49.8 in September, which while still negative represents a modest improvement on 49.2 in August. And in Europe the reading came in at 46.1, up from 45.1. CLSA equity strategist Nicholas Smith said that the figures appeared to show “that the general picture is for a turnaround in global markets”. At the close of trade on Wall Street the Dow added 0.58 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.27 percent but the Nas- daq edged down 0.09 percent. On currency markets the dollar stood at 78.13 yen in Asian trade, from 77.98 yen in New York late Monday. The euro was at $1.2898 and 100.82 yen, compared with $1.2887 and 100.51 yen in New York. Eyes are now on the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), which is due later in the day to announce a decision on interest rates, with opinion split on whether it will make a cut to boost the economy. “A rate cut today looks like a line ball de- cision for the RBA,” Ric Spooner, Chief Mar- ket Analyst at CMC Markets said in a note to clients. “With a division of opinion amongst analysts on whether the RBA will move, a rate cut today has the potential to move markets this afternoon,” he said, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Oil prices rose in early trade, with New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, adding three cents to $92.51 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for November gaining 16 cents to $112.35. Gold was at $1,777.30 at 0300 GMT compared with $1,770.50 on Monday. ISLAMABAD APP The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Islamic Fi- nancial Services Board (IFSB) signed a Memoran- dum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate international cooperation between the two organiza- tions in promoting the development of Islamic fi- nance in common developing member countries. The MOU provides an effective basis for joint activities and general cooperation in areas of com- mon interest. The MoU is aimed at enhancing co- operation in the form of joint technical assistance and/or policy-based work in Common Developing Member Countries. It would help promoting the development of Is- lamic finance, in particular strengthening the ca- pacity of regulating and supervising Islamic financial services institutions, Islamic capital mar- kets and Islamic liquidity management in Common Developing Member Countries. The other objective of the MoU is to stimulate joint research and exchange of information, which will be used as critical evidence to support policy areas of mutual interest, as well as to enhance knowledge- sharing between both organizations. The agreement was signed by ADB Vice President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, Bindu Lohani and IFSB Secretary-General Jaseem Ahmed on behalf of their institutions in Manila, said ADB press statement received here Tuesday. “The importance of Islamic Finance in the de- velopment of Asia cannot be doubted, as can be seen by the significant increase in Shari’ah compli- ant financing in a number of ADB’s developing member countries in recent years,” said Bindu Lo- hani, ADB Vice President for Knowledge Manage- ment and Sustainable Development, said. “We look forward to working even more closely with IFSB under this MOU to address some of the key issues facing our member countries in the areas of financial inclusiveness and infrastructure financing,” Lohani added. On the occasion, Ahmed thanked ADB for its longstanding support for Islamic finance, and noted that the MOU formalizes a partnership be- tween IFSB and ADB going back to the provision of the first Technical Assistance by the ADB for Is- lamic finance in 2005. He underlined that the MOU was designed to serve both institutions and their respective mandates. “In the context of Asia’s developmental needs, and the expanding potential for Islamic finance in the region, the MOU strengthens our ability to jointly support the policy, institutional and capac- ity requirements for a more resilient Islamic finan- cial sector, Ahmed said. “I especially look forward to work with ADB in encouraging cross-border cooperation in the use of Islamic finance to address the challenges of widen- ing financial and social inclusion in Asia, and in meeting Asia’s enormous need for innovative fi- nancial mechanisms for its infrastructure spend- ing,” he added. LCCI seeks reduction in mark up rate LAHORE APP Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tuesday urged the State Bank of Pakistan to reduce markup rate to single digit and bring it at par with China, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh where it is 6.56, 8, 7.75 and 7.74 percent respectively. In a joint statement, LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar, Senior Vice President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh and Vice President Mian Abuzar Shad said single digit mark up was absolutely essential for Pakistan to compete with the regional economies in the world markets. They said inflation was a matter of controlling demand and supply and if the supply chain was up to the mark, the inflation would automatically remain at comfort level. They said the existing double digit markup had already caused undue damage to the economy which would take long time to recover. They said both local and foreign investments had already nose- dived because of high cost of doing business in Pakistan, while the FDI situation in other regional economies was quite visible. They feared that if proactive, well-tailored and well consulted measures were not taken and the economy remained sliding downwards, the days were not very far when Pakistan would become a trading country instead of a manufacturing hub. Three pronged Pakistan- Russia understanding Asian markets boosted by US manufacturing data Pakistan, Russia sign MoUs for steel, energy, railways projects ADB, IFSB sign MoU to promote Islamic finance PRO 03-10-2012_Layout 1 10/3/2012 1:23 AM Page 1
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profitepaper pakistantoday 03rd october, 2012
Transcript of profitepaper pakistantoday 03rd october, 2012
Wednesday, 3 October, 2012
PTA posts lucrative mobile
banking numbersRs90m transactions made through mobilebanking system last year: DG PTA
RAWALPINDI
APP
Information technology is a fast growing sector in thecountry, which is reflective from the fact that aroundRs90 million transactions have been made throughmobile banking system during the last year, DirectorGeneral of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)Dr Saleem said on Tuesday. He was addressing a seminarorganized by the Punjab College of InformationTechnology here to highlight importance of E-Commercein the contemporary world and formal launching of its M.Com. Programme. The DG PTA urged the younggeneration to equip themselves with latest techniquesand modern education to meet the challenges of thepresent times and future. Concept of E-Commerce andMobile Commerce is touching new heights and exploringnew horizons with each passing day and the youngergeneration must excel in this sector, he added. Theseminar, presided over by Director of Fiscal Policy StudyCenter of Muhammad Ali Jinnah University Dr SafdarAli Butt, was attended by Director Punjab Group ofColleges Rawalpindi Chaudhry Muhammad Akram,former President of Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerceand Industry Syed Asad Mashahdi, Deputy Director ofHigher Education Commission Hakim Ali Talpur, SeniorVice President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce andIndustry Tauseef Zaman and Director University ofCentral Punjab Professor Khaleel Muhammad.
EU advisers to urge
structural reform for banks BRUSSELS
AGENCIES
An EU advisory group will on Tuesday recommendreforms that could include splitting banks’ retail businessfrom their investment operations to protect savers andhost nations from the kind of risk-taking that triggeredthe financial crisis. Bank of Finland Governor ErkkiLiikanen, who led the group of academics and experts setup by the European Commission, will announce theirverdict on how best to reform bank structures in the wakeof the crisis that began five years ago. Making aseparation between retail banking and high-riskbusinesses such as trading could be among the proposalsLiikanen will make to stop crises in investment bankingdragging down high street banks and the savers andbusinesses who depend on them. Michel Barnier, theEuropean Commissioner in charge of regulation, will givehis initial response to journalists after Liikanen outlinesthe recommendations at a press conference at 1030 GMT.Legally separating or ring-fencing investment bankingwould make it easier for the part of the bank that holdssavers’ deposits and lends to businesses to keep runningeven if other parts of the group collapsed, some bankingexperts say. It would affect European banks such asBritain’s Barclays, Germany’s Deutsche Bank andFrance’s BNP Paribas, which engage in high streetbanking alongside riskier trading in stocks, debt andother securities. One source familiar with the group’swork recently said separating retail banking from thehigh-risk business, dubbed “casino banking” by critics,would be part of the proposals, though this could changein the final report.
ISLAMABAD
APP
Pakistan and Russia have signedthree memorandums of under-standing (MoUs) for expandingPakistan Steel Mills (PSM), upgrad-ing Pakistan Railways and coopera-
tion in the water and power projects. Unveiling the details of the agreements at a
press conference here on Tuesday, Minister ofState and Chairman Board of Investment (BoI)Saleem H. Mandviwala said that the MoU regard-ing the PSM mainly dealt with cooperating in theproject of its modernization, reconstruction andbuilding production capacity up to 2.5 million ton.He said that the Russian Company Tyazhpromex-port helped Pakistan to establish the PSM.
Mandviwala said that Russia would provideboth technical and financial assistance in all theprojects. “In the PSM’s expansion project, Russiais likely to provide assistance of about USD $350to $500 million, which is expected to be signedwithin 60 days”, he added.
The BoI Chairman said that the Russian com-pany would carry out the technical audit.
Talking about the second MoU, which per-tained to upgrading the Pakistan Railways infra-structure, Mandviwala said that a delegation ofRussian company, Transmashholding, during itsrecent visit to Pakistan, was informed about theupcoming tenders for supply of passenger car-riages and exploring opportunities for joint ven-tures for the carriages’ production.
The Russian company had also invited the Pak-istan Railways officials to visit its facilities, he added.According to the third MoU for cooperation in thewater and power sector, Russia has showed interestto invest in many projects, especially in Muzaffar-garh and Jamshoro power plants, he added.
Mandviwala hoped that the MoUs wouldbecome a milestone in the bilateral relations ofthe two countries. By inking the Bilateral Invest-ment Treaty (BIT), Russia has complementedmutual efforts for enhancing cooperation in var-ious development projects launched byPakistan, he said.
Speaking on the occasion, YuriM. Kozlov, Chief Trade Repre-sentative of Russia in Pakistan,termed the Russian delega-tion’s visit successful.
HONG KONG
AFP
Asian markets rose Tuesday following better-than-expected manufacturing data from theUnited States that lifted hopes for recovery inthe world’s number one economy.
The news, which followed minor im-provements in Asian and European activity,also gave a boost to the dollar and euroagainst the yen, lifting Japanese stocks.Tokyo was 0.25 percent higher by the break,Sydney added
0.60 percent and Seoul was 0.27 percenthigher, while Taipei added 0.26 percent.Hong Kong, Shanghai and Mumbai wereclosed for a public holiday.
Traders took their lead from Wall Street,which ended broadly higher after the Insti-tute for Supply Management said its Purchas-ing Managers Index (PMI) edged up to 51.5
last month, from 49.6 in August — represent-ing the first expansion after three months ofcontraction.
A reading above 50 indicates growth andanything below represents shrinkage.
On Monday China said its own PMI was at49.8 in September, which while still negativerepresents a modest improvement on 49.2 inAugust. And in Europe the reading came in at46.1, up from 45.1.
CLSA equity strategist Nicholas Smithsaid that the figures appeared to show “thatthe general picture is for a turnaround inglobal markets”. At the close of trade onWall Street the Dow added 0.58 percent andthe S&P 500 added 0.27 percent but the Nas-daq edged down 0.09 percent.
On currency markets the dollar stood at78.13 yen in Asian trade, from 77.98 yen inNew York late Monday.
The euro was at $1.2898 and 100.82 yen,
compared with $1.2887 and 100.51 yen inNew York. Eyes are now on the Reserve Bankof Australia (RBA), which is due later in theday to announce a decision on interest rates,with opinion split on whether it will make acut to boost the economy.
“A rate cut today looks like a line ball de-cision for the RBA,” Ric Spooner, Chief Mar-ket Analyst at CMC Markets said in a note toclients. “With a division of opinion amongstanalysts on whether the
RBA will move, a rate cut today has thepotential to move markets this afternoon,” hesaid, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
Oil prices rose in early trade, with NewYork’s main contract, light sweet crude fordelivery in November, adding three cents to$92.51 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude forNovember gaining 16 cents to $112.35. Goldwas at $1,777.30 at 0300 GMT comparedwith $1,770.50 on Monday.
ISLAMABAD
APP
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Islamic Fi-nancial Services Board (IFSB) signed a Memoran-dum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitateinternational cooperation between the two organiza-tions in promoting the development of Islamic fi-nance in common developing member countries.
The MOU provides an effective basis for jointactivities and general cooperation in areas of com-mon interest. The MoU is aimed at enhancing co-operation in the form of joint technical assistanceand/or policy-based work in Common DevelopingMember Countries.
It would help promoting the development of Is-lamic finance, in particular strengthening the ca-pacity of regulating and supervising Islamicfinancial services institutions, Islamic capital mar-kets and Islamic liquidity management in CommonDeveloping Member Countries.
The other objective of the MoU is to stimulatejoint research and exchange of information, which willbe used as critical evidence to support policy areas ofmutual interest, as well as to enhance knowledge-sharing between both organizations. The agreementwas signed by ADB Vice President for KnowledgeManagement and Sustainable Development, BinduLohani and IFSB Secretary-General Jaseem Ahmedon behalf of their institutions in Manila, said ADBpress statement received here Tuesday.
“The importance of Islamic Finance in the de-
velopment of Asia cannot be doubted, as can beseen by the significant increase in Shari’ah compli-ant financing in a number of ADB’s developingmember countries in recent years,” said Bindu Lo-hani, ADB Vice President for Knowledge Manage-ment and Sustainable Development, said.
“We look forward to working even more closelywith IFSB under this MOU to address some of thekey issues facing our member countries in theareas of financial inclusiveness and infrastructurefinancing,” Lohani added.
On the occasion, Ahmed thanked ADB for itslongstanding support for Islamic finance, andnoted that the MOU formalizes a partnership be-tween IFSB and ADB going back to the provisionof the first Technical Assistance by the ADB for Is-lamic finance in 2005. He underlined that theMOU was designed to serve both institutions andtheir respective mandates.
“In the context of Asia’s developmental needs,and the expanding potential for Islamic finance inthe region, the MOU strengthens our ability tojointly support the policy, institutional and capac-ity requirements for a more resilient Islamic finan-cial sector, Ahmed said.
“I especially look forward to work with ADB inencouraging cross-border cooperation in the use ofIslamic finance to address the challenges of widen-ing financial and social inclusion in Asia, and inmeeting Asia’s enormous need for innovative fi-nancial mechanisms for its infrastructure spend-ing,” he added.
LCCI seeks reductionin mark up rate
LAHORE
APP
Lahore Chamber of Commerce andIndustry Tuesday urged the State Bank ofPakistan to reduce markup rate to singledigit and bring it at par with China, India,Sri Lanka and Bangladesh where it is 6.56,8, 7.75 and 7.74 percent respectively.In a joint statement, LCCI PresidentFarooq Iftikhar, Senior Vice PresidentIrfan Iqbal Sheikh and Vice PresidentMian Abuzar Shad said single digit markup was absolutely essential for Pakistan tocompete with the regional economies inthe world markets. They said inflation wasa matter of controlling demand andsupply and if the supply chain was up tothe mark, the inflation wouldautomatically remain at comfort level.They said the existing double digitmarkup had already caused unduedamage to the economy which would takelong time to recover. They said both localand foreign investments had already nose-dived because of high cost of doingbusiness in Pakistan, while the FDIsituation in other regional economies wasquite visible. They feared that if proactive,well-tailored and well consulted measureswere not taken and the economy remainedsliding downwards, the days were not veryfar when Pakistan would become a tradingcountry instead of a manufacturing hub.
Three pronged Pakistan-Russia understanding
Asian markets boosted by US manufacturing data
Pakistan, Russia signMoUs for steel, energy,
railways projects
ADB, IFSB sign MoU topromote Islamic finance
PRO 03-10-2012_Layout 1 10/3/2012 1:23 AM Page 1
02
Wednesday, 3 October, 2012
Major Gainers
COMPANy OPEN HIgH LOW CLOsE CHANgE TUrNOvErBata (Pak) Limited 1015.00 1035.00 975.02 1035.00 20.00 450Mithchells Fruit 342.63 359.76 345.00 359.00 16.37 10,400Colgate PalmolivXDXB1184.72 1201.00 1150.02 1200.33 15.61 750Nestle Pakistan Ltd. 4410.00 4630.50 4400.00 4425.01 15.01 660Shezan Inter. 300.00 315.00 305.00 315.00 15.00 4,700
Major LosersRafhan Maize Prod. 3968.30 3899.00 3899.00 3899.00 -69.30 20Siemens Pakistan 760.00 722.10 722.05 722.05 -37.95 100Indus Dyeing 439.99 418.00 418.00 418.00 -21.99 400Ismail Industr 133.00 126.35 126.35 126.35 -6.65 500Clover Pakistan 108.68 107.99 103.25 103.25 -5.43 23,500
Volume Leaders
P.T.C.L.A 19.85 20.25 19.51 19.56 -0.29 12,930,500Lafarge Pakistan 6.01 6.05 5.85 5.96 -0.05 8,171,000Fauji Fert Bin 37.51 39.30 37.90 39.17 1.66 7,352,500Maple Leaf Cement 9.20 9.41 8.60 8.95 -0.25 6,909,000Engro Foods Ltd. 70.96 72.81 70.99 72.50 1.54 5,344,000
Interbank RatesUS Dollar 94.9397UK Pound 153.3941Japanese Yen 1.2148Euro 122.5577
Dollar EastBUy sELL
US Dollar 94.50 95.00Euro 121.78 122.69Great Britain Pound 152.15 153.25Japanese Yen 1.2024 1.2110Canadian Dollar 95.42 96.62Hong Kong Dollar 12.03 12.18UAE Dirham 25.68 25.84Saudi Riyal 25.17 25.29Australian Dollar 96.45 98.60
Business
ISLAMABAD
APP
ISLAMABAD Stock Exchange (ISE-10)here on Tuesday witnessed bullishtrend as the index gained 32.26 pointsto close at 3201.34 as compared to theprevious day’s trading.
Talking to APP, Stock Analyst, ZaheerAhmed said that the decline in Consumer PriceIndex (CPI), announced a day earlier, led thebullish rally in the local stock market.
Besides, the reduction by 35 to 40 per centon the rate of Treasury Bills (TBs) and PakistanInvestment Bonds (PIBs) which auctionedsome days back has increased the confidence ofthe investors, he added.
Moreover, Due to these both develop-
ments, the market was expecting the cut on thepolicy rate by 50 to 100 basis points (bps) to beannounced on October, 5, he said, adding thiswould enhance the investment in the stock andother business in the country.
“We are expecting in the boom in the busi-ness because of the availability of cheap loan inthe country”, Another Business Analyst Jeewansaid while talking to APP on Tuesday.
In addition, the earning of exploration com-panies has been increased by 30 per cent andthe earning of cement sector by 100 per centwhen compared them with previous year’s earn-ing, he added.
Total volume of shares traded was 12,000,which was down by 45,600 as comparedto a day earlier’s closing.
Out of 135 companies’ sharestraded, the price of 81 was increased
while the price of 54 decreased.The price of top
gainer Mitchell FruitFarma was increased byRs 16.37 while the price of
top loser Siemens PakistanEngineering decreased by
Rs.37.95.Karachi Electric Supply,
Dawood Hercules Cor. andPTCL remained volume
leaders, with volume of4,000, 3,000 and
2,000 shares re-spectively.
Nokia Lumia 610 debuts in Pakistan
KARACHI: Nokia Lumia 610, the most afford-able Lumia series smartphone to date is nowavailable in Pakistan. Powered by a Windows 7.5OS, Nokia Lumia 610 offers the sleekness of theWindows smartphone coupled with the afford-ability and reliable warranty that is hallmark ofevery Nokia phone. “The Nokia Lumia 610 willintroduce Windows Phone to a new generationof local smartphone users, offering them some-thing different and valuable in terms of pricingand features,” said Arif Shafique, GM Opera-tions, Nokia Pakistan. “With Nokia services,quality apps and a plethora of built-in featurescoupled with a fast and friendly interface, NokiaLumia 610 has everything in the package tomake it an instant hit among the aspiring youth
of Pakistan.” The Nokia Lumia 610 is a greatsmartphone for younger audience who will ap-preciate the built-in Microsoft Office app. Wordmobile, PowerPoint mobile, Excel mobile andOneNote mobile make working on the go easier.With Sky Drive, files and notes can be synchro-nized, opened and edited from the PC or thephone. PrESS rELEASE
NBP kicks off rescue operationin flood affected areas KARACHI: Being nation’s bank, NBP is alwaysthe first corporate entity to come forward and helpthe nation whenever a calamity hits its country-men. To mitigate sufferings of the people affectedby recent massive floods, National Bank of Pak-istan has decided to reach out to flood affecteesand has provided them relief goods (eatables) inbags. The bank has initially distributed aroundplanned to distribute 1000 bags containing eata-bles across the afftected areas as Kamber/Shah-dadkot, Jaccobabad, Kashmore, Shikarpur andLarkana. The Bank’s Regional ManagementTeams with the help of local administration willdistribute the food items. PrESS rELEASE
Eventage to represent Pakistanin Dubai Int’l Jewelry WeekKARACHI: Despite addition of an architecturalmonument Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the impor-tance of Dubai World Trade Centre can in noway be under-rated as the region’s best events
and exhibitions venue. Of all the exhibitionhowever, the Dubai International JewelleryWeek stands out as the most attractive one interms of visitors and shopping. This year’s glit-tering gala is estimated to record over 30,000shoppers of gold and precious metals, dia-monds, coloured stones and branded jewelleryfrom over 300 exhibitors belonging to 30 coun-tries including Pakistan. Having established it-self as the Middle East’s best trade and retailsales platform, Dubai World Trade Centre, theevent’s organizers have, with a view to facilitatePakistani exhibitors, appointed Eventage astheir authorized representatives in Pakistan formaximizing the country’s participation in thisglamorous exhibition which besides countersales, offers enormous business networking op-portunities with international brands of gemsand jewellery. PrESS rELEASE
MUFAP members elect chairman,vice chairman and directorsKARACHI: The Members of the Mutual FundsAssociation of Pakistan (MUFAP) have electednew Directors on the Board of Directorsagainst the vacancies arising from the rota-tional retirement of some of the Directors onthe 20 th September, 2012. The new Board ofDirectors of MUFAP at its first meeting held onthe 1 st October, 2012 has elected the newChairman and Vice Chairman for the year2012/ 2013 (1 st October, 2012 to 30 th Sep-tember, 2013). The new Chairman is Mr. RehanN. Shaikh and the Vice Chairman is Mr. RashidMansur. Chairman Mr. Rehan N. Shaikh is the
Chief Executive Officer of HBL Asset Manage-ment Limited with over 16 years of interna-tional experience in the Mutual Fundsindustry. Prior to joining HBL Asset Manage-ment Limited, Mr. Shaikh worked at StateStreet Corporation in Boston, USA where hemanaged several operational groups includingfund accounting, custody, security pricing andfinancial reporting for multiple institutionalclients. Mr. Shaikh lead several mergers andback office conversions and also helped in es-tablishing an operational department servicingState Street’s largest client, migrating over 250funds and over $111 billion in assets to StateStreet. PrESS rELEASE
UBL Funds launches newOnline PortalKARACHI: UBL Fund Managers, one of Pak-istan’s leading Asset Management Companies,has launched a new state of the art Online Portalfor its clients. The new portal which waslaunched yesterday has a very sophisticated de-sign and introduces functionality that givesclients more freedom to manage their invest-ment account. According to Mr. Mir MuhammadAli, Chief Executive of UBL Fund Managers, thenew ‘UBL Funds Online’ is for investment savvyclients who want more control. He said “Withthe influx of new technology in thisdigital age,our clients will find the online experience to bethe best the industry has to offer. We bench-marked its services with those offered interna-tionally and wanted our clients to experience thesame”. PrESS rELEASE
CORPORATE CORNER
Bulls on parade in the capital
TOKYO
AFP
The dollar and the euro stayed within atight range Tuesday, as investors waitedfor further developments in efforts to re-store eurozone finances ahead of meet-ings of major central banks.
The dollar stood at 78.04 yen, nearlyflat from 77.98 yen in New York Mondayafternoon. The euro was at $1.2892 and100.61 yen, little changed from $1.2887and 100.51 yen in New York.
The markets were waiting for head-lines from Greece and Spain, as well asthe results of a Moody’s review that couldsee Spain downgraded to junk status,Kengo Suzuki, forex strategist at MizuhoSecurities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
After Spain unveiled an austerity
budget for 2013, some EUofficials expressedtheir resolve to helpthe country if itseeks a bailout, aseurozone financeministers gatherfor a meeting on Oc-tober 8.
Rising hopes for aSpanish bailout are alsoexpected to be discussed ata European Union summiton October 18-19. Themarket will also be watch-ing a policy decision laterTuesday by the ReserveBank of Australia (RBA).
Some analysts saythe market has factored
in a rate cut, while others ex-pected the bank to keep
the rate steady.“While it is a close
call, we believe thatthere will be no change,
on balance,” saidEmma Lawson, cur-rency strategist at Na-tional Australia Bank.
“However... nochange is likely to lead to a
bounce in the Australian dol-lar, something that is morelikely to drive the RBA tofurther easing.”
Suzuki, expecting theRBA to keep its current rate,
said there will also be afocus on Australian central
bankers making “any comments regardinga slowdown in the Chinese economy”. Themarket will also be awaiting other upcomingcentral bank policy meetings.
The Bank of Japan is expected totake no fresh action at its meetingscheduled for Thursday and Friday.
But the risk has increased forrhetorical interventions to tame thestrong yen under the new government ofPrime Minister Yoshihiko Noda that waslaunched Monday, Lawson said. “Therisks remain for more aggressive easingor direct forms of FX intervention.”
New Finance Minister Koriki Jojima“appears less keen on direct foreignbond purchases than... new economyminister (Seiji) Maehara,” she said,adding that the market needs more timeto digest their policy inclinations.
Crude up in
Asia on upbeat US
manufacturing data SINGAPORE
AFP
Crude was higher in Asia Tuesday after datashowed the US manufacturing sectorbounced back in September following threemonths of contraction, analysts said. NewYork’s main contract, light sweet crude fordelivery in November, added three cents to$92.51 a barrel and Brent North Sea crudefor November delivery gained 16 cents to$112.35. “Oil advanced... as USmanufacturing unexpectedly expanded,”Phillip Futures said in a report. Datareleased by the Institute for SupplyManagement late Monday showed USfactory activity for September rising to 51.5,the first time since May that the index hasrisen above 50. Any reading above 50indicates an expansion in the sector, whileone below that figure indicates acontraction. The index had remainedstubbornly below 50 for the past threemonths, contributing to the weak sentimentin energy markets as the US is the world’slargest oil consumer and its manufacturingsector is a key driver of demand.
Unilever Pakistan,NRSP ink MoU tofacilitate entrepreneurs
ISLAMABAD
ONLINE
Unilever Pakistan Limited (UPL) has signeda Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)with National Rural Support Programme(NRSP) for providing entrepreneurialsupport using micro-financing model tounder-privileged individuals. The MOU wassigned by Ehsan Malik, Chairman and CEOUPL and Dr. Rashid Bajwa, CEO, NRSP.Through this partnership, UPL and NRSPaim to establish a sustainable businessmodel that will utilize mutual expertise toprovide economic opportunities throughself employment. The scope of the projectincludes a grant for enterprising butunderprivileged individuals identified byNRSP to set up their shops. Working capitalrequired maintaining minimum level ofstock at the proposed shops will be throughmicro finance loans. The selected candidateswould also benefit from entrepreneurialtraining covering fund management, basicsale techniques and record keeping. In thepilot phase, 50 entrepreneurs will benefitfrom this initiative.
Dollar, euro rangebound ahead of eurozone events
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