By Moonis Ahmed
KARACHI: Pakistan has been ranked 5th in the world’s cement exports after a jump of 47 percent in exports during last fiscal year, the Global Cement Report shows.
According to the report, China ranks first with 26 million tonnes in exports, while Japan grabbed the second position by exporting 12 million tonnes. The third largest cement exporter in world is Thailand with around 12 million tonnes, followed by Turkey with 10.6 million tonnes.
Pakistan has left Germany behind by exporting 11 million tonnes of cement during last fiscal year. Germany now stands at 6th position with 9 million tonnes exports.
Irfan Amanullah, Chief Financial Officer of Attock Cement Limited, while talking to Daily Times said that Pakistan secured this position because of high demand and by capturing new markets.
He said that Pakistan could achieve the mark of 13 to 14 million tonnes exports by the end of the fiscal year if the government provides better infrastructure facilities.
He was of the view that the demand had remained firm during the year that helped to reach this mark in exports. “The new markets explored by the exporters include some of African countries, Qatar and Iraq,” he said.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan ranked 5th in cement exports, surpasses Germany: Daily Times
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Pakistan ranked 5th in cement exports, surpasses Germany: Daily Times
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Pakistan: A Superpower by 2050: Pakistan Times
By Dr Ali Mohammad
In a recent article, “Turning Challenges into Opportunities” we argued that Pakistanis are a brave, resilient, and highly intelligent people who, under a strong, determined, and patriotic leadership, can surmount any crisis. Furthermore, there are many reasons that Pakistan could become a global superpower within few decades.
Of course, in the sublime sense, the only superpower is the Almighty Allah. However, in more mundane terms, a superpower can be defined as having the ability to influence events and project power on a worldwide scale. Unfortunately, the traditional definition of a superpower represents a raw and crude psyche that only exacerbates violence, environmental decay, inequality, tyranny, and instability.
We must then redefine “superpower” to emphasize morality, international cooperation, world peace, clean and healthy environment, eradication of poverty, and promotion of equality among nations. Pakistan can take up the challenge under a two-pronged doctrine, namely possessing an effective and successful deterrence against aggression and the will and the means to enhance international cooperation, peace, and prosperity.
The defeatists, uttering doomsday scenarios, will question our proposition. These elements have always infused distress, despondency, and despair among the masses. Pakistan has survived many odds since its birth. To the dismay of its detractors, Pakistan has achieved a reasonable degree of self-sufficiency in food and other essential commodities. The poverty level has declined to 25%, while wealth distribution has been relatively much better compared to many developed and developing countries.
In the vital fields of agriculture, science and technology, industry, medicine and engineering, nuclear technology, art and architecture, as well as in sports, cultural, and the literary world, it has won a respectable place in the community of nations. The Pakistani people have courageously defied what the proponents of gloom and doom had wished. At the time of its inception in 1947, the country lacked the basic infrastructure for development, but it had the romance of youth, the diversity of its people, and a kind of mysticism for survival. The birth of Pakistan in less than ten years since the idea of nationhood was conceived in the 1940 Resolution is truly a gift of Allah to the Ummah. And its survival is a miracle.
Many serious analysts believe that with proper management and governance, Pakistan can become the sixth biggest economy within the next fifteen years and one of the most developed economies by 2050 AD. (Adjusting for unreported economic activities and comparative prices, the current GDP estimates can actually be four times higher putting Pakistan in the middle-income category.) Moreover, with an estimated population of 350 million by 2050, it will be fourth largest country in the world. Similarly, the literacy rate, 52% at present, is expected to reach 90% in next twenty years.
However, Pakistan’s biggest asset is its 100 million people below the age of 25, a highly productive age, which can play a vital role in the economic development of the country. These young people have entered the phase of their economic life cycle, whereas in many other countries most of the population is aging. Moreover, some ten million overseas Pakistanis, with estimated assets of $500 billion, constitute a huge reserve and strength as well as a source of considerable remittances and investment.
On the geo-physical scene, Pakistan has adequate natural resources. For example, of a total land area of nearly 882,000 sq.km. (ranking fifth among the developed countries while it is larger than France, Germany, Britain, Japan, and Italy), it has over 30 million hectares of land under agriculture. It has rich soils, favorable agro-climatic conditions, one of the most extensive irrigation systems in the world, and a hard-working farming community. Pakistan also has a large population of cattle, buffalo, goats and sheep, camel, and poultry while it ranks among the highest producers of meat, milk, and animal products.
In addition, the country has tremendous opportunities for developing fresh water and sea fisheries. With the introduction of improved farming techniques, the country can produce at least 60 million tons of food (wheat, rice, and maize) — enough to meet the nation’s food requirements and for exports. Pakistan can also boost its existing significant production and export of fruits and vegetables. The potential exports of food products alone to the Middleast are estimated at $200 billion per year. Development of the agriculture sector could also release surpluses of income and manpower for the industrialization of the country.
Pakistan has been bestowed with huge deposits of mineral resources and stands among the top ten nations in the world in vital mineral resources such as gold, copper, silver, gas, precious stones, and coal. In the case of energy, the country has immense hydroelectric power generation potentials as well as solar, wind, nuclear, and thermal power and can boost electricity production several times its present levels. For example, Pakistan has the world’s fourth largest coal reserves equivalent to over 600 billion barrels of oil, which can be developed for electricity generation both for domestic and export markets, coal byproducts, gasification, petrochemicals, and many other chemicals.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan: A Superpower by 2050: Pakistan Times
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Illegal capital flight peaked during 2008 political chaos: The News
By Mansoor Ahmad
LAHORE: Illegal flight of capital is a norm in Pakistan that reached its peak during the political chaos of 2008, while during the 2002-06 period, according to the US-based Global Financial Integrity report, it ranged from $2.03 to $3.06 billion per year.
The report states that China, with average illegal outflows of $289 billion during 2002-06 period, was on top while India with illegitimate outflows of $27.34 billion came in at number 5. Pakistan with $3.067 billion came in at the 36th position amongst 160 countries surveyed by Global Financial Integrity.
The report states that legal flight of capital is recorded on the books of the entity or individuals making the transfer, and earnings from interest, dividends and realised capital gains normally return to the country of origin. The methods used to transfer money illegally outside the country, as mentioned in the report, are generally practiced in Pakistan.
About illegal flight of capital, GFI report points out that it is intended to disappear from any record in the country of origin, and earnings on the stock of illegal capital flight outside of a country do not normally return to the country of origin.
Illegal capital flight can be generated through a number of means that are not revealed in national accounts or balance of payments figures, including trade mispricing, bulk cash movements, hawala transactions, smuggling and more.
The greater part of unrecorded flows are indeed illicit, violating the national criminal and civil codes, tax laws, customs regulations, VAT assessments, exchange control requirements and banking regulations of the countries out of which unrecorded/illicit flows occur.
The GFI report reveals that according to its estimates, illicit financial flows out of developing countries are some $850 billion to $1 trillion a year. Even this estimate according to GFI is conservative. It does not include, for example, major forms of value drainages out of poorer countries not represented by money, namely:
1) Trade mispricing that is handled by collusion between importers and exporters within the same invoice, not picked up in mispricing models based on IMF Direction of Trade Statistics, a technique utilised extensively by multinational corporations.
2) The proceeds of criminal and commercial smuggling such as drugs, minerals, and contraband goods.
3) Mis-priced asset swaps, where ownership of commodities, shares, and properties are traded without a cash flow.
Non-trade capital flight often involves the acquisition of cash or other instruments payable to the bearer.
The acquired currency, say dollars, could exit the country in a number of ways such as (i) by someone carrying suitcases full of cash, (ii) through professional courier service, (iii) by mail or, (iv) through electronic money transfers that are unlikely to be recorded in the weak bank reporting systems in many poor developing countries.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Illegal capital flight peaked during 2008 political chaos: The News
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
India more corrupt than Pakistan: Report: UTVi
That India is a corrupt nation is not big news but that it is the 4th most corrupt country out of 47 other Asian countries comes as a shocker. Its just slightly better than Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia.
In a recent survey conducted by Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC), India, scored of 7.21 on the corruption index making it the fourth most corrupt nation in Asia.
Stringent laws that make business transactions difficult are one of main reasons why India finds itself at the top of the list. This could prove as a serious deterrent at a time when India is producing a generation of professionals and companies are on a shopping spree around the world.
Unethical practices, red tape and bureaucracy in government organisations were instrumental in adding that stigma to Indias growing economy. Corruption has rocked the Indian system for years and out politicos do little to fight it off.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: India more corrupt than Pakistan: Report: UTVi
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Best Countries for Business: Forbes
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Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Pakistan ranks 4th in broadband Internet growth: Daily Times
By Muhammad Yasir
KARACHI: Pakistan is ranked fourth in terms of broadband Internet growth in the world, as the subscriber base of broadband Internet has been increasing rapidly with the total base crossing 170,000 in the country.The rankings are released by Point Topic Global broadband analysis, a global research centre. According to the statistics, there are around 382. 4 million broadband subscribers worldwide by the end of August 2008 as compared with 317 million in August 2007, showing 17 percent growth.
Regional Broadband trend revealed that Western Europe has the largest share of broadband users with 26 percent followed by North America at 22 percent. South and East Asia regional is in the third place with 22 percent share.In Pakistan operators are offering wide range of technologies like DSL, Cable, FTTH and WiMax.
They have added 25,500 new broadband connections in the financial year 2007-08, which is around 150 percent increase compared to the previous financial year, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) statistics reported.The Internet Protocol (IP) traffic through high-speed access link has become the success factor that have made rapid the transfer of online information and communication services, data, voice and video footage. The easy way of communication owing to highly competitive market of service providers has been penetrating in the country with modest acceleration in the metropolis.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan ranks 4th in broadband Internet growth: Daily Times
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