INDUSTRY NEWS MAY-JUNE 2007
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1	Swiss firms to invest in Pakistan	KARACHI, May 23: Consul-General of Switzerland Martin Bienz has said that most of Swiss companies operating in Pakistan have planned to make new investment to further expand their business activities. He was talking to chairman and members of SITE Association of Industry Imran Shaukat on his first visit to association's office. Bienz pointed out that the purpose of his visit was to strengthen Pakistan-Swiss trade ties and help Pakistani manufacturers to market their products in Swiss market which is not familiar with "made in Pakistan" items. (more...)
2	Pakistan to serve as major trans-regional hub: PM Aziz	BOAO, April 21 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Saturday said Pakistan was open for investment and could serve as a trans-regional hub in transportation, trade and energy for the Middle East, China and other regional countries, offering lucrative incentives, competitiveness and low cost of operations. Speaking as Chairman of a special session on "Pakistan-Trans-regional Hub, linking Asia to the Middle East and Beyond" at the Boao Asia Forum 2007, he apprised the gathering about the reforms undertaken by the government, including those in the banking, oil and gas and telecommunication sectors. He said the country will get US 6 billion dollars investment, China and Pakistan have agreed to set up a Joint Investment Company that will lend capital for various projects across the country, and banking sector was witnessing phenomenal growth. Goldman Sachs, the founder of BRICS (Brazil,Russia, India and China) said Pakistan wanted to increase its power generation from various sources and said it was acquiring energy through nuclear, gas, hydel and other sources and coal energy. He said this sector had lots of opportunities for investment. Former Prime Minister of Australia Bob Hawke, hailed Pakistan for its economic performance and good governance. Wang Jianzhou Chief Executive of China Mobile explained the solid financial prospects his company acquired Paktel. Zhang Hongbiao, General Manager of China Aviation Industry Corporation II, said the two countries co-developed the K-8 aircraft. A repair and production plant for K-8 has been setup in Pakistan and a large number of aircraft have been exported. He said his company was also interested in establishing links in the automobile sector of the country. C. Lawrence Greenwood, Vice President of Asian Development Bank, spoke of ADB's role in helping Pakistan realize its true potential to be a regional hub. He said the bank was assisting Pakistan in several ways. He said the trade corridor was being improved and the bank would help in trade facilitation, customs and to improve the transit times. He said the ADB also recognizes the need to meet country's high energy needs and would help it in this respect since energy was available from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. (Posted @ 18:10 PST). © DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2007
3	Tariff incentives for investment planned	ISLAMABAD, May 12: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the government will provide tariff and non-tariff facilities to encourage foreign investment in the manufacturing sector. He was talking on Saturday to a delegation of Japanese investors and Pakistani investment banks led by Haseeb Rehman, president of the Universal Metal Corporation of Japan and chief executive officer of Aisha Steel Mills project. (more...)
4	Engineering sector's development assured	ISLAMABAD, April 11: Abdul Hafeez Chaudhary, chief executive officer, Engineering Development Board, has assured that the government will continue policy initiatives taken for development of the engineering sector. The CEO was addressing officers of the board here on Wednesday for the first time after taking over the charge of the post. He added that the Ministry of Industries, Production and Special Initiatives was keen to improve its interaction with the engineering sector and in pursuance of this policy, former CEO, EDB, Imtiaz Rastgar, an industrialist, has been inducted in advisory council of the ministry. (more...)
5	Metal goods production line to be set up: Govt to provide Rs500m	ISLAMABAD, May 7: The government has decided to establish a metal products production line to help produce state-of-the art metal products to boost exports. Official sources told Dawn here on Monday that metal products used in automobile, textile machinery, tractors, trucks, cookware, sanitary fittings, valves and other similar products will be manufactured as per international standard under the new project to be set up at Daska, Punjab. (more...)
6	Pakistan, Ukraine cooperation stressed	LAHORE, June 12: Ukrainian Ambassador Igor Pasko has said that both Pakistan and Ukraine have very strong credentials to give new strength to their respective economies, and lack of information about each other's potentials is coming in the way. He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday. The ambassador stressed the need for people-to-people contact between the two countries to give a boost to the existing level of two-way trade. (more...)
7	Concessions granted on machinery import	ISLAMABAD, June 15: The government has amended two customs notifications to extend concession to businessmen on import of plant and machinery with retrospective effect. SRO 491 of 2007 supersedes SRO 572 of 2005, and grants further concession in cases where import was made prior to June 30, 2004. A customs official said under the said SRO financial instruments, securities or indemnity bonds, etc., shall be released without furnishing the requisite production or installation certificate where customs duty at the rate of five per cent or more was paid. (more...)
8	Chinese overseas investment	BEIJING, June 5: China's overseas investment is expected to grow at least 30 per cent in 2007, as the government continues to encourage local companies to expand abroad, state media said on Tuesday. This year overseas investment made by Chinese enterprises is likely to exceed $20.9 billion dollars, said Chen Jian, assistant minister of commerce, according to the Shanghai Securities New. (more...)
9	Growth rate better than last year's 6.6pc, claims Aziz	ISLAMABAD, May 28: A rather low per capita income and manufacturing output marred an otherwise good 7.02 per cent growth rate in national economy - a fraction above the 7 per cent target - on the back of better results in agriculture and services sectors during the current financial year. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the growth rate was better than last year's 6.6 per cent and described it as 'very robust growth'. It reflected the government's positive economic policies. (more...)
10	Large-scale manufacturing registered a growth of 8.8pc in 2006-07	ISLAMABAD, June 8: The government on Friday issued the Economic Survey 2006-07. Following is the text of the Executive Summary of the survey: Pakistan's economy continues to maintain its strong growth momentum for the fifth year in a row in the fiscal year 2006-07. With economic growth at 7.0pc in the current fiscal year, Pakistan's economy has grown at an average rate of almost 7.0pc per annum during the last five years. This brisk pace of expansion on sustained basis has enabled Pakistan to position itself as one of the fastest growing economies of the Asian region. The growth that the economy has sustained for the last five years is underpinned by dynamism in industry, agriculture and services, and the emergence of a new investment cycle supported by strong growth in domestic demand. Real GDP grew strongly at 7.0pc in 2006-07 as against the revised estimates of 6.6pc for last year and 7.0pc growth target for the year. Growth of value addition in Commodity Producing Sector (CPS) is estimated to increase by 6.0pc in 2006- 07 as against 3.4pc in 2005-06. Within the CPS, agriculture and manufacturing grew by 5.0pc and 8.4pc, respectively. Large-scale manufacturing registered a growth of 8.8pc in 2006-07 against the target of 12.5.0pc and last year's achievement of 10.7pc. As a result of structural transformation, the share of agriculture in GDP has declined by 3.2 percentage points in the last 6 years alone and the share of the manufacturing sector has increased by 3.1 percentage points in the same period. © DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2007