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ISLAMABAD (December 22 2005): The federal cabinet on Wednesday approved rescheduling of United Arab Emirates firm Etisalat's bid for the sell-off of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL). "The matter has been resolved amicably," Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Rashid said newsmen after the cabinet meeting.

Meanwhile, Etisalat Chief Executive Mohamed Hassan Omran said on Al Arabiya TV on Wednesday Pakistan has given his company five years to pay for 26 percent stake in the PTCL.

"There were several pending issues... part of the deal between us, and the Pakistan government was to pay part of the amount over the next five years," Omran said.

He gave no further details of the deal. An Etisalat team will fly to Pakistan next week to finalise the transaction, which the two sides said on Tuesday would be completed in January.

The negotiators have been trying to salvage the deal since the October 28 payment deadline lapsed, leaving Pakistan facing a huge hole in its $18.4 billion budget for the year to June.

Etisalat shares dipped 1.41 percent in Wednesday's trading on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange to close at 28 dirhams ($7.62).

Analysts said the deal was expected to have little on Etisalat's earnings.

In Karachi, PTCL shares closed 0.3 percent higher at Rs 66.70.

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Administrator @ Defence.pk

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FAISALABAD (December 22 2005): The Asian Development Bank has expressed satisfaction over the availability of fiscal space at national level in Pakistan and hoped that the target for FY2006 at Rs 690 billion was likely to be met.

In a project report, which was forwarded to the ADB Board by Joseph B Eichenberger, Vice-President, ADB, it was stated that one of the biggest changes during the last few years had been the creation of 'fiscal space' in Pakistan.

Debt restructuring, following renegotiations through Paris Club aid and soft loan inflows; greater foreign remittances inflows through banking channels; and open market buying of dollars by the State Bank of Pakistan had built up a foreign exchange reserve of some $12 billion.

The fiscal deficit for FY2006 was expected to remain below 4 percent of GDP. It said that the Central Board of Revenue was strengthening tax collection. In FY2005, collection targets were met and a record amount of Rs 590 billion was collected. The target for FY2006 at Rs 690 billion was likely to be met.

On the expenditure side, the escalation of debt service payments has slowed because of better terms for foreign debt and a general reduction in interest rates. "Nonetheless, with the rise in inflation, interest rates are rising."

It said that despite a number of initiatives aimed at developing Pakistan's economic and social sectors, the country's level of development remains below its potential and social indicators are poor.

Pakistan ranks 142nd out of 177 countries in the human development index. Its low ranking, compared to other countries with similar level of income, indicates the low priority that social sectors have historically received.

There has also been criticism that recent growth had neither made a significant impact on poverty reduction nor generated sufficient employment opportunities. A substantial part of employment is informal. High population growth has led to increasing numbers of unskilled and semi-skilled workers who cannot be absorbed into the labour market, giving rise to social tensions and fuelling extremist groups.

To counter these trends, the government's economic policies seek to uplift livelihoods and create opportunities for the poor through support for employment-generating activities, more effective social sector spending, and more participation in local decision-making.

According to the report, Pakistan Government has declared poverty reduction to be its overriding policy objective and has prepared a poverty reduction strategy paper. A poverty partnership agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB), signed in September 2002, had set out a shared vision and key priorities for reducing poverty in Pakistan.

Availability of fiscal space has enabled the government to increase its social sector and poverty-related expenditures substantially in the last few years from Rs 167 billion in FY2002 to Rs 278 billion in FY2005, and an anticipated Rs 325 billion in FY2006, a 95 percent increase in the last 4 years.

There are still questions about the absorptive capacity of organisations in the social sector and the effectiveness of such expenditures, but the government's commitment to poverty reduction is well established, and indicative surveys have started to report some improvements, including a decrease in unemployment.

Commenting over the 'Far-Reaching Governance Reforms', the report said that governance reforms are the cornerstone of Pakistan government's agenda for reducing poverty.

The previous administration had embarked on an ambitious program of restructuring and reforming government institutions at all levels-federal, provincial, and local--and a bold--step was taken with the devolution plan announced by President Musharraf in 2000 and the promulgation of new Local Government Ordinances (LGOs) by all provinces in 2001.

These reforms will have a fundamental impact on identifying and implementing development programs and allocating financial resources.

Public Resource Management and Governance: Although the first-generation reforms at the federal level had done much to stabilise Pakistan's macroeconomic environment in recent years, second-generation structural reforms at provincial and local government levels are required to deliver the social and other public services needed to bring about a direct and sustained improvement in the quality of life. Accordingly, ADB's country strategy and program update (2006-2008) for Pakistan reiterates the need for continued support for good governance, sustainable pro-poor growth, and social development.

Emphasis on good governance is reflected in ADB funding for several key governance programs approved in the last 4 years. Emphasis on good governance is integral to public resource management reforms that emphasise sustainable public finance, effective civil service, efficient and sufficient public service delivery, and private sector development.

Structural reforms were undertaken under a standby agreement in 2000. These were followed by a 3-year poverty reduction and growth facility of the International Monetary Fund in 2001. Since then, the economy has steadily improved. From a low of 1.8 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP), at constant factor cost, in fiscal year (FY) 2001, the economy grew by 8.4 percent in FY2005. This remarkable progress was achieved as a result of the consistency and continuity of the economic policy framework and the reform process.

Improvements in the external balance of payments, credit rating, and re-entry into international capital markets accompanied this accelerated growth. Monetary expansion, coupled with a buoyant stock market and greater private sector participation, reinforced the growth momentum.

Significant gains by the manufacturing sector, especially by large-scale manufacturing, was accompanied by fairly good performance by the agriculture and services sectors. The overall growth enabled Pakistan to successfully complete and graduate out of the poverty reduction and growth facility in 2004. In June 2004, the International Monetary Fund completed the eighth review of Pakistan's performance under the 3-year poverty reduction and growth facility, and released $253 million.

The Pakistan government expects the economy to grow by more than 7 percent during FY2006. To sustain the growth momentum, the government is taking steps to increase investment. Total investment grew at 16.9 percent in FY2005. Foreign direct investment also increased significantly.

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ISLAMABAD (December 22 2005): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Wednesday that the telecom sector was a big success story in Pakistan owing to the rapidly growing market in the wake of expanding middle class and business-friendly policies being pursued by the government.

He was talking to 4-member Nokia delegation headed by its Vice President, Bosco Novak, which called on him at the Prime Minister Secretariat here.

The Prime Minister said that there were nearly 20-million subscribers of cellular phones in the country and this number was fast increasing. He said teledensity is increasing rapidly as the market is expanding.

Shaukat Aziz said, "The investment climate is extremely conducive and corporate profits are all time high."

He said, "Our economic philosophy is based on deregulation, liberalisation and privatisation along with consistency, continuity and transparency of policies."

The Prime Minister observed that the dynamism of the private sector coupled with low applied tariffs, declining inflation and good governance have set Pakistan on a high growth trajectory.

Shaukat Aziz asked delegation to avail opportunities of investment available in the country and utilise Pakistan as hub and resource base for the region. He also thanked the delegation for its generous contribution towards the President's Relief Fund for the earthquake victims.

The delegation appreciated the conducive environment for doing business in the country and investor-friendly policies of the government and said that it would continue to explore possibilities of further expanding their operations in the country.

The Vice President of Nokia also presented a cheque of 750,000 euros to the Prime Minister for the relief of earthquake victims.

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ISLAMABAD (December 22 2005): Raise in PRSP spending, re-distributive policies, exemption of sales tax for the poor, and building up of their assets, rural industrialisation and employment-intensive strategies could be used to pursue an effective poverty reduction strategy.

Talat Anwar, a UNDP economist, in his paper on 'Prevalence of relative poverty in Pakistan' at the Pakistan Society of Development Economists (PSDE) conference called for devising a new poverty reduction strategy by removing macroeconomic imbalances and enhancing economic growth.

The paper pointed out that pro-poor expenditure on education and health, which absorbs 51-54 percent of total PRSP expenditures, remained low relative to 1990s; so, there was need to raise PRSP spending in these areas, he said.

Education expenditure was respectively 1.7 percent and 1.5 percent of GDP in 2003-04 and 2004-05 compared to 2.4 percent of GDP in 1995-96. Similarly, health expenditure was respectively at 0.7 percent and 0.5 percent of GDP in 2003-04 and 2004-05 compared to 0.8 percent in 1990, he added.

"Poverty and inequality are closely linked; so, there is need to devise a new poverty reduction strategy with focus on re-distributive policies," the paper said.

It said: "While the country has also made commitment to attain Millennium Development Goals, economic policies need to be expansionary besides focus on growth with equity. Fiscal policies should be focussed on scaling up public investment, financial policies geared to channeling more resources to productive private investment and monetary policies to target real economic variables."

The government should exempt products used by the poor from sales tax and recover the resulting revenue losses by increasing the tax on the products used by the rich, he said.

Poverty reduction strategy should be based on policies for building up of assets of the poor and increasing their demand like increase in the prices of agricultural commodities and wages of unskilled labour and it could help in reducing the poverty, Anwar said.

Agrarian strategies and rural industrialisation, reducing macroeconomic biases against agriculture initiating land and tendency reform, improving access to extension services, developing infrastructure and prompting agricultural diversification and the non-farm rural sector could lead to pro-poor growth, which ultimately lead to alleviation of poverty in the country, he said.

Employment-intensive strategies could also lead to more egalitarian growth. Also, rapid expansion of labour-intensive exports might contribute to faster growth. Both these two factors could be used as tool for reducing poverty, he added. Dr Akmal Hussain, who chaired the session, said that the paper was controversial, but it would be helpful for research fellowmen.

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ISLAMABAD (December 22 2005): The Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives, Jahangir Khan Tareen has approved Pakistan's participation in Hanover 2006 scheduled for April 24 to 28. Seventy exhibitors and 120 delegates will attend it against 35 and 80 respectively this year.

The minister for industries will lead the delegation. Ten professors from leading engineering universities will also be included in order to strengthen industry-academia linkage.

In a presentation to the minister on Wednesday, Nabail Hashmi, Chairman Hanover Fair Committee said 48 exhibitors have already confirmed their participation in the fair, while the cut off date was Sunday (December 25).

The minister directed that PIDC brand should be marketed professionally as the corporation was spending Rs 87 million on booking of 1,100 sq. metre space in the fair for the exhibitors as compared to this year 700 sq. metre. The other expenditures will be borne by exhibitors.

Nabail Hashmi said that engineering goods worth euro 1.0 million were exported by three local companies in Hanover Fair 2005. Eighteen companies out of 35 exhibitors are processing trade enquiries which may result in joint ventures or more export.

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 22 : The government of Pakistan plans to initiate the Rs 816 million project for laying transmission system to disperse electricity of 100 MW to be generated by wind mill power plant at Mirpur Sakro, Sindh.

"Under the proposed project, the electric power from the wind power plant will be transmitted to the National Grid System and will help meet future requirement of power. It will also cover power demand-supply gap in the Wapda system beyond the year 2007-08 to some extent, thus reducing the extent of load shedding in the country in future years," a senior government official said.

The project is to be executed by the NTDC (National Electric Dispatch Company) in 18 months and will be operated and maintained by Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO). The project envisages construction of 132 KV double circuit transmission line (60 kilometre) from wind plant to existing Thatta grid station and other 132 kv line of 15 km single circuit transmission line from wind plant to existing Mirpur Sakro grid station with necessary protection equipment, line bays etc for dispersal of 100 MW of power to be generated by the wind mill power plant.

To a question the official said that at present there is a power supply shortage in the system. The power demand projection based on medium growth rate shows that power demand will increase from 12035 MW in 2005 to about 17000 MW in 2010 in the Wapda system and severe shortage of power is expected in the next two years. To meet this demand an additional capacity of order of 7000 MW would be needed.

He said the country has abundant renewable energy resources which mainly constitutes hydro, wind and solar. However, solar and wind resources for power generation could not be developed whereas only meagre quantum of hydro potential could be developed in past. "This resulted in expensive electricity of which affected the industrial as well as social sector."

The official said the government was also devising strategy for additional power generation requirements through development of indigenous resources such as hydro, coal, natural gas and nuclear. He said that it is planned to add about 46oo MW hydro, 1050 MW on coal, 1000 MW combined cycle on gas and 325 MW nuclear capacities into the system by 2011.

Other renewable energy resources such as wind and solar will also be exploited and for this purpose, an alternative energy development board (AEDB) has been established by the government to coordinate, facilitate and promote alternative technologies so as to chive 10 percent share of power through renewable resources by the year 2015. He said that to promote and develop renewable energy technologies in the country, AEDB has planned to attract private investors.

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Lack of infrastructure a major snag: advisor
ISLAMABAD (December 23 2005): Advisor for finance to Prime Minister, Dr Salman Shah has said that despite Pakistan's economic recoup, infrastructure lag still remained a major hitch and mega-projects were being planned for its boost.

Dr Salman Shah said that the benefits of the economic reforms in Pakistan have started trickling down to the people at large, private TV channel reported. Pakistan's exports were on rise, financial deficits were in control, while recovery of the taxes surging, he added.

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KARACHI (December 23 2005): The Global Compact Pakistan, "New Code of Business and Industrial Relations in 21st Century" was formally launched in the country when 52 member enterprises subscribed to the principles of the Global Compact.

The launching ceremony of Global Compact Pakistan, organised by the Employers' Federation of Pakistan (EFP) in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), was held at a local hotel here on Thursday.

The Consul General of Switzerland Julies Andregg, while speaking at the launching ceremony said that Pakistani people should be proud of the idea floated for establishment of Global Compact.

He said that during his three years experience in Karachi he had kept close contact with the business community and found them competent and of immense leadership qualities. He said that Pakistan played positive and important role in the meeting of ILO at Geneva.

Talking about earthquake relief operations, he said that private sector of the country has been playing very important role for rehabilitation of earthquake survivors. He also congratulated the business leadership of Pakistan for their efforts to help quakae survivors.

President of EFP Ashraf W. Tabani said that signing of memorandum of Global Compact by CEOs of member organisation of EFP will send a strong message internationally of our readiness to match with the efforts of rest of the business community in the world to a sustainable future of socio-economic growth.

He said since the United Nation Secretary General Kofi Anan's call in 2000 to the world business community to adopt Global Compact, EFP has been closely working with the International Organisation of Employer, the ILO office in Islamabad and the regional employers's federation for advocating and promoting the principles of Global Compact.

He said that nine principles of Global Compact defined the new code of business and industrial relations in 21st century in the wake of the growing challenges of globalisation, out of which two principles related to human rights, four to labour rights while three to environment. In January 2004, in the global summit, 10th principle regarding "corruption" was added in the Global Compact about which the International Employers' Community has expressed some reservations.

Speaking on the occasion, representative of ILO, Zafar Shaheed said ILO considers all 10 principles equally important and it pays particular attention to the four principles relating to labour, adopted by the Global Compact from ILO, in its 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work

He was of the view that these principles work together and reinforce each other, they work in turn with other principles of the Global Compact, to produce a conducive environment for business, free of human and labour rights abuse and environmental abuse.

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Pakistan offers India two transit fee formulae

Islamabad seeks 50 cents for every 100 metres
of line but India offers 10 cents

By Khalid Mustafa

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad has offered two formulae to New Delhi for determining the annual transit fee to be collected by Pakistan from India for gas pipeline that would pass through its territory under the proposed $7.2 billion Iran-India-Pakistan (IPI) gas pipeline.

"We have offered two formulae — one based on distance and other based on volume of gas — during the technical parleys between the two countries at the level of Joint Working Group held in New Delhi on December 16-17," a senior government official told The News.

During the talks, New Delhi offered under the volume-based formula five per cent of the total gas to be imported by India through IPI pipeline to Pakistan as transit fee but Pakistan refused to accept the Indian proposal stress for transit fee in cash. India did not agree to it, however, it showed willingness to give transit fee in cash if the formula based on distance is applied.

Responding to a question, the official said Pakistan would receive a maximum of 2.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) gas from Iran while India will have 3.1 bcfd, showing that about 5.6 bcfd gas will be transported to Pakistan and India. To another question, he said, diameter of the pipeline would be around 56 inches.

The official elaborated that India offered as transit fee five per cent of 3.1 bcfd of gas to Pakistan but Islamabad rejected the offer, saying that it would charge transit fee in cash. Under the distance-based formula, Pakistan sought 50 cents per every 100 metres of pipeline passing through Pakistani territory but India offered 10 cents per every 100 metres. The official said Pakistani side started from top as bargaining chip for future transit fee during the talks and India kicked off from bottom with offer of 10 cents per 100 metres of pipeline. He said the two sides would be able to decide the transit fee in the next two or thee meetings of the Joint Working Group.

The official said under international best practices, both the formulae are being practiced for determining the transit fee. There are some countries, according to the latest practices, which are charging 40 or 50 cents per every 100 metres of pipeline as transit fee. The official said that according to Pakistan’s estimates, the annual transit fee to be received by Pakistan would hover around $220 million.

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SUKKUR, Dec 22: President General Pervez Musharraf said here on Thursday that if work on new dams was not taken up now, a process of desertification would start in Sindh after 2010.

The president said he had launched a mass contact campaign to make the people of Sindh realize the gravity of the situation and the need to build new reservoirs.

He stressed the need for consensus on the issue and said that reservations of Sindh would be removed.

He said that due to sedimentation in Tarbela and Mangla reservoirs, water resources of the country were depleting fast and, therefore, construction of new dams had become essential.

The president was addressing representatives of growers, nazims, councillors and members of the national and provincial assemblies from Sukkur, Shikarpur, Khairpur, Naushahro Feroze, Ghotki, Kashmore, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Larkana, Jacobabad and Nawabshah districts at the Sukkur airport as part of his mass contact programme.

He said his campaign was not confined to any particular dam; he was working for more dams and for formulating a national water policy under which large- and medium- water reservoirs could be built to meet the country’s future agriculture needs.

He said the issue would be discussed in the National Assembly and relevant reports would be published in Urdu, Sindhi, English and Pashto for eliciting public opinion and educating people about merit and demerits of dams. He said the issue could also be discussed in Senate and it could even be taken up at the level of judiciary.

Gen Musharraf said that keeping in view the sensitivity of the matter, he had come to directly contact the people of Sindh to tell them about the importance of water reservoirs. He said a decision on the dam would be taken after taking the people of Sindh into confidence. He said he would go to the last extent to address their ‘genuine’ reservations.

He maintained that new dams would bring more than 30 million acres of land under cultivation and strengthen the economy. He said dams were vital for Pakistan’s survival. “Any delay in a decision on dams will be suicidal for us,” he observed.

He said that a detailed designing and feasibility report of the Kalabagh dam had been completed and if work was started on the project in 2006 it would be completed in 2012.

He said the government could provide judicial and constitutional guarantees with regard to distribution of water from the dam. Institutions of parliament, judiciary and the executive could be put in action for taking such decisions and to protect the interests of Sindh, he added.

About Bhasha, Akhori and Katzara dams, the president said these were likely to be completed in 2016, 2014, 2019, respectively, and completion of the dams along with Kalabagh by 2020 would mean that the country would have 20MAF (million acre feet) of water to meet its agriculture needs.

He said the Kalabagh dam could store monsoon flows and additional flows coming from the Kabul, Chitral, Swat, Soan and Haro rivers and added that it was the only project ready for implementation. He said there were also the problem of an access road to Bhasha and some 350km road would have to be built for the purpose. He maintained that the Bhasha dam site was away from the monsoon belt and, therefore, from the feasibility point of view, Kalabagh was the most suitable site for building a dam.

Answering a question, he said it could be ensured that no canals were taken out from the Kalabagh dam and that it remained a storage reservoir.

The president also addressed journalists.

He asked the Sindh media to play its role in a positive way to educate the people of the province on the issue. He said the Kalabagh dam would bring more benefits and prosperity to Sindh than other provinces. He said he was aware that the people of Sindh had some very genuine reservations about dams, especially the Kalabagh. He said he wanted to speak to them with an open mind.

The president said the government planned to build a barrage at Sehwan which would have five canals, but work on the Rs100 billion project had been delayed because there was no water available in the absence of a dam.

He said all nine members of the technical committee, including its chairman A.N.G. Abbasi, had agreed on building major reservoirs. Eight of them had supported construction of the Kalabagh dam on the condition that no canal was taken out of it, he added.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahimi and other officials were also present.

APP adds: President Musharraf held in Karachi an important interaction with people of different shades of opinion on the issue of water reservoirs.

The meeting, held under the aegis of the Sindhi TV channel KTN, was also attended by the president of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, Syed Qamruzzaman Shah, who discussed the issue in detail vis-a-vis reservations of the people of Sindh, lack of trust and misgivings.

Without expressing opposition to the need for construction of more water reservoirs in the country, Mr Shah suggested to the president that construction of Bhasha and Kalabagh Dams should be taken up simultaneously.

A number of other participants also expressed their views on the issue.

They included former president Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari, Senate Chairman Mohammedmian Soomro, Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, federal ministers Ghous Bux Mahar and Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Sindh former minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh, Provincial Coordination Minister Dr Sohrab Sarki, Sindh Minister for Mines Irfanullah Marwat, noted intellectual Hameed Sindhi, convener of Parliamentary Committee on Water Reservoirs, Senator Nisar Ahmed Memon, prominent industrialist Zubair Motiwala and Sindh Assembly Deputy Speaker Rahila Tiwana.

President Musharraf said he could have easily wriggled out of this issue, but being a Sindhi he had taken it up in the larger interest of Pakistan and especially Sindh. He pointed out that in the past this issue had been politicized so much that it had hardened people’s stand.

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KARACHI (December 25 2005): Mari Gas Company and Czech Republic MND Exploration and Production Limited (MND E&P)-based company has made a successful gas discovery in Balochistan by drilling and testing of gas reservoir at Khost near Ziarat some 130 km east of Quetta.

The Managing Director of Mari Gas Company Limited (MGCL), Lieutenant-General Imtiaz Shaheen, told Business Recorder: "After this discovery, we would start appraisal of the 'gas well' within the next 12 months and then we can estimate the extent of gas reserves of the well. The appraisal some time takes 12 to 24 months."

He said, "So far, we have spent about $5.1 million, including employment of engineers and field workers. The company had started drilling on July 15 and met success on December 15, this year," he added.

The gas discovery was made at Ziarat Exploratory Well No 1, after drilling and testing at Khost.

The 'Ziarat gas well' has been tested and has shown gas discovery in its Dungan Limestone with minimum of 6.867 MMSCF per day at wellhead flowing pressure (WHFP) of 664 psi at 32/6" choke.

The flow rates from the well are expected to increase significantly with acid treatment at the time or its completion.

The discovered gas has healing value of ±946 BTU with 85.49 percent methane, 1.9 percent ethane, 6.68 percent carbon dioxide, 4,45 percent nitrogen and over 6000 ppm hydrogen-sulphide contents. The gas having high hydrogen sulphide is very poisonous and toxic and needs to be processed and sweetened prior to use as well as its utilisation.

The company (MGCL) intends to undertake drilling operations in the block to further appraise and delineate the structure to establish realistic estimates of reserves and to increase the production to commercial level.

The company developed the discovery on fast track basis by establishing early production facilities to bring gas on production.

The Ziarat Exploration block is a joint venture between Mari Gas Company, with 60 percent working interest as operator, and MND Exploration and Production Limited (MND E&P) of Czech Republic, with 40 percent working interest in the block.

The joint venture between MGCL and MND has proved to be a successful and pro-active partnership in terms of technical co-operation and mutual understanding which resulted in successful and efficient completion of the project in the shape of gas discovery.

This discovery will have a significant impact on adding indigenous resources which would not only result in substantial foreign exchange savings, but would also lead to other economic benefits in terms of bringing prosperity with job opportunities and socio-economic uplifts in the remote areas of Khost, Balochistan.

The MGCL had recently discovered gas in an exploratory well in its Mari D&PL area early in 2005 and established Sui Main Limestone and Pirkoh Limestone as gas reservoir. The current discovery is the second success of the company (MGCL) during the year---2005.

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NEW YORK, Dec 24: Dinar Standard, a business strategy e-magazine, released its 2nd annual ranking of top 100 businesses in the 57 member countries of the OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference) on Friday.

The ranking shows a healthy 28.7 per cent in aggregate revenue growth of its listed companies over the previous year - indicating a strengthening of economies in the Muslim world.

Only three Pakistani companies made the DS 100 ranking. Pakistan State Oil Company (PSO), which is ranked 44th and Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL) listed at 96 and Oil and Gas Development Limited (OGDC) at 100.

The purpose of the DS 100™ is to portray as close a picture as possible of the corporate environment in OIC member countries. It continues to include government and private enterprises, for which data was verified through public sources, to reflect their disproportionately significant role in the Muslim world economies. At the same time, more than half of the list is comprised of publicly listed companies (57 of the 100) representing the growing public markets of the Muslim world.

“This year’s ranking continues to recognize the rich diversity of corporate activity in the Muslim world,” states Rafi-uddin Shikoh, Editor of Dinar Standard™. “With the tremendous global media interest in the first DS 100™ ranking, we are confident that the ranking is playing its part in raising the spirit of competitiveness in the region, as well as serving as a means of motivation and pride to the ever-important workforce and corporate leaders alike.”

Saudi Aramco, the world’s top oil producer, continues to lead the DS 100™ as the largest business enterprise of the Muslim world with an estimated 36 per cent rise in its revenues from the previous year. Overall, the energy sector dominates the top of the list with 8 of the top 10 being state-owned Integrated Oil & Gas companies. However, it is the diversified conglomerates that have the highest representation on the list (22 of the 100), with Turkish family owned conglomerates Koc Holding, Sabanci Holding, and Dogus Holding having the highest revenues.

The largest growth companies this year are part of the Orascom Group of Egypt with its publicly listed companies Orascom Telekom recording a 113 per cent growth and Orascom Construction recording 98 per cent revenue growth compared to previous year.

Turkish companies continue to lead the list with 25 represented enterprises, followed by 18 from Malaysia, 15 from Saudi Arabia, and 11 from Indonesia. Other countries represented include the UAE, Pakistan, Iran, Nigeria, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Bahrain, and Algeria.

Dinar Standard is an online business strategy publication which provides actionable insights and resources for businesses in the Muslim world; addressing their unique challenges and opportunities.

APP adds: Commenting on appreciable ranking of Pakistani companies in “Top 100 Businesses of the Muslim World in 2005,” Rafi-uddin Shikoh, Editor Dinar Standard, said it points “positively” towards impacting trend of privatization.

In an interview with APP on Saturday, Mr Shikoh said “the exciting story relating to Pakistani companies in the DS100 are the recent listing of OGDC in its public market and the pending sale of management shares in PTCL.”

“Both point to a positive economic trend of privatization,” which, he said was “a cornerstone for driving competition.”

He stated that it would be of particular interest for Pakistan to benchmark against its other industry counterparts on the list (Malaysia Telekom, Turk Telecom, Etisalat and others) and see how PTCL manages to transition itself to a new management and how well it is able to improve on its customer value.

In reference to the general Pakistani corporate sector, he said “the continued strong performance” of the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) “shows the strength of its fundamentals.”

“It has specifically been impressive that the market for the most part, did not skip a bit given the unfortunate earthquake calamity.”

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Pakistan has sought the support of the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA in its quest for being treated at par with India by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which controls developing countries access to nuclear technology, according to a media report.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was aware of Pakistan's needs for nuclear technology to meet its growing demand for energy, local daily Dawn on Sunday quoted.

It claimed that IAEA believes that Pakistan's requirements of nuclear technology should be met to help it generate more electricity and eliminate widespread salinity and waterlogging.

While Pakistan has taken up the issue of acquiring from the US nuclear energy for peaceful purpose, it is also asking IAEA to use its influence with the Bush Administration as well as other members of the NSG to get a fair treatment, the report said.

Pakistan has informed the IAEA that it has launched a Rs 178 million programme to reclaim 25,000 acres of waterlogged and saline land across the country. "But this programme needs nuclear technology from the United States and other members of NSG," a source was quoted as saying by the daily, adding that the country would also be needing 8,800MW of electricity by 2030.

The sources told the paper that the US and other Western countries should treat Pakistan at par with India to ensure equilibrium in the region.

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Foreign investment exceeds $1b

BY JAVED MAHMOOD
LAHORE - For the first time the inflow of foreign investment in Pakistan has exceeded one billion dollar mark in first five months of the current financial year, The Nation learnt on Saturday.
From July-November 2005-06, the country has received 734 million dollars foreign direct investment (FDI) and 271 million dollars portfolio investment. Total investment in five months of the ongoing fiscal year stands at 1.005 billion dollars.
The country has received 124 per cent more FDI in this fiscal year when compared to 327.7 million dollars total FDI received during July-November 2004-05. In foreign exchange the FDI inflow increased by 406.3 million dollars in five months of current fiscal year.
Detailed break-up shows the power sector has emerged as the leading FDI receiving sector and it received 281.20 million dollars, compared to only 73.3 million dollars in the whole fiscal year 2004-05.
The communication (telecommunication/information technology) was the second major sector that generated 146.7 million dollars FDI in five months of 2005-06.
During July-November period of this fiscal year, oil exploration received 114.5 million dollars FDI, financial business received 59.7 million dollars, trade 49.3 million dollars, chemical 24.2 million dollars, food 8.6 million dollars, beverages 3.6 million dollars, tobacco one million dollars, textile 13.4 million dollars, electronics 7.7 million dollars, pharmaceutical 10.8 million dollars, construction 16.6 million dollars, transport 2.7 million dollars, tourism 1.4 million dollars, cement 17 million dollars, sugar 3.8 million dollars while remaining sectors received 67.1 million dollars FDI.
Like past, the United States remained the leading investor country in Pakistan and invested 349 million dollars - 171 million dollars FDI and 178 million dollars portfolio. Saudi Arabia has emerged the second major investor and the country received 265.6 million dollars FDI from the said brethren country.
The United Kingdom remained the third major investor, with a total investment of 90.4 million dollars - 56.2 million dollars FDI and 34.2 million dollars portfolio investment.
Hong Kong invested 45.3 million dollars - 14 million dollars FDI and 31.3 million dollars portfolio investment. Japan invested 17.1 million dollars - 19.8 million dollars FDI while portfolio investment recorded an outflow of 2.7 million dollars. Netherlands made 41 million dollars investment in Pakistan in first five months of this fiscal year - 38.7 million dollars FDI and 2.2 million dollars portfolio investment.
The FDI received from other countries amounted to 193 million dollars.
However, the United Arab Emirates ejected its FDI worth 31.5 million dollars from Pakistan, but made portfolio investment of 20.6 million dollars.
The officials of the Board of Investment are linking increase in the inflow of foreign investment to over one billion dollars with accelerated privatisation, continued strong economic growth and improvement in investment climate in the country.
In fiscal year 2005-06, the federal government officials have estimated 2.5 billion dollars total inflow of foreign investment as against 1.67 billion dollars in 2004-05.
In 2005-06 budget, the government first projected 3.5 billion dollars inflow of foreign investment, but reduced the estimate to 2.5 billion dollars in view of relaxation given to Etisalat in the payment of 2.6 billion dollars bid amount for PTCL in five years.

Neo

LAHORE — After declaring the Kalabagh Dam environmentally and seismically viable project and more feasible than the Bhasha Dam, the government has come up with an estimated cost of around $15 billion for the proposed water reservoir.


The Bhasha Dam would cost around $20 billion to 22 billion but it would take extra 18 months to finalise the estimated cost.

Initially, the Kalabagh Dam cost was estimated at $6.1 billion but now s