Economic trends

*Inflation: Annual inflation will remain close to eight per cent target- in the range of 7.5-8.5 per cent. Monetary policy to remain tight. Fuel prices are not likely to see any significant rise. Inflationary pressures may still persist. Tax receipts: About 75 per cent of the growth in tax receipts during the first quarter 2006 stemmed from import-based taxes. In case of fall in imports, the customs duty may be adversely affected. CBR will have to gear up its efforts to achieve annual target of Rs690 billion, focusing on tax compliance and expanding tax net.

* Overall external balance: It recorded a deficit of $0.5 billion during Jul-Oct FY06 against a $1 billion deficit realized in Jul-Oct FY05. The deterioration in the current account was offset by higher foreign investment and loans, and lower payments of foreign liabilities.

* Widening trade deficit: The gap at $3.37 billion during Jul-Oct is unlikely to add to market volatility as external account receipts are expected to increase during the year and foreign exchange reserves remain strong. The rupee-dollar parity remained practically unchanged during July–October FY O6.

* Foreign exchange reserves: The overall reserves fell by $1.29 billion in Jul-Nov to touch $11.3 billion by end November, 2005, down $1.7 billion from the peak level of $13 billion reached in April 2005. Reserves by the commercial banks fell by $387 million in the same period.

* Fiscal deficit: The fiscal deficit widened marginally during first quarter of FY06 rising to 0.5 per cent of estimated GDP as compared to approximately 0.4 per cent in first quarter of FY05. The fiscal performance is likely to deteriorate due to an expected rise is expenditures on earthquake victims.

* Gross domestic product: Real GDP growth will range between 6-6.6 per cent in FY06 against 8.4 per cent achieved in FY05. While the FY06 growth target is still not out of reach, achieving it might prove to be a challenge.

* Commodity producing sectors: Growth in large-scale manufacturing has decelerated sharply. Production of two of the four major Kharif crops significantly below target. The fall in output of major crops may yet be compensated by an anticipated above-target performance by minor crops and livestock sub-sectors.

* Monetary expansion: Although monetary expansion has been contained to three per cent during Jul-Nov FY06 as compared to five per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year. Demand for private sector credit has remained strong. Core inflation persists at a relatively high 7.6 per cent year over year.—Qasim A. Moini.

http://www.dawn.com/2006/01/02/ebr12.htm

Pakistan attains self-sufficiency: Honey production

ISLAMABAD, Jan 14: Pakistan has attained self-sufficiency in honey production and has started exports to earn foreign exchange. Honey, produced in Pakistan, is of prime quality and can be sold at a good price in the free global market.

The bee-keeping has become a source of income for 240,000 colonies of honeybee keepers in all the four provinces and Azad Kashmir.

The bee-keeping profession can easily be adopted as an income generating activity, especially by the women folk, as it does not require big investments or infrastructure.

According to official sources here, an increase in average yield of honey per colony has been registered from 4 kg to 21 kg, while the increase in total production of honey in the country has increased from 250 tons to 2500 tons since 1982.

The best time for bee-keeping is from October to November and the spring season. However, honey can be produced throughout the year by planting some special species of plants.

The bee-keepers encourage bees to get their food from natural sources like flowers and plants instead of using sugar in rainy or cold season.

The development of new bee management techniques, production and distribution of genetically superior honeybee queens are vital to achieve significant progress.

The Honeybee research institute provides training to the people in bee-keeping through different courses to educate the people not to squeeze the unripe beehives and extract honey mixed with parts of bees which could be hazardous for human consumption.

“We are striving for the promotion of use of honeybees for pollination of vegetables, seeds, fodder and fruit crops for higher yield and development of a low cost comb foundation locally to replace costly and imported metal sheets by the farmers,” a concerned official said.

Besides, establishment of a processing unit is essential for demonstration and training in collaboration with provincial research and extension department by providing for training of the bee-keepers.

In Europe bees were first introduced some 20 years ago and after consistent efforts it has more than 150,000 colonies being managed by 11,000 bee-keepers.

Honey is a high energy food which cures many ailments and benefits the human body in various ways as it contains anti-biotic substances.—APP

http://www.dawn.com/2006/01/15/ebr13.htm

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Call for continuation of economic reforms

RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE (March 29 2004): "The economic policies of the present government have brought positive changes in the economic set-up of the country. The reforms initiated by the government have led to growth in manufacturing, recovery in agriculture, fiscal deficit reduction, decline in foreign and domestic debts, increase in remittances, upsurge in stock market, and low inflation."

This was the consensus of the speakers at a pre-budget seminar, organised by the Institute of Cost & Management Account-ants of Pakistan (ICMAP) in Lahore.

Asim Zafar, chairman, Lahore Stock Exchange; Shaukat Amin Shah, FCA, former president, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan; were the guest speakers on the occasion while Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Mian Anjum Nisar was the chief guest.

The speakers stressed that the existing reforms should continue for the further betterment of socio-economic scenarios in the country.

They suggested that Pakistan should invest more in education to improve literacy rate with the emphasis on technical education. "We should alleviate poverty through micro-credit and job creation. Infrastructure must be developed, and should be more agriculture-oriented", they pointed out.

The speakers also said the national debt should be given priority, and must be retired at the earliest. Moreover, defence capability should be rationalised with more stress on deterrence than aggression, they added.

"We have to indigence industrial production and broaden the tax net besides, documenting the economy. More and more value-added products should be exported, and the budget should be investment and business-friendly", they suggested.

The speakers also pointed out that taxes and duties on raw material and finished goods should be so adjusted so as to make our products more competitive in the national as well as international markets.

They were of the view that the taxation system must be rationalised and the discretionary powers given to tax officers should be more business sympathetic.

It was emphasised that instead of following the western economic system, it would be more appropriate for Pakistan to shape its own destiny based on true Islamic concept of equality and social justice.

Earlier, S.M. Jamil, FCMA, the chairman of the Lahore Branch Council of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan, presented the address of welcome.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2004

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Country’s Economic Situation Has Improved: PM

Updated on 2004-03-29 09:31:31

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan : March 29 (PNS) - Prime Minister Jamali says Pakistan is determined to move from a low income to a middle income country.

Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali says the country’s economic situation has improved significantly, and Pakistan is determined to move from a low income, to a middle income country. He was speaking at a dinner hosted by the Pakistan-American business association in Islamabad. The prime minister said the re-vitalization and stability of the economy was evident from an across the board improvement, in most macro-economic indicators.

The prime minister said peace and security were pre-requisites for Pakistan’s economic development and prosperity. He said the country had no enemies in its neighborhood, but if something went wrong, Pakistan was able to defend itself. Senate Chairman Muhammad Mian Soomro said overseas Pakistanis could invest in the fields of information technology, real estate, banking, insurance, traditional handicrafts and other sectors. Former governor of Virginia, James Gilmore, said the government and the people of the United States respected the government and people of Pakistan. Office bearers of the Pakistan-American business association, U.S.A., including its chairman, Rasheed Chaudhry and President Hanif Akhter, said the Pakistani community in the United States was helping in the development of business opportunities, for Pakistanis in the U.S. and promoting trade and cultural ties between the two countries.

They said an investment group of overseas pakistanis would be formed shortly for investment in different fields in Pakistan. The prime minister gave a P. A. B. A. Expatriate award to Dr Zaheer Ahmed for his excellent services.Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has said that exploration of Thar Coal will supplement the existing energy output in the country, and will give a boost to the economy of Sindh province. He was talking to Sindh minister for communication, works and services, Arbab Ghulam Raheem, who called on him at the prime minister’s house.

Emphasizing the need to further explore energy resources, the prime minister said the government’s future development strategy, would focus on infrastructure development that would ensure accelerated economic growth. This would give a boost to both domestic and foreign investment, create more job opportunities and alleviate poverty. The minister informed the prime minister about infrastructure development projects, including the rehabilitation of roads in Sindh.

The latest political situation in the province was also discussed. Later, businessmen from the United Kingdom, who hail from Gujjar Khan, Mr Iftikhar Chaudhury and Mr. Amanullah, called on the Prime Minister. They thanked the prime minister for providing gas to Changa Mera village of Tehsil Gujjar Khan, out of the premier’s own development fund. The prime minister directed that gas should be provided to eight more villages from the same pipeline

http://www.paknews.com/flash.php?id=14&date1=2004-03-29

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Pak-China cooperation to help promote tourism in Northern areas: Khan

BEIJING: Northern areas in Pakistan possess rich potential to become world famous tourist destination, said President Mountain and Glacier Protection Organization Aisha Khan.

Pakistan needs to strengthen its cooperation with China to develop and promote the areas, she said in an interview with APP in Beijing. She suggested that an attractive incentive package should be given to the businessmen and the traveling agencies of the two countries to develop tourism industry.

The tourism potential in the Northern Areas is quite rich.

The beautiful landscape and the unique cultural heritage give the Northern Areas a competitive advantage attracting tourists, she said, adding "Tourism can also play a major role improving the socio-economic life of the local people."

Aisha Khan, wife of Aziz Ahmed Khan, Pakistan's ambassador in New Delhi was in Beijing to attend the UN’s conference on Millennium Development Goals. She appreciated the World Body’s targets to reduce poverty, but said these could only be achieved by exploiting the available resources of a particular area.

She emphasized that the official and private institutions should be fully involved in improving environmental conditions around the mountains’ sits. This could help attract tourists, particularly those from China and other neighbouring countries.

The international institutions should be pay greater attention to check the external security threats, which she said cause great disturbance to the development process, further aggravating miseries of poor people, living in backward areas.

She said Tourism is very important sector, where Pakistan can seek Chinese assistance especially to develop its tourist resorts.

Some Chinese companies might be willing to undertake joint ventures in Pakistan on the BOT basis for the development of country’s tourism industry.

It is highly encouraging that the Chinese Government has already declared Pakistan a favorite destination for the tourists, she added

http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail....&f_type=source

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Pak business sector rapidly builds capacity to meet global trade demands

LAHORE : No Pakistani shipment has so far been rejected because of the security compliance.

This was stated by the Federal Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan while talking to the local media after addressing the seminar of Pakistan Compliance Initiative (PCI) on ‘security, social & environmental performance’ at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).

He said that the PCI is a multi-stakeholder forum that brings together business, government and civil society to help the country’s enterprise sector ratchet up their business processes in line with globally recognised standards of supply chain integrity.

He underscored the government’s commitment to compliance with international business standards ensuring that Pakistan’s business sector rapidly builds its capacity to address emerging demands of global trade.

The seminar was attended by the country’s leading business leaders, from the export sector, heads of UN agencies in Pakistan, top federal government officers, key leaders of civil society organisations and representatives of leading foreign brand buyers.

Earlier, speaking at the seminar, Khan said that the compliance issues should not necessarily be deemed as part of WTO.

However, he said that the compliance issues would be more significant by 2005 and some countries may use them as a tool against their competitive countries.

The federal minister said that Pakistan has most of laws on social compliance, which are practical and enforceable under the changing trade regime.

He said the government was also planning to work on issue of standard compliance and hoped that the PCI could assist the government on this issue.

Speaking on the occasion, former Federal Commerce Minister and Chairman PCI Razak Dawood introduced the PCI to the participants and spoke about the goals and mission of PCI.

He said “We have mills in Pakistan that are absolutely world class. We just don’t have more of them. We are beginning now with factories in Karachi and Lahore, but will soon include other exporting regions like Sialkot, Faisalabad and others to join.” It was in Dawood’s tenure as commerce minister that compliance was made a part of the Trade Policy 2002.

lqbal Ebrahim of Al-Karam Textiles delivered a keynote address from the perspective of the industry and highlighted compliance as a business strategy.

President CSCC, an international compliance organisation, Greg Gardner described other compliance initiatives across the world and presented an international situation analysis of issues relating to compliance, with specific mention of C-TPAT the new supply chain security regime introduced by the United States.

Director of the International Labour Organisation Hans Lokollo also spoke on the Pakistan’s global compliance commitments and expectations from civil society.

Representative of the United Nations Development Organisation Onder Yucer addressed the gathering on the UN global compact, a major initiative of Secretary General Kofi Annan that involves the corporate sector in socially responsible interventions.

The PCI is a national organisation open to enterprises of all sizes and all sectors, duly licenced by the Securities and Exchange Commission as a non-profit body. The current membership, comprising Pakistan’s leading companies represents over 2 billion dollars worth of exports.

The PCI’s mandate is to expand its membership by promoting awareness of the current best practice and standards, propagate understanding of the need for compliance among companies, encourage participation in recognised programme, build capacities of company supply chains to become compliant as well as improve image of Pakistan exporters through effective global linkages.

PCI aims to build a credible programme for verifying the integrity of supply chains in Pakistan in line with globally recognised standards of security and social performance.

Dr Faiz Shah, CEO of PCI, describing the immediate targets of the organisation said our priority is to draft a national compliance standard that conforms to international benchmarks. Next we want to begin work on a national compliance database and finally a ranking system, which helps companies pace their progress on compliance systems on the one hand and allows buyers to identify business partners in Pakistan with confidence.’

Drawing legitimacy from multi-stakeholder participation and ensuring transparency of process that allows for independent random verification, PCI has the potential for immediately focusing buyers’ attention to Pakistan.

Lessons from the carpet and sporting goods industries during the 1990s show how critical it is for exporters to demonstrate compliance with buyer’s codes and standards of supply chain integrity. Today, even though entrepreneurs compete well in price, quality and service, they will need to respond effectively to buyer demand for “clean and green” supply chains.

With competitive market forcing a quota free world, Pakistani exporters will risk becoming incompetitive in the attempt to slash prices at the cost of social, environmental and security standards.

The crucial sectors such as cotton and textile products, leather, sports, and surgical goods manufactured by small enterprises, which are a source of almost 70 per cent of its foreign exchange earning, will stand to benefit from global opportunities as they move together towards total compliance with recognised standards of security, social and environmental performance.

The organisation aims for being a 100 per cent compliant export sector by 2010.

http://www.pakistanlink.com/headline...h04/29/10.html

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Quality, productivity and price
to govern world trade in future

By Alauddin Masood

The South Korean authorities informed a member of Pakistan’s parliamentary delegation, during a visit to that country in the mid-90s, that South Korea imported raw cotton worth 10 million dollars from Pakistan and converted that stuff in to manufactures which, through value addition, earned her 10 billion dollars in exports. In other words, Korea earned 9.90 billion dollars through value addition on raw material imports worth $10 million from Pakistan.

Adopting a similar export-oriented marketing approach, China was able to double its per capita income in 10 years, while some developed countries like the UK and the USA took nearly 50 years to achieve that target.
The successive governments in Pakistan had also been endeavouring to increase exports so as to give a boost to the country’s frail economy, alleviate poverty and improve the quality of life of the citizens. However, despite their best efforts, Pakistan’s exports could only marginally increase, crossing $10 billion barrier while, in the past, these had stagnated for some years around $8 to 9 billion.

Against, this we find that the exports of a medium sized company in the developed world or even in the developing countries like South Korea are higher than our annual exports. The main reasons for Pakistan’s poor performance, on the export front, include: the country’s prolonged dependence on tariff protection as well as fiscal and taxation adjustments to achieve the export targets instead of paying serious attention to improving quality and productivity. If we examine the factors that helped some nations to achieve remarkable progress during this period, we will find that they could attain that coveted position by improving their productivity and quality levels - the ingredients essential for increasing exports - in every sphere of life.

On the other hand, according to a working paper prepared by Pakistan’s Planning Commission, the country loses annually some Rs100 billion due to the application of defective and bad production processes/techniques. This loss is almost 16 per cent of Pakistan’s total annual revenue, which is now slightly over Rs600 billion. The low productivity and poor quality were the main factors which, till the recent past, contributed to inflation, adverse balance of payments, poor economic growth and higher unemployment in the country.

Further, the rapid strides in communication, particularly in the IT sector, has virtually turned the planet earth into a global village where it is becoming increasingly difficult for countries to block the inflow of high quality and low cost products produced by other nations or to push their own low quality goods across the borders regardless of tradition of friendship and long trade history with other communities of the world.

Given the situation, the international agencies are now laying new parameters to facilitate international trade. However, the basic theme underlying global trade remains competition. This means that organisations and industries unable to compete and achieve steady growth in productivity and quality are bound to meet their death through stagnation and bankruptcy.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO), established in 1995 as a sequel to these developments, is pursuing policies promoting liberalisation of the economy and also removal of both tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade arising though increase in product cost due to repetition of testing and certification, increased transportation cost and time-consuming inspection visits.

The fast emerging global trade environment promotes harmonisation of standards on the one hand and on the other it lays emphasis on third party certification of goods and services through internationally accredited and recognised systems. In other words, standards, testing, calibration and accreditation services, as per international requirements, will henceforth play a pivotal role in the international trade, while non-compliance to international standards of quality, environment and health will make international trade quite difficult in future.

Further, erosion of quota and preference margins, as a result of WTO agreements, pose serious challenges to developing countries like Pakistan. Free trade and liberalisation demand reduction in tariffs to imports, which in Pakistan’s case are about 20 per cent of the total revenue collections. Tariff reduction can further accentuate the country’s fiscal imbalance thereby increasing dependence on external resource, more so when its imports surpass exports in volume.

Is Pakistan prepared to meet post-2004 economic challenges? This remains the most frequently asked question at seminars and workshops organised on globalisation related issues. The economists maintain that Pakistan is not really ready to face these challenges. For facing these challenges, they argue, the country has to speed up efforts for developing necessary infrastructure, amending its policies and enacting legislation to protect bio-diversity and plant breeders’ rights. In addition, it has to produce more competitively and cost effectively for staying in the world market and to compete internationally.

Pakistan is primarily an agricultural country. Some 70 per cent of the country’s population is dependent, directly or indirectly, upon agriculture, while 50 per cent of its labour force is engaged in agriculture. The country derives 80 per cent of its foreign trade earnings from the export of its three main crops. Cotton alone contributes over 60 per cent to Pakistan’s foreign trade. While Pakistan produces 10 per cent of the total global production of cotton, it has only two per cent share in the global trade, as per international textile quotas.

Cognisant of the fact that under post-2004 global trade dispensation, only quality, productivity and price will determine the market access, Pakistan government has taken several steps to meet the post-2004 challenges of globalisation, making a beginning with the establishment of a couple of regulatory agencies, including Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority and Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC), for the promotion of quality standards in Pakistan.

Of these, PNAC certifies and grants accreditation to laboratories, in various fields and disciplines, which conform to the national or international quality standards. It has developed accreditation services, aimed at improving the competitiveness and capability of clients to carry out specific tasks related to conformity assessment in accordance with ISO guides, national, regional or international standards.

Accreditation facilitates trade, both within and outside the country, due to increased confidence of the customers and consumers. However, the lack of accredited testing, calibration and certification facilities in Pakistan can affect our exports. Maximum efforts and resources, therefore, need to be allocated by the concerned agencies of the government, exporters and other stakeholders for preparing themselves for the future challenges of trade. The exigency of the time calls for the strengthening, upgrading and preparing the country’s laboratories and other conformity assessment agencies, both in the public and private sector, to secure accreditation to international standards.

As far as Pakistan’s biggest foreign exchange earner - cotton - is concerned, the phasing out of the multi-fibre arrangement, on December 31, 2004, resulting in quota abolition, should naturally go to the advantage of cotton producing countries like Pakistan. Apparently, those countries can increase their earnings from cotton trade, but this can become a reality only if they could produce clean and contamination free cotton and also maintain its moisture level within permissible limits.

For achieving these objectives, the government promulgated Cotton Standardisation Ordinance, 2002, while PNAC has the mandate to accredit laboratories, including fibre-testing laboratories, equipped with high volume instruments, for the instrumental valuation of cotton. These steps aim at meeting the future marketing requirements through necessary administrative and operational arrangements so as to ensure implementation of cotton standardisation and grading programme.

Since the production, processing, marketing and trade of cotton is in the private sector, the growers would henceforth be required to ensure not only clean picking of cotton but also maintaining its moisture content within the permissible limits. As far as ginners are concerned, they would be required to purchase raw cotton on the basis of grades, paying a premium for better grades, and also put grade and staple markings on each bale of cotton. Likewise, the spinners and exporters would now buy raw cotton on the basis of grades and staple rather than its variety or station of origin. This mechanism would ensure better price for better grades and staple and thus motivate all stakeholders to concentrate on quality, grades and staple.

It goes without saying that sustainable development of agriculture, which remains the single largest sector of Pakistan’s economy, is vital for the socio-economic well being of farmers as well as for the progress and prosperity of the country. If farmers follow WTO standards in agricultural production, they have bright prospects for increasing their income and Pakistan enhancing its agricultural exports in the years to come. Non-compliance to WTO regulations, on the other hand, could mean increase in barriers to trade, loss in market share and the country’s exports.

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/mar20...03-2004/p3.htm

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What is driving the stock market?

Having crossed the 5,000 mark last week, the KSE-100 index is now on its way to the 6,000 mark. Not that there won’t be hiccups along the way. In fact, we saw one such hiccup on Friday when the index rose to 5,140 at one point during the day’s trading before dropping to 5,117.88 at the end of the day. Even so, the overall trend is upwards, as it has been for the last two years - a period which has seen the Karachi stock market become one of the best performing markets in the world.

The question is: what is driving the stock market? It’s certainly not buyer interest in new stocks, because there aren’t any new stocks. There have been only two or three IPOs in the last two years, though there has been good investor response to the unloading of some government shares in the state-owned National Bank of Pakistan and the Oil and Gas Development Company. Both the offerings were heavily oversubscribed.

That, however, still does not explain buyer interest in the market. Indeed, one reason why the NBP and OGDC offerings were so heavily oversubscribed was because there have been so few IPOs in recent years, presenting investors with very few opportunities to get in on new offerings on the ground floor before buyer interest pushed share prices upward.

The boom in the market is partly explained by the fact that bank interest rates have been slashed to all-time lows, allowing investors to borrow money cheaply and invest it in stocks. The improvement in the country’s macro economic indicators in the last three years has also contributed to investor confidence in the market.

Another factor driving the market is short-term speculative buying, with investors holding on to stocks sometimes only for a few days or weeks before selling them to cash in on price gains. That’s why up to 70 or 80 per cent of all trading in the market is confined to a few high-performing stocks.

This has allowed some speculative buyers to make a lot of money. But if such investors were to become the main force driving the market, it could lead to the creation of a stock market bubble that might burst one day.

For long-term stability, the market needs investors who are prepared to hold on to stocks for extended periods of time and not dump them for the sake of short-term gains.

But for that to happen, several other things have to occur first. For one thing, entrepreneurs setting up new industrial and commercial ventures, or planning to expand existing operations, will have to come back to the stock market to raise capital, rather than resorting to other means to finance their ventures, such as issuing participation term certificates (PTCs).

In recent years, quite a few public companies have even opted to have themselves de-listed from the stock exchange, preferring to raise capital through the private placement of shares or through low-interest bank loans. Unless this trend is reversed, the number of IPOs on the market is likely to remain very low.

To put this into perspective, it should be remembered that through most of the 1960s, new share offerings averaged about 40 a year. Following the advent of the Z. A. Bhutto government in December 1971 and its nationalisation of many industrial and commercial sectors of the economy, the number of new share offerings fell to an average of five or six a year.

Though the situation improved somewhat in the 1980s and 1990s, it did not improve by very much and new share offerings continued to be few and far between. That is still the case today, all the talk about the revival of investor confidence in the economy notwithstanding.

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/mar20...03-2004/p4.htm

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India's Ecgc Upgrades Pakistan's Country Risk Rating

MUMBAI, March 24 Asia Pulse - The Export Credit Guarantee Insurance Corporation of India (ECGC) has upgraded Pakistan to the second highest country rating category (A2), indicating an improved economic and political climate for bilateral trade and lower insurance premium costs.
After new initiatives (for peace and improved relations), the corporation has upgraded Pakistan by two notches to A2 and the premium rates for export insurance for India's neighbour would be lower compared to what were charged before, ECGC officials said.

Now Pakistan has been brought on par with other South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations, making it easy to manage operations, they said.

ECGC has also upgraded Libya to the B1 level after conducting a review of the economic climate, one official said.

Economic conditions have improved in Libya and India was targetting African states to promote our exports, he added.

Meanwhile, the corporation is planning to introduce an export consignment policy for stock holding agents and subsidiaries abroad for improved export credit risk coverage.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/040324/16/3izoy.html

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Budget will focus on foreign investment, says Shaukat Aziz

KARACHI: Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that an increase in foreign investment will be the central point of the coming budget, adding that Pakistan’s exports had increased 14 percent as compared to the last year.

Speaking at Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association’s Sixth Export Excellence Award function on Sunday, Mr Aziz said Pakistan’s exports had been increasing for the last four years, and they would reach up $12 billion by the end of current fiscal year.

“The exports have witnessed an increase of 14 percent as compared to the last year with a two-third share of the textile sector,” he said.

He hoped that Pakistan would come 5th position in the top 20 textile exporters. Presently, Pakistan is number 9. “The government is helping industrialists promote textile exports. There are many opportunities to increase readymade garment exports, but it demands better quality,” Mr Aziz said.

The finance minister said the government would help provide infrastructure to industrialists to attract foreign investment. —NNI

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-3-2004_pg7_31

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