Pakistan, Iran to expedite gas, power projects

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, talks to Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, left, in their meeting at the Iranian presidency office, in Tehran, Iran on Monday. – Photo by AP

TEHRAN: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has agreed with Iranian President Mehmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday that the gas pipeline project and the import of 1000MW electricity from Iran should be expedited because Pakistan was facing an acute shortage of energy which was hampering its economic growth. 

During a meeting at the President House, the two leaders also agreed to enhance cooperation in trade and economy and security and intelligence sharing. They agreed to allow private sectors to play a role in developing their economies and to set up a mechanism to remove bottlenecks, if any.

President Ahmadinejad said Pakistan would get priority in meeting the requirements of Iran and goods and services available in Pakistan would get preferential treatment. He said his country was interested in importing wheat, vegetables, fruits and other items from Pakistan. The two countries agreed to increase bilateral trade to $10 billion from the current $1.2 billion. Mr Gilani called for upgrading rail, road and air links to realise the immense potential of trade.

Mr Ahmadinejad said Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan should make coordinated efforts to resolve the issue of security in the region.

Mr Gilani said two committees, one headed by foreign ministers and the other by interior ministers, would meet on a regular basis to make their borders safe and work out ways of boosting economic activities and trade.

He said there was a paradigm shift in Pakistan’s foreign policy and it wanted to forge close relations with its neighbours. Iran, he added, was one of the countries with which it would like to develop ‘very close relations’.

He said Pakistan wanted a sovereign, independent, prosperous and stable Afghanistan and supported an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process.

He said Pakistan had lost 5,000 soldiers and 35,000 civilians in the war against terrorism, adding that his government had made it clear to the US government that unilateral actions were not acceptable and if they had any credible information they must pass it on to Pakistan and its security forces would act on it. He said drone attacks were counter-productive and should be stopped.

The Iranian president said that outside powers kept them underdeveloped because they derived strength from their weaknesses. “They keep the countries poor and unstable.”
He called for a new world order based on humanitarian values and justice. “The world is going through transition at a very fast speed and it is imperative that innovative strategy should be evolved and implemented to offset its negative fallout on our people.”

The Iranian president agreed to consider Pakistan’s request for opening a consulate in Bandar Abbas and a cultural centre in Tehran.

He also agreed to declare Multan and Rasht (Gilan) as sister cities. He said he was looking forward to visiting Pakistan to meet his Pakistani brothers and sisters.

Prime Minister Gilani also met First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi and discussed with him the gas pipeline and electricity projects. They agreed to increase people-to-people contacts. Mr Gilani praised the Iranian government for providing $100 million for people affected by floods in Pakistan.—APP

From the Newspaper

Pakistan, Romania to boost trade

The commission will hold its meeting once in a year alternately in Islamabad and Bucharest. - File photo

ISLAMABAD, Sept 12: Pakistan and Romania have decided to set up a joint commission to explore new avenues of bilateral economic cooperation and develop proposals for cooperation between government institutions of the two countries.

Secretary Economic Affairs Division Abdul Wajid Rana and Romanian Ambassador in Pakistan Emilian Ion signed an agreement here on Monday to formally institutionalise the joint economic commission.

Posco to invest $15m in TSML

Dr Hilal Hussain Al-Tuwairqi said that the agreement would not only further strengthen the bond among the companies but also the countries these organizations are representing. - File photo

KARACHI: Posco will invest $15 million equity in Tuwairqi Steel Mills Limited (TSML) under a joint venture accord signed on Sunday at the Sindh Chief Minister’s House for the mills project.

The agreement was signed by Dr Hilal Hussain Al-Tuwairqi, chairman, Al-Tuwairqi Holding, and Joon-Yang Chung, chairman and CEO of Posco.

Record $1.3bn remitted in August

Overseas Pakistani workers remitted $2,406.78 million in first two months (July-August) of 2011-12, showing impressive growth of 39.58 per cent. - File photo

KARACHI: Overseas Pakistanis remitted record $1.31 billion in August 2011 as against $933.06 million in same month of last year, showing a tremendous jump of 40.45 per cent, State Bank of Pakistan said on Monday.

The previous highest amount remitted in a single month by overseas Pakistani workers was recorded in June 2011 when they sent home $1.10 billion. This was sixth consecutive month when overseas Pakistani remitted over $1 billion. They had remitted $1.05 billion, $1.03 billion, $1.04 billion, $1.10 billion and 1.09 billion in March, April, May, June and July 2011 respectively.

Seven OMCs challenge suspension of licences

 

Ogra is expected to hold a meeting on the arrival of its acting chairman, Sabar Hussain, from abroad. - File photo

ISLAMABAD: The seven Oil-Marketing Companies (OMCs)  whose licences have recently been suspended by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), have filed appeals with the regulator, describing the action inappropriate and unwarranted. 

Ogra is scheduled to hold hearing of appeals next week.

Hascol has obtained a stay from Sindh High court and resumed marketing operations, almost all companies have challenged Ogra move.

G-20 close in on imbalance indicators

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, meets with, from left, People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa during the opening of the G20 Finance summit at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Friday, Feb. 18, 2011. Finance chiefs of the world's dominant economies were close to agreeing on how to track dangerous imbalances in the global economy, part of the Group of 20 rich and developing nations' efforts to prevent another financial crisis. - Photo by AP.

PARIS: Finance chiefs of the world’s dominant economies are close to agreeing on how to track dangerous imbalances in the global economy, part of the Group of 20 rich and developing nations’ efforts to prevent another financial crisis.

European Union Monetary Affairs chief Olli Rehn said he was confident that there would be agreement ”to identify and address global imbalances,” but that discussions on the precise indicators were still continuing.

Toyota celebrates rare opening of Japan plant

Workers give the final check on Yaris compact sedans at the new plant in Ohira - AP PHOTO

OHIRA: Toyota celebrated the opening of an auto plant in a forsaken rural area of central Japan on Wednesday – its first new Japanese factory in 18 years that promises to grow into a significant production base for the world’s largest car maker.

Dotted with rice paddies and sometimes covered by snow, the Tohoku region where the new Toyota plant is located is the true boondocks of Japan.

Zardari to seek nuclear technology cooperation with Japan

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari arrives at the Tokyo International Airport on February 21, 2011. Zardari is here on a three-day visit to Tokyo. – Photo by AFP

TOKYO: President Asif Ali Zardari said Monday that since Japan was negotiating a deal with India to cooperate on peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the similar cooperation should be extended to his country.

“If Japan is willing to cooperate with India in nuclear technology and (is) giving nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, I do not see any reason why we should not deserve the same,” Zardari said in an interview with the Japanese media in Islamabad ahead of his departure for a three-day visit to Japan, published in leading English newspapers here.

“I do not know what questions would be raised during discussion. It depends,” he said when asked if he will raise the question of nuclear technology cooperation during the visit.

Govt to crack down on ‘Hawala system’: Malik

The federal interior minister Rehman Malik. – File Photo

KARACHI: In order to curb the illegal business of transferring foreign exchange through Hawala system, the government had started seizing the money that would stand transferred to the State, federal interior minister Rehman Malik said on Saturday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of National Crisis Management Cell at Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, he said, we have collected the data of those involved in this illegal trade and the amounts being transferred from different countries.

The government would not allow Hawala trade to continue and any amount came through it, would be seized, he warned.

PM asks Hafeez Sheikh to solve circular debt

The Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani. – File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday asked the Minister for Finance Abdul Hafeez Sheikh to hold meetings with all stakeholders and resolve the circular debt issue. 

Gilani gave the direction in a meeting with the Secretary Petroleum Imtiaz Qazi and MD PSO Irfan Qureshi at the PM House.

He directed Sheikh to discuss the issue with the Secretaries of Petroleum, Water and Power and Railways at the earliest and to come up with a solution.

The Secretary Petroleum briefed the prime minister about the circular debt issue and the energy supply and demand situation.

Fuel supply to Wapda restored on govt move

"Fuel oil dispatches had been made to Wapda in the evening but the supplies to Hubco and Kapco would remain suspended." — File Photo

KARACHI: Pakistan State Oil (PSO) suspended furnace oil supplies to Wapda, Kapco and Hubco by 1.00 pm on Thursday. However it had to restore the supply to state-run Wapda after the government`s intervention.

Fuel oil dispatches had been made to Wapda in the evening but the supplies to Hubco and Kapco would remain suspended, a PSO spokesperson said. The three power generation companies had been receiving 20,000-23,000 tons of furnace oil from the PSO on daily basis, he added.

Reserves rise to record $17.44bn

Reserves held by the SBP rose to $13.91 billion from $13.76 billion in the week ending February 12. — File Photo

KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves rose to a record $17.44 billion in the week ending February 12, up from $17.31 billion the previous week, the State Bank of Pakistan said on Thursday.

Reserves held by the SBP rose to $13.91 billion from $13.76 billion in the week ending February 12, while those held by commercial banks fell to $3.53 billion from $3.55 billion, said the central bank.

“Foreign exchange reserves rose to a record because of a rise in remittances and increasing exports,” said Syed Wasimuddin, chief spokesman for the State Bank.

Remittances by overseas Pakistanis were recorded at $6.12 billion during the first seven months of the fiscal year 2010-11, up 17.70 per cent from the same period last year, according to SBP data.—Reuters

President for round-table on economic reforms

 

 The president suggested the businessmen to make consortiums of leading entrepreneurs. — File Photo

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday invited the business community to convene a meeting of all political parties over economic reforms to devise a strategy for placing the economy on strong footings. 

Talking to a delegation of the Pakistan Business Council here on Thursday at the Aiwan-i-Sadr, the president offered the presidency as the venue of the roundtable meeting, adding that he would participate in it as co-chairman of the PPP along with leaders of other political parties and not preside over it as president, according to presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar.

Beijing enacts new law to cool property market

The new rules ban Beijing families who own two or more apartments and non-Beijing registered families who own one or more apartment from buying more homes. — File Photo

BEIJING: Beijing Municipal Government Wednesday issued new rules limiting the number of homes each family can buy as the government rein in to cool the property market.

The new rules ban Beijing families who own two or more apartments and non-Beijing registered families who own one or more apartment from buying more homes.

Non-Beijing registered families who have no residence permit or documents certifying that members of the family have been paying social security or income tax for five straight years are also banned from buying apartments.

Pakistan keeps interest rate unchanged

“The State Bank is aware of the delicate balance that needs to be struck between risks to inflation and economic growth,” said the State Bank governor. – File Photo

KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank on Saturday kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 14 percent, while asking the government to spell out a clear and coherent strategy for the economy.

The governor of the State Bank also blamed government lending for adding to the country’s rising inflation, which has been exacerbated by a huge floods.