There exists a big scope of cooperation, because both the countries are members of WTO, he added.

Igor Pasco wished of technology transfer in the fields of mineral, gas and health diagnostic system.

The health diagnostic system could be used in backward areas of the country where hospitals are short.

The health diagnostic system could overcome the dearth of dispensaries in the far-flung areas of the country up to a larger extent.

Ukraine could use the Gawadar Port via Tajikistan for an easy access to the Gulf countries, the Federal Minister said.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim asked Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) to start level playing field with Ukraine government for better trade links and commercial ties by starting initial meetings.

He was replying to media questions after chairing a meeting to review the performance of Pak‑Lybia Holding Company Ltd at FTC building here Saturday.

He said that mark up was inflation related and it was still stuburn. It is not in country’s interest to lower mark up rates unless inflation is brougth down, he noted.

“However, the government is looking into the possibility of providing relief to textile sector because they are facing problems of high interest rates and power crisis”, he said.

Tareen noted that strike was not a very constructive way of moving ahead. “We will sit together with the Governor of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to work out some relief including comfort in 12 to 18 months in repayments to improve their cash flows while they will continue to pay mark up on their loans, he added.

To another question about the news of a negative economic growth, he said that though industrial sector has recorded a negative growth in the first five six months, the agriculture and services sectors will witness a postive growth due to high prices and strong banking and financial sectors.

“I do not see any decline in GDP growth below the set target, but only time tell”, he observed.

To a question about the inflows, the Advisor said the country will get $ 156 million this month on account of expense of “war on terrort”. But this will a payment uptill April 2008, The rest of the payment is still pending. Uptill now we have not received any payments in connection with war on terror.

He said said that the government receipts have improved due to reverse flow in T‑bills on high mark up, better revenue collection and foreign inflows. This is the reason that the government has retired its overdraft.

To a question regarding his visit Pak‑Lybia Holding Company, he said that DFIs and investment companies were set up for attracting investment from their joint venture countries and play a role in infrastructure and capital market developments.

They had started working as commercial banks and played in stock market and were turned into casinos. This is the reason why I am visiting every DFI to invite their attention towards their actual objectives, he opined.

Tareen said that Pak‑Kuwait Investment Company has invested billions of rupees in stock market. They had wasted good money in the stock market.

We will impose a “ban” on investment by DFIs and investment companies in the stock market. They will be allowed only a limited investment for the development of capital market.

They will do a core business of infrastructure development and capital market development and to create a long term bonds.

They must finance projects of public‑private partnerships of the government. They must bring in investment from partners countries like Libya, Oman, Kuwait, Brunai, Iran into project financing.

To a question, he said that treasury stock Ordinance will be functional soon to allow all the listed companies to buy back their shares and sell them whem their prices are high.

This was said by Mian Shaukat Masud, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry while talking to Mrs. Mishi Masika Mwatsahu, High Commissioner of Kenya who visited ICCI.

The ICCI President said our bilateral trade is limited to certain areas, however,the two countries are blessed with lot of natural resources and offer good opportunities to enhance their business relations by tapping different sectors of the economies of Kenya and Pakistan.

He called upon the businessmen of both countries to look for entering joint ventures in different sectors as well as hold trade fairs in each other country for further boosting bilateral trade.

He said presently volume of bilateral trade is tilted heavily in favour of Kenya which needs to be made balanced by enhancing Pakistan’s exports to Kenya. He said ICCI is building an Export Display Centre where foreign companies will also be given space to display their products and invited Kenyan businessmen & investors to take advantage of this opportunity.

Speaking to the business community Mrs. Mishi Masika Mwatsahu said Pakistan and Kenya has historic relations as Pakistan has always supported Kenya in getting independence.

She said Pakistani businessmen should consider Kenya an attractive country to tap for investment as Kenya is a gateway for Pakistani investors to enter the big market of 38 African states, which are landlocked to Kenya that has international seaport of Mumbasay.

She said Kenya will fully support Pakistani investors in exploring potential areas of investment in Kenya. She said Kenya has established One Stop Window facility for foreign investors to facilitate them and for making business processes easier for them.

She said Kenya is endowed with natural resources, but it needs foreign investment to fully exploit and utilize these resources. Therefore, she invited Pakistani investors to take advantage of these business opportunities in Kenya.

She said NADRA has already won in open competition to make national identity cards and passports for Kenyan nationals and is performing well in Kenya.

The project, to be completed at a cost of Rs. 30 million, will provide support to women entrepreneurship ventures in the province by removing handicaps as regard to business infrastructure, business development and by providing conducive environment for women owned business, said Provincial Chief of SMEDA, Javed Iqbal Khattak.

Talking with APP, Javed Iqbal Khattak said the center, funded by Ministry of Industries and executed by SMEDA, will be set up at University Road in Peshawar by the end of January 2009.

The Women Business Development Center (WBDC), he added, would provide all business related facilities to businesswomen under one roof and serve as a suitable place for women entrepreneurs of NWFP to trade and exhibit their products.

Javed Khattak said women business development in NWFP is hindered due to several reasons including lack of mobility, poor or non‑existent education facilities for women, low level of infrastructure development and lack of proper working environment.

The WBDC will provide conducive business environment for women owned business in the form of Business Incubation Center, he informed.

Similarly, the center will also work on capacity building of Women Entrepreneurs, provision of all encompassing facility for office space, product showcasing, exhibition sale, training and for promotion of entrepreneurial culture amongst women in NWFP.

About Business Incubators, Javed Khattak said, the incubators will serve as working place on temporary basis for women entrepreneur performing business at their homes. After establishing of business at incubators, the businesswomen will shift to a suitable place, he added.

The center will have ten incubators available on subsidized rent for the female entrepreneurs for a minimum period of six months and maximum of two years.

A display center having ten stalls will also be available at the center on subsidized rents for a minimum period of one week and maximum of six weeks. The WBDC will provide a secure, hassle free and totally female oriented environment to businesswomen. Some shared facilities will also be provided at nominal price including business plan, marketing plan, seminars, workshops, training programmes, internet services, photocopy, fax, phone calls, training room and printouts.

Javed Khattak expressed the hope that WBDC will play a vital role in development of the economy of the province by promoting female entrepreneurship as according to latest survey an increasing trend of women entering in Cottage industry in NWFP is registered.

Speaking at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday, he said, “The government will not only give full protection to the investments, bilateral trade agreements and projects through legislation for the next ten years but also implement them in letter and spirit.”

The LCCI president Mian Muzaffar Ali ,Senior Vice president Tahir Javed Malik, Vice President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh and Director General Board of Investment Najeeb Khawar Awan also spoke on the occasion.

The minister said that the government would ensure continuation of its policies and further strengthen them adding “The government  has created a full‑fledged ministry of investment to ensure return of investment to the country.”    

He said government wants to facilitate investors by extending them all possible help for the investment in the country.

He said the government has given clear and targeted directions to the ministries for ensuring betterment of  people and the country and hoped that its positive results would start coming soon.

Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan said that continuation of policies has been major concern for investors and “Now we have democratic government and we have proposed legislation to ensure continuation of projects even if there is a change of government.”

The minister said government is also organising investment conferences for the business communities abroad to highlight the investment friendly policies and vast opportunities and potentials for investment in different sectors in the economy.

Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan who spoke at length about various issues, said that the government was making all out efforts to give relief to the industrial sector which was passing through a depressing period.

The minister said that all the policies of the present government were home grown and its only agenda was masses welfare and in this regard LCCI would have to forward its suggestions.

He said the government was not oblivious of the problems being faced by the business community and it had given  the task to  the ministry of investment for economic reforms and for stimulating investment in the country.

Regarding the issue of enhancement in Credit Reporting Period, the minister promised to take up the issue with the ministry of finance  as in the existing scenario, 90 days Credit Reporting period was too short.

Speaking on the occasion LCCI President Mian Muzaffar Ali called for strengthening the process of implementation of policies saying that all the problems were only because of non‑availability of any proper framework to ensure the implementation of policies.

The LCCI Senior Vice President Tahir Javed Malik and Vice President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said the government needs to explore renewable energy resources so that we can promote our business on sustainable basis. The government also needs to develop strong liaison with business community and whatever the decisions it takes, must be on permanent basis.

Pakistan’s banking sector has remained remarkably strong and resilient, despite facing pressures emanating from weakening macroeconomic environment since late 2007, said the SBP report.

However, the report cautioned that excessive dependence on the banking system to meet the financing needs of economy, as well as other participants of the financial sector, is quite stark in comparison with other emerging economies, where in general, the growth in other components of the financial sector, such as capital markets, and complements supplements the financing capacity of the banking sector.

The report also bitterly criticised the long suspension of capital market operation through floor system which it said shocked the economy.

While financial markets (money market and foreign exchange market) remained resilient to developments in the macroeconomic environment and functioned well in maintaining financial stability, the imposition of the floor of 9,144 points on the KSE-100 index in August 2008 has adversely impacted investor sentiments by effectively blocking the exit mechanism generally taken for granted in a market based system, said the report.

Incidentally, there is no known precedent of placing a floor on a market index, albeit temporary suspension of trading in equity market has been implemented in some cases as an extreme measure, it said.

The review said the banking system is on strong footing and has long term potential – a feature which has served to attract a substantial amount of FDI in the sector, with established global financial institutions now active participants in the domestic financial sector.

The report states that with strong regulatory oversight, there has been a significant enhancement of capital and risk-weighted capital adequacy, supported by high provisioning requirements which were tightened in 2007.
Stringent loan provisioning requirement has built sufficient reserves against the nonperforming loans [NPL]s’ portfolio.

“In contrast to the liberalised financial system in the west which took its toll in the form of the current global financial crisis, there are stringent regulations and adequate policies in place to help the banking system manage its risks,” said the report.

The Report said solvency profile has improved, and given the pressures from the macroeconomic environment, there is an indication of marginal deterioration in asset quality, which banks are well-equipped to handle.

Stress tests conducted on June-2008 data indicate that the large banks are relatively robust, with the medium and small-sized banks positioning themselves in niche markets, it added.

Capital adequacy of the banking system is strong, 12.1% at end-June 2008, well above the internationally acceptable minimum requirement of 8.0%, it said and added core capital constitutes about 80.0% of the total capital, and Tier 1 to risk weighted assets ratio of the banking system is at 9.7%.

“This strong capital base is accompanied by adequate reserves on the back of stringent provisioning requirements against classified assets – the net NPLs to net loans ratio is reasonably well-contained ie at 1.3% in June 2008, comparable to international best standards,” the report said.

Profitability of the banking system continues to be impressive, largely emanating from the persistent growth in high-yield earning assets and expanded business volumes.

Before-tax Return On Assets of the banking system remains strong at 2.3% in June 2008. The strengths built up over the years are now coming in handy in managing the recent financial strains.

The Report mentioned that the demand for credit from both the government and the private sector resulted in liquidity strains faced by some individual banks, which also emanated from the combined impact of their weak deposit mobilisation and low interest rates offered on deposits.

The government and public sector organisations’ excessive borrowings from the banking system posed another challenge for the banking system.

Notwithstanding, the liquidity strains were temporary and the inter-bank market is now functioning normally. — Internews

He assured that no official of tax collecting department would harass any industrialist or other tax‑payers.

On pointation from Chairman KATI , Mian Zahid Hussain, Mr Tareen said he had already directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) authorities to rush to Karachi and address the complaints of businessmen about the Customs especially the demurrage issue at the sea‑ports here.

He agreed to the proposal from KATI member that for better management KESC can be bifurcated into two or three distribution companies, and that like in Lahore the generation and distribution can be separated.

He noted that KESC has shown no improvement even after its privatisation and that it continued to incur billions of rupees losses every year. KESC has been nothing to power supplying agencies like PEPCO and it owes billions of rupees.

“ KESC is getting just free power supply from Government. Even than it has failed to deliver to people,” he remarked.

He said a high level Government meeting is scheduled to be held in Islamabad on January 05, 2009 where various important issues would be discussed including KESC and practical solutions would be found and the decisions would be taken to provide some relief to industry and the general public on various accounts.

The PM’s Advisor informed the business community that the Government is working out to solve gas and electricity supply, and the tariffs issues.

He said new policy on gas and electricity will be announced soon. This is based on equalization of tariff for all kind of consumers—industry, small business units and domestic‑to slash the burden on the industry of subsidies being given to other categories of the consumers. This will help in reducing the cost of doing business for industrialists in the country.

“ I strong believe that all the consumers should pay same price of electricity and gas ,” he asserted adding that if the Government wants to provide some relief to any category of the consumers it should give subsidy directly to them.

He said the Government was going to take various important decisions soon on gas and power to the satisfaction of the business community.

He said the Government has also initiated the formulation of national industrial policy and the process would be carried on through maximum participation of business community of the country.

He assured that due representation of the business community would be ensured on the boards of all policy‑making Government institutions including Federal Board of Revenue ( FBR) , National Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to make the polices and systems more practical and targeted‑oriented.

The present Government’s main focus is to strengthen manufacturing and agriculture sectors which have great potential to grow and diversify , he said.

The PM’s Advisor on Finance and Economic Affairs said the Government was using all options and resources to bring the inflation and interest rate down to single digit.

On pointation from the business leadership that during the last few years the banks have been earning undue profits, with spread up to 7 percent, the Advisor suggested that through interactive meetings of the bankers and the business community the issue would be weighed and settled to the satisfaction of all the stakeholders.

“ I would like to request the bankers to provide maximum relief to the businessmen and the public,” he said.

He said the core inflation was coming down and when the data of December 2008 would come out, there would be significant decline in the inflation rate.

About the interest , he said he would arrange meetings of the business representatives with the new Governor State Bank of Pakistan to provide both sides a platform to convince each other so that the banking policies should win the confidence and support of the businessmen.

Mr. Tareen said that he would not support tight monetary policy in the country when oil and food prices were coming down.

He assured the KATI leadership of his full support in establishment of the proposed S.M.Muneer Economic University in Karachi.

Others who spoke included Patron‑in‑Chief of KATI, S.M. Muneer, Chief Executive Officer of KITE Limited and senior businessman Abdul Haseeb Khan.

Federal Advisor on Textile Industry and Chairman of Baig Group of Industries, Dr. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig was also present.

The total registration of 4,461 companies during the year, comprising 4,153 private companies, 175 single member companies, 67 public companies, 39 associations not for profit licenced under section 42 of the Companies Ordinance 1984, (“Ordinance”), 25 foreign companies, and one company limited by guarantee, under section 43. The total corporate portfolio as on Dec. 31, 2008 reached 52,612 registered entities, says a statement issued here Saturday.

Total authorized capital and paid up capital of the companies registered during the year, amounted to Rs 167.25 billion and Rs. 23.76 billion, respectively.

The highest number of company incorporation was witnessed in the services sector comprising of 665 companies, followed by 489 in trading sector, 261 in construction sector, 204 in Information Technology, 195 in communication sector, 135 in food and beverages, 119 in textile and 106 in engineering sector.

Despite the economic and financial recession globally as well as in the country, the trend of new registration of companies has remained consistent with last year.

This trend has been made possible due to the facilitation and market development reforms undertaken by the SECP, in it registration regime.

An important milestone has also recently been achieved in 2008, by launching its eServices, which facilitates the availability of name, incorporation of companies and filing of statutory returns, through online systems.

The SECP will continue to encourage the corporatization of businesses to contribute towards the progressive development of the economy and healthy growth of corporate sector.