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Uncle Sam could sparesome cash for our coalsector Page 03

COMPLACENCY KILLED THE DUCKSunday, 06 May, 2012

THis matter about thecoalition support fund andresumption of nato supplies

is settled easily enough. But sadlyclarity of purpose has been a rarityon both sides. For the Pakistanis –wasn’t our geo-strategic andpolitical position the only reasonthe “with u or without us” dilemmawas shoved down our throats? Andstrange that we should have toremind one of this, but a crucialoutside supply line intoAfghanistan, indicative of faultyplanning bordering on fatal, is ‘geo’and ‘strategic’ and ‘political’ and allthat. And since whatever serviceswe provide must beckonappropriate reciprocity, there’s justthe matter of calculating theopportunity cost for Pakistan, andgates opened if at all it is fulfilled.no good losing sight of purposeeven if radical division clogs thelegislature.For the Americans – Afghanistan iscoming to a close, and whicheverposition they are in by ’14, it will bebad considering the time, effort,men, material and finances put intothe long war. Perhaps the only thingthat can confound the adventurestill is supply bottlenecks just asthey begin unwinding. the alternateroute, through russia and CentralAsia, is a hell-of-a lot moreexpensive (the Pakistan route isalready at a marked premium abovemarket value), and cannot be reliedon. if it takes a soft apology, so be it.it’ll still be a hell-of-a-lot betterthan having supplies cut and astone faced withdrawal turned intoa frantic retreat, with its obviouspolitical spillover.it’s more an American decision thana Pakistani one really. ButWashington will not have the luxuryof time, no dilly-dallying till theelections. there’s another springoffensive underway, the patternagain showing upgraded fightingpower after the usual winter quiet,when the severe Himalayan winterforces all fighting to cease inAfghanistan since time immemorial.it’s always the bunch that posturesbetter when the previous summer’sendgame is analysed. unfortunately,the militants have regrouped bettereach time, and the us and Pakistanhave fallen apart more and morewith time. there lies the fine linebetween success and failure inAfghanistan.

COMMENT

Coalition supportand funds

We’re dead ducks… oh yes we areLAHORE

IMRAN ADNAN

By sovereign default on Rs34

billion non-payments to

Independent Power Producers

(IPPs), the federal government

has not only jeopardised over Rs200 billion

investments made in power sector, but also

put the country’s financial ratings on stake

that could cause irreparable loss to

Pakistan. Speaking to Pakistan Today,

financial analysts indicated that if the

sovereign default issue is rose on any

international forums outside the country,

Pakistan would have to face very very

serious repercussions. The country’s fiscal

ratings will nosedive. Global financial

sector will stop honouring financial

instruments of Pakistani banks, which

would badly affect the country’s

international trade. They further pointed

out that foreign loans, including from World

Bank and IMF, for the country would

become a dream. Under the law, the

government was bound to honour its

sovereign guarantee as it was the only

guarantee that attracted investment in the

country, they underlined. On the other

hand, sources in the IPPs’ Advisory Council

warned that if the government did not

honoured its commitment, foreign investors

could even go to the extent of attaching

Pakistan government’s properties in foreign

countries to recover their losses. “We are in

a catch-22 situation because of the impasse

created by the government that is not

prepared to act rationally,” said an official

of the Advisory Council. IPPs Advisory

Council officials also hinted that

managements of these IPPs did not want to

go to point of no return, but wanted to

persuade the government to honour its

commitment. Because they recognised that

once the case was put in the global

financial market their investment would go

in drain, they highlighted. The government

had defaulted on payment of Rs34 billion to

eight IPPs on Friday, which had severely

shaken to confidence of foreign

stakeholders in the energy sector amid

acute power shortage. On Thursday, eight

power produces served a fresh notice of

payment of Rs12 billion to the government.

This was the fourth notice in row by these

eight IPPs that are generating around 1700

MW of electricity. ‘From now on, we will be

defaulting on our projects’ loans amounting

to $1.6 billion, in which various banks are

involved. One can imagine, how massive

our loss will be,’ said a member of IPPs

Advisory Council. He revealed that these

eight power produces owed Rs40 billion

bank loans. In addition, their projects costs

of $1.6 billion (with 80 per cent bank loan),

so in actual it amounts to the total

investment of around Rs200 billion, he

maintained. Ironically, he said, the

government instead of clearing its

outstanding dues kept asking IPPs to

withdraw their notices. Despite a number

of meetings between the representatives of

IPPs and Ministry of Water and Power

along with Finance Division before

submitting the final notice, the government

was still nonchalant towards the financial

woes of the IPPs, which were producing

around 1,700MW.

Pak-China joint energygroup to meet on MondayISLAMABAD: The Pak-China joint energy group will begin

its two-day meeting here on Monday to devise strategy

for cooperation in the energy sector and meet Pakistan’s

critical energy needs. Federal Minister for Water and

Power Syed Naveed Qamar will lead Pakistani side, while

Wu Guihui will lead the Chinese delegation in meeting.

The high level Chinese

delegation will reach Islamabad

on Sunday (today). This will be

the second meeting of Pak-

China joint energy working

group. The first one was held in

Beijing in July last year.

Sources told INP that different

proposals would be debated at

the meeting for energy

projects. Pakistan has sought

Chinese technical and financial

assistance to generate electricity through coal, hydel,

thermal, nuclear plants and alternative sources of

energy. The projects proposed by Pakistan include

2,000MW from coal, 7,000 from hydel and construction

and maintenance of transmission lines. The sources said

that talks are also expected to cover exploration of oil

and gas resources. Talking about the meeting, Syed

Naveed Qamar said the government was making all out

efforts to overcome the energy crisis. He said energy

projects are being fast tracked through Chinese support.

He hoped that the projects being negotiated and

implemented with Chinese cooperation would meet the

current and future energy needs of the country. INP

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

AustrAliAn High Commis-sioner tim George has saidthat Australian is planningmajor investment into the cit-

rus sector in the Pakistan, including con-struction of a juice extraction plant.

Addressing a news conference, theAustralian envoy said that a delegation

led by the senior trade commissionerin south Asia called the Punjab chiefminister to brief him on the project,which is collaboration between Pak-istani citrus growers, Australian citrusand juicing company expertise andMiddle East investment.

senior trade Commissioner for Aus-tralia in south Asia Peter linford andHonourary Counsel of Australia for theprovince of Punjab salim Ghauri were

also present on the occasion. He said Australia was already active

on the front of education and trainingfor Pakistani youngsters with increasingfocus and delivery of in-market trainingto develop work ready graduates. Hesaid these graduates are playing impor-tant role in sectors including agribusi-ness, tourism and hospitality, health andmedical, infrastructure and importantlymining and energy sectors.

According to him, Australia is alsokeen to bring its expertise into the devel-opment of Pakistan’s abundant naturalresources. He said he Australians com-panies have also shown interest to ex-plore and potentially develop shale gasresources. in Agribusiness, he said, Aus-tralia is much focused on dairy develop-ment and presenting best-in-classsupply to Pakistan milk producers andvalue add companies in Pakistan.

speaking on the occasion, the sen-

iortradeCommis-sioner forAustralia in southAsia Peter linford said thecitrus growing region of Pakistanproduces a fruit crop of 2 milliontones, four times that of Australia.However, he said the sector sufferslosses up to 40 percent inwastage through handling, stor-age and cool change manage-ment, as well as lack ofvalue-added manufacturing optionsand alternatives.

He said Australia is in an ideal posi-tion to support the Pakistan citrus in-dustry through its citrus expertise,particularly offering improve crop pro-

c e s s -ing facil-

ities thatwill deliver in-

creased fresh juice supplyto Pakistan, and additionally cre-

ate and develop export markets, espe-cially to the nearby Gulf region.

the Australian Honourary Counselfor the province of Punjab salim Ghauri

said a good number of Pakistani-Aus-tralians, including himself, have re-turned in recent and invested heavily

to create thousands of jobs for Pakistanigraduates. He said Australia has beenfriendly towards Pakistan and is keenlyinterested in developing trade relationsahead. He also appreciated the ChiefMinister Punjab for its support to theAustralian plans in the province.

Need juice, mate?FRUITFUL INTENTIONS DOWN UNDER

g Owing to sovereign default on non-payments to IPPs, financial analysts believe we’d soon be asked to duck off by the World Bank, after aquack too many g Oh and federal govt’s move puts the country’s financial ratings on stake, not to mention jeopardising over Rs200binvestments g And instead of clearing its outstanding dues, govt keeps asking IPPs to withdraw their notices, for reasons best known to them

g Australia to invest in Pakistani citrus: Tim George

Pakistan seeksChinese technical,financial assistance for9000MW of coal andhydel energy projects

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news02Sunday, 06 May, 2012

PAK-AFGHAN TRADE

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

tHE Pakistan Association ofAutomotive Parts &Accessories Manufacturers(PAAPAM), taking strong

exception to the new tariff structureunder the proposed Auto Policy (AiDP-ii) of Engineering Development Board,has said that this is a well-conceivedstrategic move to invite india to takeover Pakistan’s comparatively tiny automanufacturing sector. Addressing thehurriedly called meeting of PAAPAMmanaging committee, Chairman syednabeel Hashmi, who is also thechairman of Business Forum ofPunjab, said that AiDP-ii is beingdrafted actually by the PlanningCommission on dictation of the iMFwithout taking the industry’sstakeholders on board and withoutconsidering the harsh realities faced by

the local industry. He stated that theproposed measures are bound to playhavoc with plan of localization as wellas the vending industry. the draft is adream, aimed at abolishing support tolocal industry, he said, adding that theproposed cut in tariff structure actuallyindicated that the PlanningCommission had a distorted view ofindustry, as it is not providing a road-map of progress for domestic players.He said that under the new policy theEDB is proposing to import vehiclesrather than supporting the locallymanufactured units. Andconsequently, the biggest gainers willbe the importers of Pajero, landCruisers, BMWs and Mercedesvehicles, he added. He said thatprogressive growth in the motorcyclesector has so far been maintained by apolicy which allows incentives forlocalization, but at the same timepermits introduction of new

technologies byallowing import

of componentsagainst a different tariff.

However, the proposed policy shift,to favour a single entrant which willimport 100% parts at 5% duty, meansthat the new entrant will need to investnext to nothing to gain access to thismarket. Motorcycle manufacturing inthe future will simply be an assemblyoperation, he noted. He said that autoindustry in Pakistan has welcomednew investment in all sectors, buturged that new investments should notendanger the existing industry and alevel playing field. PAAPAM ViceChairman Munir K. Bana told themanaging committee that PAAPAMfavours step-wise trade opening withindiaafter structural reforms, policychanges and capacity building ofgovernment departments, besidesmanaging Pakistan’s trade policies andimport regimes.” He suggested thetDAP to initiate a detailed study on theimpact of opening doors to india with afocus on auto sector. He requested theindustries Department that tDAPshould be given a target of supportingover 200 auto parts manufacturersannually with a target of $ 250 millionexport by 2014. Mr Bana informed thecommittee that PAAPAM hasconveyed its disagreement to theminister over new tariff structure ofAuto Policy. He said that PAAPAMrepresentatives also sought theindustries Minister’s help to imposerestrictions on import of five year oldcars which have massively hurt thelocal industry.He appreciated theFederal industries Minister, who hasassured them that government wouldprotect interests of the local industrybefore finalising any decision.He saidthat after hearing the viewpoint of theauto industry, the minister hasconstituted a core group with thedirection that the group should meetagain and finalise the draft auto policywith consensus which will be sent tothe Cabinet for approval.

KABUL

ONLINE

PrEsiDEnt Hamid Karzai met withsome investors of Pakistan duringwhich among others the head of

Hajweri Group of Pakistan was also present,according to Bakhtar news Agency. thisgroup is engaged in construction spheres inAfghanistan. this group is already engagedin construction of scienceFaculty in nangarhar, akidney medical center andin Kabul the Allamaiqbal arts facultybuildings. At themeeting discussionstook place aboutexpansion ofeconomic andtrade relationsand theyexpressedsatisfactionthat trade

exchanges between the two nations has beenupgraded up to 2.2 billion dollars. theyreiterated that this figure needs to becomesustainable. touching on the existence ofinsurgency in this region President Karzai

said that there is need that joint andhonest struggle should belaunched against terrorism and

this ugly phenomenon shouldbe fully eliminated and theregion is cleared ofinsurgency. He added that

there is need that tiesbetween Afghanistan and

Pakistan is expanded andthat the civil society, media

and traders of the twocountries should join

hands and tries toeliminate the

threats ofinsurgencyin theregion.

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

PunjAB Food secretary irfan Ali hasdirected all the District Coordinationofficers (DCos) and Director Food

Punjab to immediately resolve the issues ofthose growers who some how could not beenlisted in gardawari list due to any reason.He expressed these views while inspectingvarious wheat procurement centers. Heinspected centers in lahore, Kasur,nankana, sheikhupura, rahim yar Khan,Bahawalnagar, lodhara and others andappreciated the arrangements made by theadministration. He urged the officers to workwith full devotion and honesty and ensure toextend every possible facility to the farmers.

He hoped that the department would meetthe wheat procurement target by May 30,2012. Meanwhile according to a spokesmanof the Punjab Food, the department hasdistributed 4383740 gunny bags to growersduring the last four days while 31.7 millionjute bags were in stock. He said gunny bagswere available in abundance at everyprocurement center in every district. Hefurther said that the gunny bags were beingdistributed on first come first serve basiscontinuously. small growers were beinggiven up to 50 bags on priority basis. thespokesman also said that the departmenthad bought 45000 bags of wheat during thelast four days and procurement drive wouldcontinue without any break till May 30 tomeet the target.

President Karzai meetsPakistan investors in Kabul

KUNWAR KHULDUNE SHAHID

History, they say, is auseful gauge to understandboth the present and indeedthe future, meticulously.

While this argument has a not-so-strong flipside as well, the whole‘understand the present from thehistory’ argument fits like a tailor-madeglove on the European realm. theEuropean union traces the origin of itsformulation, on the basic concept ofcontinental unity – along the lines ofusA – and on ensuring that none of itscountries feels left out or hard done by.the 36-month European debt crisis is aliving mockery on theseaforementioned ideals and of course onthe existence of the Eu. And while theEu “think tank” continues to mull oversolutions, which have been imposed onthe 17 countries in the eurozone, thetwo elections over this weekend wouldserve as the crystal ball which woulddivulge the voters’ stance on the debt-crisis resolution.on the French front, François Hollandeis set to win the elections with his

antagonism with regards to AngelaMerkel’s austerity policies being a wellknown fact. Hollande’s election wouldthrow the proverbial spanner into theworks in the whole debt debate, andcould mean that the strong German-French bond of the “Merkozy” era takesa nosedive. the Merkozy solution to thecrisis touted more cost-cutting as themeans of lowering debt and in turnreassuring markets. Hollande on theother hand is peddling “government-sponsored stimulus” as his go-to play tocater to the growth needs.on the Greek Front – wherein the crisistraces its nadir from – Panhellenicsocialist Movement and newDemocracy are feeling the heat of massdissent. the “lesser” parties havefanned the embers of the populardiscontent on the previous Greekgovernment’s constant lies about theexcessive government debt – which inturn laid the foundation of the wholeeurocrisis. And now as new partiesstart to gather momentum in Greece,their success in these elections couldmean a change of direction in the Greekpolicy, which in turn would have itsramifications for Europe as a whole.

these elections – especially the ones inFrance – also have repercussions forinternational diplomacy with Francebeing a nuclear-armed country andhaving a permanent seat on the unsecurity Council. sarkozy was alwaysan American chum and he followed theus lead on iran, Afghanistan, syria andof course in the whole libyan episode.Hollande, au contraire, wants Frenchtroops in Afghanistan back in thecountry, and is ostensibly less keen onmilitary action and meddling in thematters of other nations.there is also a massive disparity in thetax policy between Hollande andsarkozy. Hollande wants the rich to pay75 percent in income taxes, and is eyingupping the ante of profit-distributioncompanies as well. this whenjuxtaposed with sarkozy’s “let’s reducethe overall tax burden” stratagemsounds like the more fitting line ofaction. And then there is theimmigration debate as well, withHollande not sounding particularlyperturbed by the current legalimmigration level – which again, tiltsmatters in his favour.Hollande’s victory coupled with the

change in status quo in Greece wouldhave aftereffects on the wholeeurozone, as the continent braces

itself for what indubitably bedefining electoral results, in everysense of the term.

Punjab Food Secretary wants growers’ issues resolved… and soon

European elections have multi-pronged ramificationsg French, Greek elections have more than mere electoral victory at stake

AUTO POLIC Y

INSPECTING WHEAT PROCUREMENT CENTRES

g Weekly inflation falls 0.14 percent

Dear EDB,You’re clearly out ofyour mindYours mockingly,PAAPAMg New auto draft invites India to take over our industry:PAAPAM g Says AIDP-II a trading, assembling policy

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news

Sunday, 06 May, 2012

03

ISLAMABAD

NNI

AMEriCAn investors will beencouraged to invest inPakistan’s coal sector,which offers lucrative

investment opportunities toforeigners, during the Federation ofPakistan Chambers of Commerce &industry (FPCCi) delegation’simpending visit to usA. this was relayed to Mr. Waseemrahim, President of the PakistanChamber of Commerce-usA, whopaid a visit to the FPCCi Head officein Karachi on saturday and metleading members of the businesscommunity. shaikh Haroon rashid, VicePresident-FPCCi welcomed Mr.rahim, and thanked him for visitingFPCCi to explore opportunities forcooperation between FPCCi and PCC-usA. Also present on the occasionwere Mr. Waheed shah, Mr. Kamaland Mir nasir Hussain, DirectorGeneral (international Affairs)-FPCCi. Mr. Haroon rashid informedMr. rahim that FPCCi was in theprocess of organizing a visit of a highpowered delegation to WashingtonDC, new york, Chicago and Houstonlater this year. He said that this visitwould provide Pakistani businesseswith an opportunity to meet theircounterparts in usA, and promotePakistani products in the Americanmarket more actively. He said thatPakistan would like to have productplacement deals with us retail giantsfor key sectors such as textile,footwear and leather, for which PCC-usA may be able to provideassistance. He also said that FPCCiwas exploring the viability of

organizing a B2C event in Houstontowards the end of the year, and saidthat FPCCi would keep PCC-usAposted in this regard. Mr. rahim said that PCC-usAwas organizing a trade Forumthis year, which may be held tocoincide with the FPCCidelegation’s visit to usA. He pointedout that coal was used to generate45% of energy in usA, whilePakistan was still lagging farbehind in this regard, despitehaving large coal reserves. Hementioned that owing to theprohibitive cost of alternativeenergy, fossil fuel based energywould remain dominant for atleast the next few decades,and Pakistan mustcapitalize its coalreserves moreeffectively. “this would alsoease the burdencurrently borne bythe gas sector,which wouldeventuallyfacilitate otherkey sectors, suchas fertilizers”, hesaid. He stressedthat participationin the tradeForum this yearwould allowPakistanibusinessmen tohighlight opportunities forinvestment in energy(particularly coal),infrastructure and otherkey areas of Pakistan’seconomy to the Americanbusiness community.

BOB’S YOUR UNCLE!

Uncle Sam couldspare some cashfor our coal sectorg American investors to be invited to invest in Pakistan’s coal sector: FPCCI

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Afive-Member high poweredindonesian ParliamentaryDelegation, led by the ChairmanBilateral Cooperation Group

Mohammad Hatta, saturday visited lahoreChamber of Commerce and discussedbilateral trade and investment. the lCCi President irfan Qaiser sheikhgave a detailed briefing to the indonesianParliamentarians on available trade andinvestment opportunities in Pakistan. VicePresident saeeda nazar, ExecutiveCommittee Members Husnain reza Mirzaand sheikh Mohammad Ayub also spokeon the occasion. Both the sides also exchanged views onbilateral cooperation in different sectors ofeconomy. the leader of the indonesiandelegation Mohammad Hatta said thatindonesia also values high its relationswith Pakistan and desires to furtherstrengthen the existing relations. While underlining the need for frequent

exchanges of business delegations betweenthe two brotherly countries, he said that itwill ensure opportunities of betterunderstanding and to learn from theexperiences of each other. He said that the Chambers of Commerce inthe two countries should play a proactiverole to jack up the volume of two-way tradeto $ 5 billion in coming years. He said that a number of parliamentaryCommittees had already been constitutedin indonesia to finalise a strategy to giveboost to trade and economic relations withbrotherly countries. speaking on the occasion, the lCCiPresident invited indonesian businessmento visit Pakistan to have first handknowledge about the available businessopportunities as the lCCi wants to furtherstrengthen the existing relations throughenhanced interactions and economiccooperation. irfan Qaiser sheikh said that despite beingthe members of the organization of islamicCountries (oiC) and having old historicallinks and cordial relations these distinctive

attributes hardly get reflected in our tradeand investment relations. the lCCi President said that two way tradefigures show that in 2008, we were tradingwith each other to the tune of us$ 1.26billion which had dropped to us$ 750million in 2010. that drastic drop in twoway volume was due to substantialdecrease in imports from indonesia whichstood at us$ 1.19 billion in 2008 but fell tothe level of us$ 750 million in 2010. Wewill certainly like to increase the volume ofour exports to indonesia which are far toolow in proportion to the size of oureconomies. in last four years, our exportshave averaged around $ 67.5 million. Although indonesia has offered marketaccess to 220 Pakistani items and inresponse to that Pakistan has agreed toreduce duty on 288 indonesian productsbut this list needs to be expanded incoming future for greater tradeopportunities for the businessmen of boththe countries. “Certainly, we together canexpedite these things in the best interest ofboth the economies.”

MPs ask for more trade, LCCInods in agreement

TRADE WITH INDONESIA ICCI to hold industrialexpo in federal capitalISLAMABAD: islamabadChamber of Commerce andindustry (iCCi) has signed anagreement with an eventmanagement company toorganize an industrial Expo inseptember this year in theFederal Capital titled ‘Expo 2012’to showcase the country’sindustrial products and promoteexports. A Memorandum ofunderstanding (Mou) signingceremony was held at Chamberhouse, in which it was decidedthat the appointed eventmanagement company willmanage all the activities ofindustrial expo. the initiative isaimed at promoting a soft imageof the country and give boost totrade and exports. Foreigndelegations from many countrieswould also be invited to Expo2012. Moreover, in order to introducePakistani products ininternational market, the ExpoCommittee of iCCi would

organize exhibition of Pakistaniproducts in foreign countries. yassar sakhi Butt, President iCCisaid that Expo 2012 would be alandmark initiative inaccelerating economic activitiesas it would provide an idealplatform where the industrialistsof Pakistan would put up stallsand showcase the potential oftheir products to local andinternational visitors. Mr Munawar Mughal, ChairmaniCCi Exhibition Committee, whohas vast experience of organizingexhibitions, said that Expo 2012and shopping Festivals wouldprovide industrialists and tradersgood opportunities of promotingbusiness activities and increasingtrade & exports. iCCi is also planning to organizeshopping festivals in commercialcenters of islamabad on thepattern of Dubai shoppingFestival to accelerate businessactivities and provide customersan opportunity to buy qualityproducts at affordable prices. NNI

ISLAMABAD

APP

sinDH Board of investment(sBi) and royal Emirates Groupof companies signed aMemorandum of understanding

(Mou) to expand and deepen economicand industrial cooperation and createfavorable conditions for investment bybusinessmen of united Arab Emirates insindh Province. the Mou was signed by secretary sBinaheed shah Durrani and sulaimanBoti, Project Manager of the royalEmirates Group of Companies in Dubai,says a message received here. sheikhButti Bin suhail Al Maktoum of uAEchaired the Mou signing ceremony. Zubair Motiwala, Chairman sindhBoard of investment while talking to themedia after the signing ceremony saidthat in order to mutually promote tradeand investment cooperation betweensindh province of Pakistan and unitedArab Emirates, sindh Board ofinvestment and the royal EmiratesGroup according to the principles ofequality and mutual benefit, haveagreed to promote the development ofbilateral economic relations. the Mouwill provide a platform for businessmento meet, discuss and explore businessopportunities in trade, investments,transfer of technology, services andother industrial sectors. He said thatthey have agreed to regularly exchange

information/publications andmaterials concerning economic

development, foreign trade andinvestment policies of their

respective countries and will assist eachother in organizing businessdelegations, and facilitating theirbusiness interest. sulaiman Boti said that they are verypleased to enter into this mutualunderstanding with the sindh Board ofinvestment which, he said will providethem opportunities to tap the immenseresources of the sindh Province ofPakistan. He pointed out that sBi willalso assist royal Emirates Group indevelopment of Pak Arab skillDevelopment Centre in sindh to trainPakistanis and find them suitable jobsin the united Arab Emirate. sBi willalso assist royal Emirates Group indeveloping 10 MW solar Power Plant insindh to help reducing the powershortage in sindh Province and indeveloping Bilge Water treatment Plantat Port Qasim Karachi to meet theenvironmental requirements of the port,he added. royal Emirates Group willalso develop an Agriculture researchCentre in sindh, sulaiman pointed out.royal Emirates Group of Companies isan emerging leading group with diversebusiness interests in the local andinternational markets. Formed andchaired by His royal Highness sheikhButti Bin suhail Al Maktoum, the royalEmirates Group has practically mirroredthe development of modern Dubai,standing tall as one of the country’smost dynamic business groups today.Ably guided by the visionary leadershipof His Highness sheikh Mohammad Binrashid Al Maktoum, the group hasemerged as a valuable contributor to thedevelopment of united Arab Emirates.

MOU signed between Sindh Board ofInvestment and Royal Emirates Group

KARACHI

NNI

to smash the smuggling trend andsmugglers out of business the onlysolution is to curb smuggling by cut

in custom duties on commercial import ofmotorcycle spare parts. All PakistanMotorcycle spare Parts importers andDealers Association (APMsPiDA)suggested this in its budget proposal for

the year 2012-13. the association furtherpointed out towards serious andalarmingly growing problem of smugglingof motorcycle spare parts on massivescale from China through sust Border andAfghan transit trade, this is because ofthe high rate of duty. the association further proposed thatadditional duty should be removed andmaximum Custom Duty on motorcycleparts should be 15 percent to 20 percent.

APMSPIDA’s one and a half centson curbing motorcycle smuggling

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