July 30, 2009 (by Asif Shamim) - The New York Times has published an article about Pakistan's Air Forces improved ability to target and attack militant targets with precision weapons based on information from military officials and independent analysts.
What is surprising is the second paragraph in the article where it implies the military hierarchy in Pakistan were using Google Earth for maps to guide them and have now shifted to sophisticated imagery supplied via spy planes and drones to aid them with precision drops of laser guided bombs.
The change in approach is aimed at avoiding further alienation from the general public who are worried about collateral damage in those areas.
One further reason for the more accurate attacks is the locations in which the Taliban are now found. The rugged region surrounding South Waziristan makes it hard for ground forces to penetrate without sustaining heavy losses. Air strikes with guided weaponry is an asset alongside artillery barrages and helicopter gunship attacks which will help soften the blow in terrain which is often inaccessible by ground vehicles such as tanks.
According to military sources who spoke to the New York Times said Pakistani Air Force F-16s have flown several hundred combat sorties since May. 300 plus against militants held out in the Swat Valley and 100 or so missions in South Waziristan attacking mountain hide-outs, training centres and ammunition dumps.
The article also hints that Pakistani officials have approached the Obama administration with a request to lease Pakistan upgraded F-16s, until its delivery of new Block 52 jets in the next couple of years. The use of these jets they argue would allow Pakistani pilots to fly night missions and loiter over the target area for longer periods which is currently impossible with their aged Block 15 aircraft. Militants in the affected area have been quick to switch to moving and operating by night to avoid the current air attacks...
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan's air war on the Taliban: F16.net
Friday, July 31, 2009
Pakistan's air war on the Taliban: F16.net
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Pakistan Forecasts 6% Rise in Exports as Power Supply Improves: Bloomberg
By Farhan Sharif and Khaleeq Ahmed
July 27 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan’s exports are expected to increase six percent this year as the government improves power supply and boosts support for the production of textiles, engineering goods and leather, Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim said.
Overseas shipments in the year that started July 1 are forecast to climb to $18.9 billion from $17.8 billion in the previous 12 months, Fahim said in a televised speech from Islamabad today. He said exports are forecast to increase 10 percent and 13 percent in the following two years.
Pakistan exporters are struggling to find buyers for the nation’s textiles and rice amid what the World Trade Organization says will be the worst contraction in global trade since World War II. HSBC Holdings Plc expects Pakistan’s $146 billion economy to expand as little as 0.8 percent in the year to June 2010, the weakest pace since 1952.
Shipments abroad from Pakistan have been hit by “structural impediments coupled with anemic global demand,” said Rohini Malkani, an economist at Citigroup Inc. in Mumbai. “We seek comfort in the government’s statements to enhance competitiveness.”
Pakistan’s exports may also improve amid signs of a recovery in the global economy. Fahim didn’t set a target for imports or the trade gap.
The International Monetary Fund early this month said the worldwide economic rebound in 2010 will be stronger than it forecast in April as the financial system stabilizes and the pace of contractions from the U.S. to Japan moderates.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan Forecasts 6% Rise in Exports as Power Supply Improves: Bloomberg
Only 5.2% of Pakistan forested: Daily Times
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is poorly endowed with forests, with forested area at a mere 5.2 percent of the total, with an annual deforestation rate of 2.1. The country’s forest resources are not only important for environmental services but also immensely important for locals and their livelihood.
Dr Babar Shahbaz, visiting research fellow at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and a professor at the University of Agriculture, Riaz Ahmed of the Sungi Development Foundation and SDPI Project Coordinator Maqsood Jan expressed these views at ‘Dilemmas in Participatory Forest Management in NWFP – Research Insight’, a seminar organised by the SDPI on Monday. Addressing the gathering, SDPI’s Talimand Khan said forest management had been a dilemma since partition, with the forest department was still clinging to its colonial command-and-control structure, shifting responsibility to local communities without exercising its authority.
Maqsood Jan gave a brief introduction of the NCCR Pakistan Research Group, which is a partner of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research North-South (NCCR N-S), financially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) and Swiss universities.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Only 5.2% of Pakistan forested: Daily Times
Pakistan Philanthropist Cares For Karachi's Forgotten: NPR
Abdul Sattar Edhi has personally washed tens of thousands of corpses that he has rescued from gutters, beneath bridges and from the sea. The 82-year-old Pakistani has devoted his life to the destitute of Karachi, burying the city's forgotten and giving fresh life to its abandoned newborns. His pioneering social work has drawn comparisons to Mother Teresa's.
His mission is synonymous with this sprawling port city, where rickshaws bearing veiled women, scooters spewing smoke and drivers pressing palms to horns all squeeze in the narrow streets through spaces as thin as a ray of hope.
Amid the chaos, in an aging building, is the room Edhi bought nearly 60 years ago to use as a dispensary. He arrived with the mass migration of Muslims from India six days after Pakistan's independence. Edhi was barely 20 when he began the work that would make him arguably the most respected figure in Pakistan.
"I saw people lying on the pavement," he recalls. "The flu had spread in Karachi, and there was no one to treat them. So I set up benches and got medical students to volunteer. I was penniless and begged for donations on the street. And people gave. I bought this 8-by-8 room to start my work."
The single room has grown to a three-story headquarters. Donations, mostly from ordinary Pakistanis, have already topped $36 million this year. The vast philanthropic network offers Karachi's poorest what could be called cradle-to-grave service.
Women's Suffering Starts At Birth
The Edhi Foundation runs two maternity wards in Karachi. Since 1948, 1 million children have been delivered in Edhi facilities — virtually for free, according to Edhi.
His wife, Bilquis, runs one of the maternity wards in Karachi. She has a sunny disposition that contrasts with the suffering there. Just 40 minutes after delivery, one mother, grimacing in pain, gets up to leave.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan Philanthropist Cares For Karachi's Forgotten: NPR
Monday, July 27, 2009
Pakistan captain Younis drops to sixth position in ICC Test rankings : Sangakkara returns to the top: Daily Times
LAHORE: Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has returned to the top of the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen following his match-saving performance in the third Test against Pakistan in Colombo. “The 31-year-old compiled 130 not out in the second innings to go with his 45 the first time around and that was enough to lift him two places, above India’s Gautam Gambhir, who had been enjoying number-one position, and Pakistan skipper Younis Khan, who drops four places from second to sixth place in the latest rankings,” said a spokesman for the ICC.
This is not the first time Sangakkara has been the number-one-ranked Test batsman having risen to that level at the end of 2007 and again during 2008. Such has been his consistency with the bat, the left-hander has not been out of the top five since the end of 2006. There has been quite a bit of movement in the top 10 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies and Australia’s Michael Clarke both benefiting from Younis’s slip down the order.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan captain Younis drops to sixth position in ICC Test rankings : Sangakkara returns to the top: Daily Times
Trade Policy targets $25bn textile exports by 2011-12: Daily Times
KARACHI: The textile policy, formulated for three years envisions the export of the textile products to reach $25 billion in next three years, Rana Farooq Saeed Khan, Minister for Textile Industry has said.
Speaking at dinner meeting hosted in his honour by Tariq Saud Vice Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) on Friday night he said that the government is determined to address the problems of textile industry.
Minister said that the Textile Policy has been finalised and would be issued soon. He further informed that the policy has been formulated for next three years in such a manner so that the export of textile sector may achieve a target of $25 billion in next three years.
The policy will address the issues of up-gradation of machinery, provide infrastructure facilities and skill development of human resource of this industry so that they can compete in international market with their competitors.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Trade Policy targets $25bn textile exports by 2011-12: Daily Times
Pakistan gets vital TB grant worth $26m: The News
By Shahina Maqbool
Islamabad
Pakistan has yet again won a vital grant worth $26 million for the control of Tuberculosis, with a special acknowledgement for the country’s health management on having achieved 100 per cent TB DOTS coverage and effective implementation of TB control strategies.
Executive Director of The Global Fund, Michel Kazatchkine and Pakistan’s Health Secretary Khushnood Akhtar Lashari signed two grant agreements for securing high-quality anti-TB drugs and strengthening of the TB Drug Management System in Pakistan through public-private partnership, in Geneva. A major portion of the grant will be utilised to secure 50 per cent of the total country need for anti-TB drugs through the Global Drug Facility, informed Dr. Noor Baloch, national manager of the TB Control Programme.
Agreements worth $8.9 million have been signed for phase-1 of the grant, covering the initial two years starting from July 2009, he added.
This is the fourth time that Pakistan has won a strictly performance-based global fund grant for TB from amongst numerous other competitors. This is a unique public-private partnership and both the National TB Control Programme and Greenstar Social Marketing Pakistan will be implementing this recent grant, as Principal Recipients.
The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) is a performance-based funding mechanism established in 2002 to provide significant amounts of new resources to allow developing countries to quickly scale up treatment and prevention services aimed at stemming the spread of the diseases.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan gets vital TB grant worth $26m: The News
Italy to finance $100mn projects for Pakistan: Gulf Times
Italy has agreed to finance ten development projects worth $100mn from the debts that Pakistan has to pay to Italy, a report said yesterday.
Both the countries have also agreed to allocate $10mn for rehabilitation of internally displaced persons (IDPs). The allocation for the IDPs would be negotiated with the Frontier authorities for rehabilitation of areas affected by the war against extremism.For more on this article, please click on the following link: Italy to finance $100mn projects for Pakistan: Gulf Times
China to hand over first Frigate to Pakistan on Thursday: Pakistan Daily
Pakistan Navy would receive first of the four state‑of‑the‑art Frigates F‑22P type on July 30 as Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nauman Bashir has reached China for formal taking over of the fighting vessel, National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence Production was told on Saturday.
The meeting of the parliamentary body was presided over by MNA Sheikh Aftab Ahmed who is also Chairman of the Standing Committee.
Giving briefing to the Standing Committee the representative of the Directorate General of Defence Production said that the weapons systems to be installed on the ship to be handed over to Pakistan have been successfully demonstrated at the optimum performances and ranges.
Pakistan Navy is acquiring four new F‑22P class frigates under collaboration with China as first three ships are being constructed at Hudong Shanghai and last one at Karachi Shipyard and Engineering works.
F‑22P frigates are equipped with modern weaponry and sensors.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: China to hand over first Frigate to Pakistan on Thursday: Pakistan Daily
Pakistan may import 1,000 MW power from Tajikistan: Steel Guru
The News cited Mr Gul Sherali minister for energy and industry of Tajikistan as saying that Tajikistan is expediting the process for exporting 1,000 MW electricity to Pakistan under CASA 1000 project.
While meeting with Mr Raja Pervez Ashraf minister for water and power of Pakistan, Mr Sherali stressed the need for cooperation in other economic fields. The 2 discussed various matters of economic cooperation. He said that Tajikistan and Pakistan shared strong cultural, historical and spiritual ties.
Mr Sherali said that Tajikistan would continue supporting Pakistan in its war against terror, adding terrorism was a crime against humanity, peace and state and a conspiracy against Islam.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan may import 1,000 MW power from Tajikistan: Steel Guru
Sunday, July 26, 2009
China Mobile to buy Telenor Pakistan?: IntoMobile
Dusan Belic
China Mobile is reportedly in talks with Norway’s Telenor concerning an acquisition of their Pakistani mobile 
According to some statistics, the combined customer base of China Mobile (NYSE: CHL)’s and Telenor’s Pakistani operations is around 26 million, representing a 28% of the market.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: China Mobile to buy Telenor Pakistan?: IntoMobile
Pakistan takes on the Taliban On the charge in Malakand: Economist
Pakistan’s army claims a rare success in its campaign against the Taliban
SULTANWAS, a once-prosperous village in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), is now a bomb site. Its white concrete houses, gaudily decorated thanks to migrant wages sent back from Dubai, lie in heaps. Debris that had billowed in great clouds after army jets bombed the village in early May litters the surrounding fields. The Taliban, who had occupied Sultanwas a few weeks before, had no chance; 80 allegedly died in the rubble.If, as the army claims, the Taliban are now in retreat in north-western Pakistan, Sultanwas was their Waterloo. It was destroyed in the biggest battle of an offensive to take back Buner, a district of NWFP that was briefly world-famous for being in Taliban hands and only 100km (62 miles) from Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. This was part of a bigger operation, inspired by the outcry over Buner’s capture, to restore the government’s writ across NWFP’s Malakand region, which also includes Swat, a Taliban stronghold that the army had twice tried and failed to secure.
Involving some 40,000 troops, the army’s action has been devastating. Over 2m have been displaced, in what may be the biggest unplanned movement of people since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Hundreds are reported to have been killed. Yet the army, which has received unprecedented public support for its attack on the Taliban, is claiming a great success.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan takes on the Taliban On the charge in Malakand: Economist
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Marble exports raises to 60% in last fiscal year: The News
KARACHI: The sixty percent raise was recorded in marble exports during last fiscal year.
Chairman Marble Exporters Association Sanaullah Khan said this while talking to Geo News. He said in fiscal year 2007-08, marble exports were at the level of $ 19.6 million, which has been raised to $36.1 million in 2008-09.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Marble exports raises to 60% in last fiscal year: The News
Monsoons and Rural Solar PV in Pakistan: EV World
The monsoons have arrived. For days now it had been hot and muggy (Like southern Indiana in the summer) but on Friday the rains started. Just sprinkles at first but Friday night a big storm came in with lots of thunder and lightning and torrential rain. On Saturday, Faizan’s father Irfan and I went out looking for the thin, tin plated copper ribbon we use to solder the solar cells together to make the PV modules we are building. There was flooding at some of the intersections but it wasn't too bad getting around when we started out.
We went to the Saddar market section of Karachi to check out the rows and rows of electronic market stalls, which sell everything you can imagine in the way of electronic parts - except tin plated copper ribbon, we found out. We splashed through flooded streets in the continuing rain going from stall to stall following directions as to where we might find the ribbon, but never did, there in the electronics area.
However, one of the stalls was selling PV modules and systems so we stopped and talked with them to see just what the photovoltaic market is like in Pakistan. It turns out that there already is a PV module manufacturer in Pakistan making rather good modules using a regular laminating machine and the Certified method of assembly with tempered glass (from Turkey), EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) and a Tedlar backing. The 80 watt module we examined is selling for about $320 or $4 per watt. Most of the rest of his stock was a collection of Chinese made modules that he was buying for around $2.50 per watt. Just since I came, (although I am pretty sure my presence had nothing to do with it) the Pakistani government has put a 25% tariff on the importation of finished PV modules, but has left duty-free the materials needed to manufacture the modules. This will be good for the new Sooraj Solar Company being organized by the people I am teaching, since they are in the process of purchasing an entire pallet of 10,000 Evergreen Solar cells to be air freighted here in the next couple of weeks. The off-spec Evergreen Solar cells are now less than 75 cents per watt in that quantity, and all the other parts (like the glass and transparent vinyl table cloth backing material) are cheaper here than in the US; so the cottage industry can compete with the Chinese imports and still make a decent income. The Solar market proprietor is very interested in carrying the new Soonezla brand of PV modules.
After the nice long discussion in the solar market with glasses of tea (I chose 7-Up after wondering how dirty the cups were), I suggested that we go to the jewelry artisan part of the Saddar, where people work all the time with thin gold, silver and copper sheets. Going around the stalls, Irfan spotted a silversmith he knew (who waded knee deep through the creek that the street had become, to come over and talk with us) and we discussed getting the ribbon made. He said that there would be no problem in making them from copper (although it might not be tin plated) and we settled on the dimensions: 2.5mm wide and 125 to 150 microns thick. In a few days we might have ribbon enough to continue making PV modules. We have already finished ten of the 60 watt ones and one 30 watt module from broken cells cut in half, and are making cell phone chargers while we wait for the ribbon to continue the production of the big modules. On Tuesday the 21st, we begin installing the finished modules and will probably do three installations by the time we finish the course on Friday the 24th. Irfan told me that there is a waiting list of people who have already spoken for 60 modules, so the cottage industry is well under way. However, we are still working on the problem of how to get larger quantities of the liquid silicon encapsulant we use instead of the EVA and the big laminating machine.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Monsoons and Rural Solar PV in Pakistan: EV World
NWFP to start mega livestock projects: The News
ABOTTABAD: NWFP Minister for Livestock and Dairy Development Hidayatullah Khan has said mega projects are being launched for the development of livestock sector which will generate jobs for local people.
He expressed his views while speaking at the concluding session of the annual review meeting of the department at the Veterinary Research Centre Abbottabad on Wednesday.
The minister said under the new projects, one model dairy farm, beef farm and poultry farm would be established in every district of the province. “Local people will not only get eggs, milk and meat but also jobs from these farms,” he added. The minister appreciated the performance of position-holder officers in 2008-09 and distributed certificates and awards.
Livestock Director General Dr Sher Mohammad briefed the minister about the achievements, planning and other requirements of the department, especially for the year 2008-09, vaccination of animals, availability of animal medicines, mobile clinics, poultry industry and bird flu.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: NWFP to start mega livestock projects: The News
Pakistan Assumes Command of Combined Task Force 150: DVIDS
Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathan Schaeffer
MANAMA, Bahrain - Pakistan Navy Rear Adm. Muhammad Zakaullah assumed command of Combined Task Force 150 from French Navy Rear Adm. Alain Hinden during a change of command ceremony held July 20 in Bahrain.
The ceremony concluded the French Navy's sixth successful command of CTF 150, a task force which conducts Maritime Security Operations in the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
"Rear Adm. Hinden not only carried out his mission with vigor, but seized the opportunity to improve the coalition as a whole," said Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, commander, Combined Maritime Forces. "He created theater security cooperation opportunities in an area stretching from the Strait of Hormuz, to the northeast African coast to the Suez Canal as a means to help regional states broaden and deepen their own maritime capabilities."
Hinden took the time to praise the Sailors under his command for their professionalism and dedication, while giving special recognition to the boarding teams; noting how their efforts in particular have helped bring about a lawful maritime order.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan Assumes Command of Combined Task Force 150: DVIDS
Row grows over bill to boost US-Pakistan trade: Guardian
Saeed Shah in Peshawar
A furious row has broken out between US clothing manufacturers and American retailers over a flagship assistance policy for Pakistan, aimed at boosting the textile industry in war-torn parts of the country.
At stake are American jobs. The policy, contained in a bill before Congress, would allow Pakistani clothing makers in the Taliban-dominated north-west of the country to export their products duty-free to the US. But critics say that could come at the cost of American workers.
American retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Levi Strauss, and brand owners, together with Pakistani manufacturers, are lobbying to expand the terms of the initiative. They say the programme is so restrictive in the products it covers that it is a "hollow gesture" and would not boost the current $3.1bn (£1.9bn) worth of annual textile exports from Pakistan to the US.
The bill, championed by Barack Obama, seeks to provide employment for people who might otherwise be sucked into militant groups, which pay handsomely. "If this [bill] was amended, it could really turn things around in NWFP [North West Frontier Province]," said Afan Aziz, the chairman of the NWFP wing of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Row grows over bill to boost US-Pakistan trade: Guardian
Pakistan May Lower Key Rate for Second Time This Year: Bloomberg
By Khalid Qayum
July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan’s central bank will probably lower its benchmark interest rate for the second time this year to help boost economic growth.
State Bank of Pakistan will cut its discount rate to 12.5 percent from 14 percent, according to six of 13 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Six expect the rate to be reduced by 1 percentage point, while one predicts a 2 percentage-point cut.
“In view of the economic slowdown, slashing interest rates is inevitable,” said Muzzammil Aslam, senior economist at JS Global Capital Ltd. in Karachi. “If economic activity doesn’t pick up now, it will be difficult for the government to meet its macro targets for this year.”
The Pakistan Peoples Party-led government is betting lower interest rates will revive the confidence of investors, who have shied away from the country because of poor security, militancy in the northwest region and a crumbling economy. The South Asian nation was forced to seek a $7.6 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund in November and may require an additional $4 billion from the Washington-based lender.
Governor Salim Raza is due to release the central bank’s quarterly monetary policy statement on August 15 in Karachi, after the announcement was today delayed from the previously scheduled date of July 25. Raza in April cut the benchmark rate one percentage point to 14 percent from a decade high.
IMF Pressure
“There must have been pressure from the IMF to wait for July inflation numbers,” said Mustafa Pasha, an economist at BMA Capital Management Ltd. in Karachi. “The IMF probably wants the central bank to be conservative in a rate cut and the central bank probably wants the IMF to first release the third loan installment.”
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan May Lower Key Rate for Second Time This Year: Bloomberg
Pakistan Objects to U.S. Plan for Afghan War: New York Times
Pakistani officials have told the Obama administration that the Marines fighting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan will force militants across the border into Pakistan, with the potential to further inflame the troubled province of Baluchistan, according to Pakistani intelligence officials.
Pakistan does not have enough troops to deploy to Baluchistan to take on the Taliban without denuding its border with its archenemy, India, the officials said. Dialogue with the Taliban, not more fighting, is in Pakistan’s national interest, they said.
The Pakistani account made clear that even as the United States recommits troops and other resources to take on a growing Taliban threat, Pakistani officials still consider India their top priority and the Taliban militants a problem that can be negotiated. In the long term, the Taliban in Afghanistan may even remain potential allies for Pakistan, as they were in the past, once the United States leaves.
The Pakistani officials gave views starkly different from those of American officials regarding the threat presented by top Taliban commanders, some of whom the Americans say have long taken refuge on the Pakistani side of the border.For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan Objects to U.S. Plan for Afghan War: New York Times
Monday, July 20, 2009
New 250MW power unit to supply electricity to textile mills: The News
Thursday, July 16, 2009
ISLAMABAD: A power unit of 250 megawatts is being installed in Faisalabad to provide uninterrupted power supply to the textile industry, which will be operational by the end of the current month.
This was stated by the Federal Minister for Textile Industry Rana Muhammad Farooq Saeed Khan while chairing a meeting regarding energy issues of the textile sector here on Wednesday.
During the meeting, the overall situation of the textile sector and the problems faced by it due to energy crisis came under discussion.
The participants expressed deep concern over high tariffs and said that special tariffs should be introduced for the textile sector. They also apprised the federal minister about bank-related matters in detail and BT cotton and R&D-related matters were also discussed.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: New 250MW power unit to supply electricity to textile mills: The News
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Pak textiles relocating to Bangladesh: The News
Industrialists lured by duty free access to EU, 40pc cheaper electricity in BD
Thursday, July 16, 2009
By Salman Siddiqui
KARACHI: A number of Pakistani textile houses are relocating their businesses to Bangladesh due to continuous hardship here, The News learnt on Wednesday.
Around four major Pakistani textile giants are in Bangladesh these days to shift their business so that they could furbish their exports orders in time, said one textile exporter of Pakistan on phone from Bangladesh.
“Towellers, a leading name in Pakistan’s home textile industry, is about to shift its business to Bangladesh,” informed Farrukh Maqbool, Chairman of Towel Manufacturers’ Association of Pakistan (TMAP) in a press statement and added that Towellers COO Pervaiz Kazi is travelling to Dhaka this week to meet with the Bangladesh Board of Investment (BoI) officials and finalise the company’s relocation strategy.”
Textile exporters had already warned the Pakistani authorities that they would move their businesses to Bangladesh when they were highlighting the anomalies in budget 2009-10 at PHMA House last month. These businessmen were included S M Obaid and Rafiq Habib Godil.
The reasons behind shifting their business to their competitor country i.e. Bangladesh are that the cost of doing business is continuously rising in Pakistan while country’s bureaucracy was formulating unnecessary regulations, said Syed Usman Ali, Former Chairman of TMAP.
He maintained that the law & order situation, on the other hand, was not allowing them to do their business tension free here. Owing to this law & order situation, the buyers did not come to Pakistan and they have to go to the buyers’ country or any other third country.
So that travelling to buyers’ country was an additional burden on our balance sheets, he added.
The frequent protest strikes, electricity outage and red tape and law and order altogether did not allow exporters to ship orders in time to the buyers, he elaborated. On the contrary, the Bangladesh was offering a number of incentives to its textile-exporting sector. According to rough estimates, doing textile business in Bangladesh is about 30-50 per cent cheaper than Pakistan, it was learnt.
Under the label of Least Developed Country (LDC), the Bangladesh enjoys zero rated exports to European Union, Australia and Canada, while Pakistan pays these levies range from 11-20 per cent, said Former Chairman of TMAP.
He compared that the electricity in Bangladesh was 40 per cent cheaper than Pakistan and 60 per cent cheaper in India as compared with Pakistan, he added. He maintained that the labour in Bangladesh was also available on low salaries. The maximum salary over there is 3,600 taka, while they in Pakistan have to pay Rs6,000/- plus 15 per cent salaries here.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pak textiles relocating to Bangladesh: The News
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Pakistan's current account deficit narrows in 2008/09: Forbes
KARACHI, July 16 (Reuters) - Pakistan's current account swung back into deficit in June, but the overall deficit for the 2008/09 fiscal year narrowed by over a third compared with a year earlier, the central bank said on Thursday.
The current account recorded a deficit of $635 million in June compared with a revised surplus of $283 million in May, data from the State Bank of Pakistan showed.
Analysts said higher imports of oil products, in anticipation of rising fuel prices, were probably behind the fall back into deficit.
Still, the deficit for the fiscal year that ended on June 30 fell to a provisional $8.861 billion, down from a revised $13.866 billion the previous year.
Pakistan entered a $7.6 billion emergency International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme late last year to avert a balance of payments crisis.
The full-year deficit is now equivalent to about 5.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan's current account deficit narrows in 2008/09: Forbes
Pakistan has Highest Number of CNG Vehicles in the World: ATP
According to International Association of Natural Gas Vehicles, as of December 2008, Pakistan has the world’s highest number of vehicles running on compressed Natural Gas (CNG). The number is 2 million. Pakistan also has the World’s highest numer of CNG refuelling stations. i.e. 2600 . This growth has been phenomenal noting that CNG as a fuel was made available in Pakistan, only in 1992.
For many years, Argentina and Brazil used to be the world leaders in terms of number of vehicles using CNG. Pakistan overtook Brazil in 2006 and Argentina in 2008 to become the world’s largest consumer of CNG in vehicles.
Why Pakistan has got so many vehicles running on CNG? I believe, main reason is because gasoline (Petrol) prices in Pakistan are among the highest in the region as well as natural gas is found abundant and locally in Pakistan.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan has Highest Number of CNG Vehicles in the World: ATP
CIA was a long way from Jason Bourne: LAT
"Keeping activities like this secret is the biggest challenge," said the second former U.S. intelligence official.
The vulnerability of being far removed from U.S. protection was seen as another major barrier to the success of the program.
In its initial conception, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, the CIA program was seen mainly as an effort to assemble teams capable of carrying out targeted killings. But officials have said that it went through multiple "iterations."
Most recently, the program's focus had shifted toward intelligence collection, officials said, the latest in a series of efforts toward the end of the George W. Bush administration to find Bin Laden.
However, different objectives brought different challenges, officials said, including how to get the right mix of personnel that could operate in the badlands of Pakistan without being captured or exposed.
Former officials declined to say whether the CIA had ever held discussions with Pakistan about setting up hybrid teams with members of the Pakistani military or its main spy service, Inter-Services Intelligence. But one former official said that few officials thought the initiative could succeed solely with U.S. personnel.
"If you're born in Kansas, you're always from Kansas," the former official said. "I don't care you long you grow your beard, you're still from Kansas."
For more on this article, please click on the following link: CIA was a long way from Jason Bourne: LAT
The CIA's assassination team: Dallas Morning News
Jim Mitchell
The Washington Post has a fascinating story on the CIA program that has caused such an inside the Beltway flap.
Put aside, the ridiculous Democrat attempt to help Nancy Pelosi save face by tyring to show that the CIA cheats and misrepresents (like this is news?). And while we're at it let's put aside the equally ridiculous Republican talking point that the Democrats are compromising national security and the ability to take out terrorist leaders.
Now consider the practical elements of any plan to kill anyone on foreign soil.
1) It is one thing to kill a terrorist on the battlefield, covertly or otherwise. It's quite another to kill anyone -- a head of state, a terrorist, a high-level planner in another country. And according to the order President Bush apparently signed after 9/11, the authority of hit squads to operate was not limited at all.
Let's suppose a terrorist flees to Pakistan. Right now, we're likely to use drones and maybe even uniformed special forces to track them into the border regions.
We certainly wouldn't use either to track and kill the terrorist in a major city. Why? The international political fallout would be devastating, just as it would be if an assassination team killed a Taliban leader in a major Pakistan city without informing the Pakistan government. Reverse the situation. What if someone else's civil war, political dispute or 'law enforcement" efforts resulted in a political murder on the streets in the United States. The United States quite properly would be outraged by the violence and the fact that legal means weren't used.
Now suppose a U.S. assassination team were caught or killed innocents in the effort to take out their target, the Pakistan government would have an internal crisis on their hands -- having to denounce the United States or even end cooperation with U.S. intelligence agencies to prevent an internal uprising. I think Panetta and Tenet realized this wasn't worth the risk, that the short-term upside didn't outweigh the long-term downside.2) The CIA isn't the United States' only intelligence agency. Are their similar programs underway or in the planning stages in other agencies
For more on this article, please click on the following link: The CIA's assassination team: Dallas Morning News
Foreign investment in Pakistan plummets in 2008/09: Forbes
KARACHI, July 15 (Reuters) - Net foreign investment in Pakistan fell by more than half in the 2008/09 fiscal year that ended on June 30, as investors stayed away from the country amid rising security concerns and a weak global economy.
Net foreign investment fell 51 percent from a year earlier to $2.67 billion, the central bank said.
Out of total foreign investment, foreign direct investment (FDI) fell 31.2 percent to $3.72 billion, data posted on the State Bank of Pakistan's website (www.sbp.prg.pk) showed.
Foreign portfolio investment saw outflows of $1.05 billion, in sharp contrast with inflows of $2.67 billion in the previous fiscal year. That figure also includes outflows of $544.1 million for a maturing eurobond issued by the country earlier.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Foreign investment in Pakistan plummets in 2008/09: Forbes
WWF rewards Pakistan for tree planting world record: Panda.org
Lahore, Pakistan - Pakistan set the Guinness World Record for tree planting, beating India in a healthy and productive international competition contributing to preserving fragile and endangered forests.
With 541,176 young mangroves trees planted by 300 volunteers from the local fishermen communities just in one day, the country broke the previous 447,874 record held by historical rival India.
In response to the achievement WWF awarded Pakistan’s Environment Minister Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi the Leaders of the Planet title, an award recognizing individuals making a significant personal contribution to the conservation of the natural world and sustainable development.
"This is a wonderful example of partnership between government, local communities and the private sector for a common cause, for conservation,"said Richard Garstang, the head of WWF Pakistan Wetlands Programme.
"It is good to see a productive competition between Pakistan and India. We hope that tree planting competitions will become as popular as cricket matches,"he said.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: WWF rewards Pakistan for tree planting world record: Panda.org
ICCI urges Pakistan government to evolve strategy for coal reserves: Steel Guru
The Frontier Post reported that Mian Shaukat Masud president and Mr Muhammad Ishtiaq Qureshi VP of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry has called upon the Pakistan government to evolve a comprehensive strategy to exploit the indigenous coal reserves for generating cheap and dependable energy.
They said that it is really pitiable that despite having total coal reserves of over 185 billion tonnes and being the 6 largest coal rich country in the world, Pakistan is still an energy deficit country which showed our lack of planning and foresight to safeguard country's interests.
Mian Shaukat Masud said that Pakistan is spending about 60% to 65% of its total foreign export earnings on oil imports despite having an aggregate energy potential exceeding the combined energy potential of the entire resources of Saudi Arabia and Iran, which was really deplorable.
He said that “a World Bank draft report on Pakistan's Investment Climate has portrayed a dismal picture of the country's power sector that is riddled with inefficiency and corruption, though the sector was selling electricity to consumers at a rate that is 60% higher than in India and 40% higher than in Bangladesh. Frequent power outages, totaling 945 hours in a year, led to pushing up the cost of production in the form of forced overtime, waste of material, damaged equipment and an added maintenance average of 10 percent of annual sales for manufacturing sector which badly dented their profitability. He added that higher tariff charged in the country has not only hit productivity in all sectors of the economy, it has also eroded competitiveness of our exports.”
For more on this article, please click on the following link: ICCI urges Pakistan government to evolve strategy for coal reserves: Steel Guru
WB sees remittances falling to developing nations: The News
WASHINGTON: The global recession is curbing income flows to developing countries from workers living abroad this year, with Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa hardest hit, the World Bank said Monday.
The World Bank projected remittance flows to developing countries would decline by 7.3 percent in 2009, to 304 billion dollars.
In 2008 remittance flows surged by 15 percent to 328 billion dollars.
Remittances slowed considerably in the fourth quarter last year, the development lender said in a report, after the global financial crisis accelerated following the collapse of Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers in September.
"Remittances are relatively resilient because, while new migration flows have declined, the number of migrants living overseas has been relatively unaffected by the crisis," it said.
The meltdown in the US real estate sector, the epicenter of the global crisis, was expected to reduce by 6.9 percent remittances for the Latin America and Caribbean region.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: WB sees remittances falling to developing nations: The News
Pakistan reconstruction could cost billions: UN: AFP
ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistan's reconstruction effort after fighting forced nearly two million people from their homes could cost billions of dollars, the top UN relief coordinator warned on Friday.
Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes also warned there was no immediate guarantee of security in parts of the northwest as the government prepares to return the first of the 1.9 million displaced people.
"As for rehabilitation and reconstruction, costs should be in billions of dollars for a year or so," he told a news conference in Islamabad.
In May, the United Nations launched a flash appeal for 542 million dollars in emergency assistance, of which 42 percent has been donated.
"We are not intending a new appeal but hope that donors will respond generously to the appeal launched by the UN," Holmes said.
A massive Pakistani offensive that started in late-April in the three northwestern districts of Buner, Lower Dir and Swat sparked a huge evacuation, but army commanders say almost all areas are now clear of Taliban rebels.
Most of the 1.9 million displaced, including about 500,000 who fled an offensive elsewhere in the northwest last year, are living with relatives or in communities, while others are crammed into hot and dusty refugee camps.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan reconstruction could cost billions: UN: AFP
US company considering housing project in Pakistan: Geo
ISLAMABAD: The Affordable Homes Group's proprietary Z-MIX building system is being considered for housing construction projects throughout the country of Pakistan.
A U.S. finance investment initiative has allocated an approximate $500 million, so that the Government of Pakistan can construct low-moderate income homes, for their citizens, over the next several years.
Company officials have been in discussions with U.S. based representatives of Pakistan to determine the feasibility of locating Z-MIX production facilities in Pakistan. During the week of July 12th, 2009, product technicians will be visiting Pakistan, and efforts are underway to explore that country's natural resources and recycled products required to produce the composite Z-MIX building material. Sample product has been shipped for in-country examination and evaluation.
Analysts in both the U.S. and Pakistan believe the production of Z-MIX, with its ability to utilize shredded rubber tires, wood chips and other inert composite materials, will offer the government of Pakistan immediate low cost construction materials for much needed housing in both city and rural areas.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: US company considering housing project in Pakistan: Geo
Slowdown signs - Pakistan car sales declined by 48pct: Steel Guru
Daily Times reported that Pakistan’s auto industry went through a sharp fall in sales during the last financial year that mirrored the deteriorating economic situation of the country.
According to figures released by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association car sales during 2008 to 2009 stood at a mere 82,844 units, which was down by 48% from sale of 164,650 units in the 2007 to 2008. Cumulative auto sales posted a decline of 47% to 98,241 units from 185,964 units in 2007 to 2008.
An analyst said that the main reasons behind this decline in sale were price hike, curtailment of auto financing by most banks and reduced purchasing power of consumers. He said that banks have imposed stringent checks on auto financing due to a large number of credit defaults.
Mr Atif Zafar an analyst at JS Research said that “We believe the reason for the decline in sales is tightened car financing by banks, coupled with political uncertainty and business shutdowns in the country.”
Mr Zafar said that during this fiscal year, decline in steel prices in international market and the expected decline in interest rates would allow manufacturers to reduce prices. He said that “It is expected that elimination of 5% federal excise duty, cutback on withholding tax and a possible 200 bps reduction in discount rate will boost auto sales.” He added that the global economic recession had put negative impact on almost all sectors of economy and automobile sector was one of them.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Slowdown signs - Pakistan car sales declined by 48pct: Steel Guru
U.S. losing Pakistani hearts and minds to China: Examiner
Van Jackson
It comes as little surprise that Pakistanis harbor antipathy toward the United States. Support for a country’s oppressive dictator and its geopolitical enemy tends to garner a little wrath. The United States has known for some time that its policies toward Pakistan and South Asia peeved off the Pakistanis but it was a price that U.S. officials were willing to pay to achieve greater strategic goals. However callous a calculation this may seem, there now exists an equally practical strategic reason for trying to win the hearts and minds of Pakistanis: China is making inroads.
A recent poll from World Public Opinion found that Pakistan’s perception of the United States under the Obama administration has not changed substantively from its perception of the United States during George W. Bush’s reign. Only 30% of Pakistanis polled had any confidence that the U.S. president would do “the right thing regarding world affairs.” Contrast this with Pakistani opinion of China’s president, Hu Jintao, who received an 80% confidence vote on the same question.
Pakistan’s favorable view of China is consistent with political realities. India is a historical rival of Pakistan’s and a strategic rival of China’s; India even fought a brief war against China in 1962. China’s strict policy of noninterference in the domestic affairs of other nations also distinguishes it quite favorably from the United States, which has long meddled in Pakistan’s domestic affairs, most recently supporting Pakistan’s strongman dictator, General Pervez Musharaf, in spite of the will of the Pakistani people to remove him from office. As recently as the Fall of 2008, China even provided a $500 million financial aid package to Pakistan to help with its balance of payments crisis as it worked out a deal with the International Monetary Fund.
Meanwhile, the United States has provided 200-400% greater military aid to Pakistan than non-military aid since 2002. On the basis of allocations of assistance alone, it is clear where U.S. priorities have been relative to China’s. While it supported Pakistan’s dictator militarily, politically, and financially, the United States simultaneously became a closer ally with India, Pakistan’s historic rival. In 2005, the Bush administration even attempted to construct a nuclear fuel agreement with India--but not Pakistan--in clear contravention of the spirit of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: U.S. losing Pakistani hearts and minds to China: Examiner
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Pakistan militia 'battles Taliban': Aljazeera
Members of a pro-government tribal militia have killed at least 23 Taliban fighters in clashes in Pakistan's northwest, local government officials have said. The fighting began late Monday in the village of Anbar in Pakistan's Mohmand region along the border with Afghanistan. Syed Ahmad Jan, a senior regional administrator, said local villagers demanded Taliban fighters leave the area, but the Taliban refused and opened fire, sparking a gun battle that continued into Tuesday morning. Mohammad Rasul Khan, a local official, said three villagers were missing after the clashes between the 150-strong village force and Taliban fighters. For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan militia 'battles Taliban': Aljazeera
At least four tribal militiamen were reported to have been wounded in the fighting.
Pakistan's government has been encouraging villagers in the country's northwestern tribal regions to form local militias, known as lashkars, to help push Taliban fighters out of their areas.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Pakistan: Offensive e-mail, SMS punishable: GulfNews
By Ashfaq Ahmed, Chief Reporter
Published: July 13, 2009, 23:10
Dubai: Sending indecent and provocative emails or SMS is now a punishable offence in Pakistan and violators can be jailed up to 14 years under the Cyber Crime Act, Gulf News has learnt.
Overseas Pakistanis will also face charged and will be liable to deportation to Pakistan in case of violation of the new law, according to a senior official in the Ministry of Interior of Pakistan.
"The new law was introduced by the government to stop onslaught of malicious campaign through this alternate media against the civilian government and the armed forces especially President Asif Ali Zardari," the official said.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan: Offensive e-mail, SMS punishable: GulfNews
Monday, July 13, 2009
Pakistan’s Exports Decline for Eighth Straight Month: Bloomberg
By Khalid Qayum
July 13 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan’s exports fell in June for the eighth straight months as the worst global recession since the Great Depression damped demand for the nation’s products.
Shipments from South Asia’s second-largest economy declined 19.4 percent from a year earlier to $1.54 billion are dropping 21.9 percent in the previous month, according to the statistics bureau. Imports tumbled 17 percent to $3.34 billion, taking the trade deficit to $1.8 billion.
Pakistan exporters are struggling to find buyers for the nation’s textiles and rice amid what the World Trade Organization says will be the worst contraction in global trade since World War II. HSBC Holdings Plc expects Pakistan’s $146 billion economy to expand as little as 0.8 percent in the year to June 2010, the weakest pace since 1952.
Overseas sales from Pakistan are being hit as “competitors elsewhere take an even greater share of a shrinking export market,” said Frederic Neumann, a senior economist at HSBC in Hong Kong.
Textile manufacturers in Pakistan compete against producers in other Asian nations including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Vietnam for sales in the U.S. and Europe, which are both in recession. Sri Lanka’s exports have declined for five straight months, falling 28.2 percent in April from a year earlier.
Cotton spinners in Pakistan and elsewhere still view the business outlook for the current quarter with a “great deal of caution,” according to a quarterly survey by Cotlook Ltd.
‘Optimism Faded’
“Optimism of a swift turnaround in fortunes seems to have faded in Pakistan, in the face of a slump in the pace of recent yarn orders,” Cotlook said in a statement on July 9.
Pakistan’s exports fell 6.7 percent to $17.8 billion in the full year to June 30 and imports declined 12.9 percent to $34.8 billion. The trade gap narrowed 18.5 percent to $17 billion, according to government figures.
While Pakistan’s exports receipts are eroding, the country is still accruing foreign reserves from record remittances from nationals working abroad.
Remittances from Pakistanis living overseas rose 21 percent to an unprecedented $7.8 billion in the year to June 30, the central bank said in a statement on July 10.
Workers in Saudi Arabia transferred $1.56 billion, compared with $1.25 billion a year ago. Pakistanis in the Gulf, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, sent home $1.2 billion, compared with $983 million a year earlier.
Global Rebound
Pakistan’s may also start to recover over the next year amid signs that the worst may be over for the world economy.
The International Monetary Fund last week said the global economic rebound in 2010 will be stronger than it forecast in April as the financial system stabilizes and the pace of contractions from the U.S. to Japan moderates.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan’s Exports Decline for Eighth Straight Month: Bloomberg
Pakistan's 'Wild West' and the British Connection: New America Media
Pakistan Link, Commentary, Mowahid Hussain Shah, Posted: Jul 13, 2009 
Post-Partition cinema reflected those themes with movies like “King of the Khyber Rifles” (1953), “Zarak” (1956), “The Bandit of Zhobe” (1959), and “Conduct Unbecoming” (1975), depicting British regiments preoccupied in their encounters to contain tribal insurrection. Some were lavish productions. Terence Young, who was director of “Zarak”, went on to launch the James Bond franchise by directing blockbusters like “Dr. No”, “From Russia with Love”, and “Thunderball”.
Today, the legacy of old wars is killing a new generation. When the Soviets took over Afghanistan in December 1979, an isolated Pakistan government – in the wake of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s hanging in April of that year – proved eager to associate itself with the American enterprise in Afghanistan, in which one of the key motivations was to avenge the US humiliation in Vietnam by bleeding the “Red Army” and to reassert itself in the region after the Iranian revolution which ousted the Shah in January 1979. Not enough thought was given to its domestic blow-back effects.
Slowly, but surely, the problems of Afghanistan started seeping and spilling over into Pakistan. 9/11 accelerated this process. Suicide bombings which hitherto were a cultural anathema in Pakistan have now made the country into a veritable “killing zone”.
It has been aptly observed: “Just as our present is the result of our past, so our future will be the result of our present.” Blood is on the road ahead.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan's 'Wild West' and the British Connection: New America Media
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Private armies on frontline of Pakistan war: AFP
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) — Six months ago, Fahimuddin was a Pakistani businessman and local councillor. Today he heads a private militia using rocket launchers, guns, grenades and daggers to repel Islamist attacks.
Fed up with kidnappings, bombings and rising fears of militancy around Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar, the 40-year-old packed up a prosperous property business and took matters into his own hands.
He formed a lashkar, a traditional militia raised by tribesmen in this part of the world for centuries, armed and mobilised temporarily to settle disputes.
It's a dangerous business. Fahimuddin says his men kill assailants. He says he survived two car bombs and escaped a kidnapping attempt, but nothing deters him from staying to flush out Islamist radicals.
"How can I leave my family, my village and my children? I will fight all those who attack my village whether they are Taliban, Lashkar-e-Islam or anyone else," he said at his home in Bazed Khel where Peshawar runs into Khyber.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Private armies on frontline of Pakistan war: AFP
Pakistan navy needs submarine, aircraft, says Naval Chief : Online News
ISLAMABAD: Chief Pakistan Navy Admiral Noman Bashir has said that the Pakistan navy needs aircrafts and submarines and negotiation to buy submarine and aircraft from Germany is underway.
Pakistan navy would chalk out future strategy after evaluating the future challenges, he said this while talking to media men after convocation of Bahria University on Saturday.
Pakistan navy cannot be strong without submarine and aircraft and we are holding talks with Germany in this respect but so far nothing has been finalized, he said. The world, he said, has become global village and Pakistan navy is ready to meet any challenges in future.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan navy needs submarine, aircraft, says Naval Chief : Online News
Pakistan set to break India’s maximum trees plantation record: The Daily Mail
By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD—The Ministry of Environment is all set to break world record of tree maximum tree plantation in a single day, set by India last month.
“We have planned to set up a new record for Guinness Book of World Record of planting maximum number of trees in 24 hours,” Federal Minister for Environment Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi told newsmen during a briefing on Friday.
Some 300 planters will be engaged in the tree plantation event, at Keti Bander in Thatta District, some 150 kilometers south-east of Karachi.
In this GWR event, planned for July 15, 2009, Pakistan is set to break earlier record of planting 447,874 trees set by India in June, 2009.
The interesting features of the world record attempt are that the planters have to plant trees under natural light, without using any machinery in 24 hours, which means, a single planter has to plant 1,300 plants, to beat the record.
“This is indeed a gigantic task, for which special arrangements are being made on the site,” the Minister said national media will be encouraged to cover the event, in order to ensure its authenticity at national and international levels.
To a question, he said, the event will be monitored by independent monitors and adjudicators deputed by the Guinness World Record.
He termed it one of the major events of the National Year of Environment 2009, saying it was planned to develop forest resources through international competition.
“This activity, on one hand, will achieve the national objective of increasing forest cover, and on the other hand, it will raise awareness among masses besides creating a soft image of the country in the world,” he added.
The Minister said that in view of global significance of mangrove forests, particularly in the context of the Tsunami of 2005, the GWR event will be held in the Mangrove areas on the coastal islands of Sindh, which are presently devoid of vegetation.
This is in accordance with present Government’s resolve to rehabilitate Mangrove forests of Sindh by all means, in partnership with Sindh Forest Department, international and national NGOs and private sector.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan set to break India’s maximum trees plantation record: The Daily Mail
Summary of the Pakistan Economic Survey 2008-2009: OPFBlog
Tough times, tough decisions ahead; GDP growth 2pc; public debt crosses 7 trillion mark; external debt $51 bn; official inflation 23pc; real poverty 30pc
By Khalid Mustafa
The government has missed virtually every main macro-economic target set in the budget 2008-09 for the outgoing fiscal. This includes the projected 5.5 per cent GDP growth, 12 per cent inflation, Rs1,250 billion revenue and per capita income of 1,085 dollars, reveals the Economic Survey for 2008-09 released here by Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin.
The survey states that Pakistan’s GDP growth has been estimated at 2 per cent for the current fiscal as against the original 5.5 per cent target, which was then revised to 3.5 per cent and further clipped to 2.5 per cent as agreed with the IMF. Likewise, the inflation target was fixed at 12 per cent by the government in the budget for the current fiscal, which in reality stood at 22.3 per cent in the first 10 months of 2008-09. “Per capita income in dollar terms rose from the finalised figure of $1,042 last year to $1,046 in 2008-09, showing a marginal increase of 0.3 per cent.” However, in last year’s Economic Survey the target of per capita income was $1,085, which has come down to $1,042.
The revenue target was fixed in the budget at Rs1,250 billion and was irrationally revised upward by the government to Rs1,360 billion, then revised downwards to Rs1,300 billion and yet again reduced to Rs1,180 billion, which also seems impossible to achieve.
However, Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin said during a press conference here on Thursday that the country’s real GDP grew by 2 per cent in 2008-09 against a target of 4.1 per cent.
He said that the 2 per cent economic growth was a result of four shocks, which include macro-economic imbalances, external trade shocks, the global economic crisis and domestic security issues. He mentioned that when the present government took charge, Pakistan’s balance of payments, current account deficit and trade deficit were in the danger zone, but have now improved after joining the IMF programme. He said that the government had consolidated the economy in the current fiscal and was now ready for a growth-oriented budget to be announced on June 13.
He was also asked why the government has not included the 17.2 per cent poverty figure of 2007-08 worked out by the Centre for the Poverty Reduction and Social Policy Development (CPRSPD) and validated by the World Bank. In response, Tarin said that while the WB has validated the 17.2 per cent poverty figure there are indications that in the last quarter of 2007-08, poverty surged and we have initiated the rapid survey to this effect which would come up with a final poverty figure after a three-month period.
However, he said that estimates are that the poverty figure would stand at over 30 per cent during the last fiscal year. He also argued that people are committing suicide and selling their kids because of poverty, so obviously the poverty figure of 17.2 per cent needed to be closer to reality.
To a question he said that the FBR needs to be reformed in such a way that maximum revenue could be collected in the next fiscal and to this effect structural reforms are being implemented and the World Bank’s team is already in town for talks on this very important issue. He said that the government would not forget the fault lines and put its house in order to increase the revenues of the country.
On the issues of change in methodology in the construction sector and drastic cut in last year’s growth from 5.8 per cent to 4 per cent which was done apparently to bring the reasonable growth of 2 per cent close to the target agreed with the IMF, he said this government is crystal clear in its facts about growth and does not believe in the manipulation of figures. However, he said that Pakistan has asked the World Bank and IFCs to come forward and help the government to make the Federal Bureau of Statistics independent which will report not to the Ministry of Finance, but to the National Assembly.
He said that the country’s debt has increased to over $51 billion by the end of this fiscal and total public debt has increased by Rs1.367 trillion in the first 9 months of 2008-09 to Rs7.3 trillion, up by 23.2 per cent in nominal terms.
The increase in total public debt is shared between rupee and foreign currency in a ratio of 40:60. The rise in debt is mainly because of depreciation in the Pak rupee. The total domestic debt is positive at 3.7 trillion at end-March, 2009 which implies a net addition of Rs484 billion in the nine months of the current fiscal.
Mentioning taxation, he said: “I will not tax the people who are already paying, rather I would tax those who are not in the tax net.” He said that the government would levy taxes on real estate and the services sector. However, two other sectors which include the stock exchanges and the agriculture sector would be included in the tax net the next time. To a question as to why the economic mangers have failed to bring the agriculture sector into the tax net, which grew by 4.7 per cent, he said he is ready to tax this sector, but he will be subjected to martyrdom on the next day. In the last 62 years, no one had dared to impose taxes on the agriculture sector because of the the strong lobbies in the country. However, he assured that in the years to come this sector will be brought under the tax net.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Summary of the Pakistan Economic Survey 2008-2009: OPFBlog
Lessons from the Lawyers' Movement: Ali Wyne
By Ali Wyne
Although the battle in Swat has understandably captured international attention, it is more a commentary on Asif Zardari's unusual incompetence than it is a reflection of Pakistan's systemic challenges. One can better understand those challenges by considering the outcome of the lawyers' movement.
There was widespread agreement within and outside of Pakistan that Iftikhar Chaudhry's reinstatement as chief justice marked the beginning - albeit fragile and uncertain - of the country's democratization. In reality, however, it reaffirmed the need for (at least) three basic principles to inform Pakistan's political development. First, the rule of law is little more than a rhetorical construct if leaders violate it to maintain power and opponents support it to achieve power. Second, tactics matter. The lawyers' movement helped to bring Zardari to power by opposing Pervez Musharraf; now it is boosting Nawaz Sharif's clout by opposing Zardari. If it does not recalibrate, it may well continue to elevate the very opposition figures who will undermine the rule of law once they acquire power. Third, the divides that must exist for representative institutions to emerge - whether between leaders and opponents, or bureaucrats and activists - lose their meaning if those on either side are rewarded for subordinating principle to ambition.
It is useful to go back ten years in Pakistani history.
Recent events notwithstanding, Musharraf and Chaudhry were once close allies. On January 26, 2000, Chaudhry swore a new oath of office affirming Musharraf's decision to suspend Pakistan's constitution; he was subsequently appointed to the Supreme Court. Four months later, he joined the court's 11 other justices in declaring that the general's takeover through force was legal. On April 13, 2005, Chaudhry was one of only five justices to oppose petitions that challenged Musharraf's constitutional amendments and validate Musharraf's right to serve concurrently as army chief and president; less than a month later, he was appointed chief justice.
The relationship between the two soured when Chaudhry ruled against the government's privatization of Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation. Musharraf's subsequent actions - firing Chaudhry on March 9, 2007, declaring a state of emergency on November 3rd when his presidential eligibility was challenged, and sacking Chaudhry again after the Supreme Court had reinstated him - turned Pakistanis against him, thereby emboldening Zardari and Sharif. The two formed a coalition government shortly after Musharraf resigned, only to have it collapse a week later. Sharif claimed that Zardari had reneged on their agreement to restore the judges whom Musharraf had deposed during emergency rule.
Zardari did not vocally support the lawyers' movement while pressing for Musharraf's ouster, because he recognized that an independent judiciary could examine the October 5, 2007 National Reconciliation Ordinance that immunized all government officials who served between 1986 and October 12, 1999, when Musharraf took office. Nonetheless, Zardari supported the movement to the extent that it weakened the general and improved his own political prospects.
Pakistanis began pressuring him to reinstate Chaudhry shortly after he took office. Zardari heeded those calls not to advance democracy, but to maintain power (indeed, many suspect that he preconditioned his decision on receiving protection from Chaudhry's "judicial activism"): only a month into his presidency, after all, his approval rating had fallen to 19%.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Lessons from the Lawyers' Movement: Ali Wyne
Friday, July 10, 2009
Pakistan misses export target by over $4.5bln: Dawn
ISLAMABAD: With the rising cost of business and a slowing economy, Pakistan has missed its’ export proceeds target by a staggering $4.5 billion, suggesting a rapid shrink in the domestic market during the outgoing fiscal year, Dawn has learnt.
Contracting manufacturing growth, a main indicator of exports, is rendering thousands jobless, many of whom are already under pressure due to high inflation, lawlessness and uncertainty.
Provisional figures obtained by Dawn showed that due to a dip in export proceeds as well as substantial cuts in imports volume, the country’s trade deficit narrowed by 21 per cent to $16.49 billion in the outgoing fiscal year 2008-09 as against $20.914 billion last year.
Export proceeds dropped to $17.57 billion for the year 2008-09 from $22.1 billion target set for the same year. After witnessing successive shortfalls at the start of the year, the government projects export proceeds at $19.1 billion with a shortfall of $3 billion by the end of June.
Despite this downward revision, the government not only missed the revised export proceeds target but also fell short of last year’s export proceeds of $19.052 billion by eight per cent owing to policies undertaken during the year under review.
Analysts believed the greater cost of borrowing from banks, and low consumer demand in the international market for Pakistani products (particularly in the
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan misses export target by over $4.5bln: Dawn
Pakistan buys less palm oil in June -trader: Reuters
ISLAMABAD, July 9 (Reuters) - Pakistan's June palm oil imports slid below 100,000 tonnes on a lack of demand and an uncertain international market, but buying has picked up in July, an industry official said on Thursday.
Demand had been been in a lull for the past three months, particularly in the northwest, where troops were battling Taliban militants, Rasheed Janmohammad, vice-chairman of the Pakistan Edible Oil Refiners' Association, said.
In addition, low intake in rural areas during the wheat harvesting season and a lack of confidence in the global market accounted for the slower buying, he said.
"There has been less buying of palm oil crude, RBD palm oil and palm olein...it was less than 100,000 tonnes (in June)."
Pakistan's palm oil imports fell 15.49 percent to 126,951 tonnes in May from the same month in 2008, and were 25 percent lower than April, official data showed.
Pakistan, the world's fourth-largest importer of vegetable oil, buys a mix of refined and crude palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, the world's biggest producers.
It consumes about 3 million tonnes of edible oil a year, but produces only 500,000-800,000 tonnes of cottonseed, rapeseed and sunflower, relying on imports to meet about 80 percent of demand.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan buys less palm oil in June -trader: Reuters
Pakistan becomes third largest rice exporting country: TDAP: The Nation
ISLAMABAD (APP) - Chief Executive of Trade Development Authority Of Pakistan (TDAP) Syed Muhaibullah Shah has said that Pakistan becomes the third largest rice exporting country in the world.
Talking to CNBC he said that Pakistan is the 12th largest rice producer in the world, however, due to best marketing and value addition, the country has achieved this position in the international markets,. He pointed out that country’s rice exports remained the second largest foreign exchange earner for the country after cotton.
“This is a great achievement and country’s rice sector achieved this position despite global recession, financial crunch and a very tough price competition in the international markets,” he added.
He said that the rice exporters adopted best strategy and explored new markets all over the world.
He advised the rice exporters to focus more on Asian and African markets to increase their exports. He pointed out that purchasing power in Asia is increasing and these markets could be more attractive for rice exports in future. “We should also focus the African markets, which have huge potential for our commodities mainly for rice exports”, he added.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan becomes third largest rice exporting country: TDAP: The Nation
Pakistan's 2008/09 remittances at record $7.8 bln: Reuters
KARACHI, July 10 (Reuters) - Pakistan received a record $7.811 billion in remittances from overseas nationals in the 2008/09 fiscal year that ended on June 30, the State Bank of Pakistan said on Friday.
The amount, the highest ever in a financial year, was 21.08 percent higher than the $6.451 billion remitted in 2007/08, the central bank said in a statement.
The largest inflow of remittances during the year came from the United States, with $1.74 billion, followed by the United Arab Emirates with $1.69 billion, the central bank said.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan's 2008/09 remittances at record $7.8 bln: Reuters
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Pakistan’s Inflation Slows, Giving Room for Rate Cut : Bloomberg
By Michael Dwyer
July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan’s inflation slowed to a 16- month low in June, giving the central bank scope to reduce interest rates to prop up a faltering economy.
Consumer prices in South Asia’s second-largest economy rose 13.13 percent from a year earlier after gaining 14.39 percent in May, the Federal Bureau of Statistics said on its Web site today. That matched the median 13.1 percent forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of nine economists.
Pakistan’s economy has ground to a near halt as the global recession erodes exports and investment and Taliban insurgents launch terrorist attacks in response to an intensified military campaign against Islamic extremists. The $146 billion economy may expand as little as 0.8 percent in the year to June 2010, according to HSBC Holdings Plc, the weakest pace since 1952.
Security concerns may “hamper growth over the coming year as investors and consumers further rein in spending,” said Frederic Neumann, an economist at HSBC in Hong Kong. “The good news is that the central bank can begin to relax and start cutting interest rates, which should eventually nurse a recovery.”
State Bank of Pakistan Governor Syed Salim Raza has already begun reducing borrowing costs, slashing interest rates in April for the first time since 2002. The central bank is due to release its next monetary policy statement in Karachi at the end of this month.
‘Toughest Decision’
Pakistan was forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund for a $7.6 billion rescue package in November after its foreign reserves shrank 75 percent in a year to $3.45 billion, its current-account deficit widened to a record and inflation soared to a three-decade high.
Former Governor Shamshad Akhtar raised the central bank’s policy rate by the most in more than a decade on Nov. 12, a move she described as “the toughest decision of my life,” in order to secure the IMF bailout.
Higher borrowing costs damped spending and investment in an economy already slowing amid the global downturn, which has reduced the nation’s overseas shipments and the amount of money that Pakistanis working abroad send home.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan’s Inflation Slows, Giving Room for Rate Cut : Bloomberg
Pakistan's forex reserves rise to $12.27 bln: Forbes
KARACHI, July 9 (Reuters) - Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves rose by $430 million to $12.27 billion in the week that ended on July 4, a central bank spokesman said on Thursday.
The State Bank of Pakistan's reserves edged up to $8.96 billion from $8.55 billion a week earlier, while reserves held by commercial banks jumped to $3.31 billion from the previous week's $3.29 billion, chief spokesman Syed Wasimuddin said.
He said reserves rose sharply after the central bank received $500 million from the Asian Development Bank on June 30, which were shown in the current data.
Foreign reserves hit a record high of $16.5 billion in October 2007 but fell steadily to $6.6 billion by November last year, largely because of a soaring import bill.
Pakistan agreed in November to an International Monetary Fund emergency loan package of $7.6 billion to avert a balance of payments crisis and shore up reserves.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan's forex reserves rise to $12.27 bln: Forbes
Made in Pakistan: Newsline
By Shahzeb Shaikha
It would come as a surprise to most Pakistanis that the country has an indigenous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle [UAV] industry. In fact, there are three private entities – East West Infiniti [EWI], Integrated Dynamics [ID] and Surveillance and Target Unmanned Aircraft [Satuma] – involved in the manufacturing of UAVs in Pakistan. In addition, three government enterprises, the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex [PAC], the Air Weapons Complex [AWC], and the National Development Complex [NDC] also produce UAVs.
The Pakistan government has repeatedly requested the US to send them drone technology, a request which, according to defense analyst Ayesha Siddiqa, has been persistently denied because “we always leak technology.” But what if Pakistan develops its own drones with a missile delivery system matching the American Predator?
At this point, the question of ‘what if’ doesn’t exist because Pakistan already possesses the capability to develop its own unmanned vehicles. But there is a big difference between producing unarmed UAVs, which Pakistan currently does, and the armed Predator drones which the US has been using in FATA.
Can Pakistan come up with a UAV carrying weapons?
Dr Hammad Bin Khaleeq, Satuma’s director in charge of mechanical design and manufacturing, Dr Haroon Javed Qureshi of EWI, and Raja Sabri Khan, CEO of Integrated Dynamics, all concur.
“It is possible,” Khaleeq tells Newsline. “It is not something beyond our capability. We only need to have support – financial support as well as time. These things don’t develop overnight.” He maintains that there have been huge amounts of investment from the government for the purpose of developing drones but state entities have failed to deliver the desired product. “Acquiring and integrating a weapon in drones is advanced and difficult. But it’s not out of our reach. If the government wants, the efforts can be put in.”
Qureshi confidently explains that if the drone project is headed solely by private enterprises, “I can assure you that my company, or, for that matter, Raja Sabri Khan’s Integrated Dynamics, or Satuma, can perhaps do it in three years. One has to keep in mind that all three companies have been in this particular business for 15 years and are well aware of the ground realities.”
However, Khan is sceptical about the three-year estimate. “I worked for Suparco from 1987 to 1997, before I started my own company. Right now, the only constraint in Pakistan developing a predator type drone is money,” Khan says. He also maintains that state enterprises lack will and passion, and agrees with Qureshi’s stance on the government backing commercial firms to develop such technology. Khan reveals that a minimum investment of $50 million would be required to initiate a drone project along the lines of the Predator, but it could take as long as eight years.
According to the three private enterprises the drone technology in Pakistan is nowhere near the American Predator. The Predator carries a Hellfire missile that Pakistan does not have. Instead, Pakistan has the Baktarshikan and the Tow anti-tank missile, which can strike as far as 3,000 yards. The maximum payload weight of the Tow missile is 100lb. The main difference between the Predator and Pakistani-manufactured drones is the wing load capability and the engine size. The Predator can carry far more payload weight [450lb] and can fly more than 20 hours, covering a distance of 3,700km. The missile capability depends on how much load the wing can carry. The current technology in Pakistan limits the companies in terms of how much load per square foot they can put on the wing.
“There is a thought process along these lines in Pakistan, but, as far as real work is concerned, nothing is being done. Several of the UAV programmes that are now being carried out will have the capability of carrying at least 150lb.” Khan goes on to emphasise that his company is not providing Americans with the drones being used in FATA, a common misconception.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Made in Pakistan: Newsline
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