International Business Conference held

LAHORE (Staff Repoter): Supportive measures should be taken by the business community to promote Pakistani products through international trade fairs and exhibitions. It was stated by Pak China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry President SM Naveed while addressing the International Business Conference and Exhibition (IBCE 2017) organised by University of Management and Technology. “IBCE 2017 offered opportunities for both market globalisation and product globalization,’’ said Naveed in his speech while acknowledging the efforts of UMT management. He appreciated the efforts made by UMT, particularly the setting up of a CPEC Research Centre. “Within few months, UMT’s CPEC centre has emerged as major point of contact for those who want to learn about CPEC and the opportunities arising from it,” he said. He explicated that CPEC will provide a much-needed base to kick-start the economic growth in Pakistan. Naveed foresees economic corridor as the most important agreement signed in the history between Pakistan and China.
He said that fruitful initiatives like IBCE serve as a convention for entrepreneurs and investors from Pakistan, China and all over the world to identify new investment opportunities in different manufacturing and services sectors of Pakistan.

Thar coal best for low-cost electricity generation: ISCT

ISLAMABAD (INP): The Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders (ICST) on Thursday said Thar coal is the best resource to generate cheap electricity. This gift of nature, which can help generate billions of megawatt of energy, should get the attention of the policymakers, it said. Thar coal is the best and most economical solution to settle the energy crisis, said Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders (ICST) Patron Shahid Rasheed Butt. He said that the government should also initiate efforts for a consensus on the Kalabagh dam which is very important for the survival of the country. “Increasing Chinese investment in Thar coal and increased the interest of other countries is a good development which will help our economy,” he added. Shahid said that so far Thar coal has not helped a lot to alleviate sufferings of people and economy despite the fact that country cannot afford to delay exploitation of lignite deposits estimated at 185 billion tons.
He said that coal reserves matching oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Qatar can ensure energy security for centuries and earn sufficient money to upgrade transmission and distribution network reducing losses. The government should review issues like facilities, infrastructure, incentives, coordination, tariff and pricing to get the maximum benefit of coal reserves, he demanded.
He said that by 2025, around 14 power plants based on Thar Coal would be producing 6,000MW electricity in the country which will be a great achievement of the government.

Four IT companies to represent Pakistan in CHTF

ISLAMABAD (APP): Four Pakistani IT companies will be representing Pakistan Software Export Board, Ministry of Information Technology in the 19th China Hi-Tech Fair (CHTF) inaugurated on Thursday at Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Centre in Shenzhen, China. According to statement issued here, this is the third consecutive participation of Pakistan’s IT sector at China Hi-Tech Fair and is in line with the current government efforts to market Pakistan’s IT industry in top IT markets. Pakistan Pavilion is located in the belt and road area of the exhibition which includes various other country pavilions such as those of Malaysia, Poland, UK, Estonia, Iran, Russia and Germany. China Hi-Tech Fair (CHTF) is held in Shenzhen from November 16 to 21 every year. It is co-hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and other state ministries as well as Shenzhen Municipal People's Government and is the largest and most influential Chinese technical exhibition.
China hi-tech fair is therefore an extremely important high profile exhibition for Pakistan’s IT Industry. This year, the CHTF 2017 is focusing on energy conservation & environment protection, new generation IT, biology, high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy, new materials, and new energy vehicles.
Favorable perception of Pakistan in China makes it relatively feasible to solicit business from the prospective China based customers and therefore offers a more attractive proposition than mature markets such as the North American outsourcing market.
The PSEB Board of Directors under the chairpersonship of Minister of State for IT & Telecom Anusha Rahman has always encouraged participation of Pakistan’s IT sector in international events as such initiatives are helpful in enhancing exports of Pakistan’s IT Industry and improving perception of Pakistan as a viable destination for IT outsourcing and investment.

ICTs services exports register 14.5pc growth in first quarter

ISLAMABAD (APP): The exports of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services and related sectors have registered a double digit growth of 14.5 per cent, surging to $252 million during first quarter of this year. During same period of July to September 2016-17, the exports recorded in this domain were $220.2 million. The statistics issued by State Bank of Pakistan have showed that local companies and startups related to Information Technology (IT) and similar sectors have continued to expand their market share in foreign market as value of exports recorded double digit growth. Pakistani companies usually export ICT services to United States, Middle East and North African countries. Major heads of exports included software and hardware consultancy, telecommunication services, call center services and export of software. In last financial year 2016-17, IT exports and related services touched nearly $1 billion, reaching an all-time high. It is expected that exports will cross the $1 billion mark this year.
According to Pakistan Software Exports Board (PSEB), Pakistan has been showing a healthy growth rate of IT & ITES exports in South Asia during the last three years. It grew by 71 per cent from June 2013 to June 2016.
In last financial year as well, Pakistan's IT and related services exports have grown at a faster pace than India and Sri Lanka. Pakistan's growth rate during 2016-17 was 16 per cent whereas Sri Lanka was at 5 per cent.
The statistics of IT services exports are usually labelled as remittances under IT sector but the industry strongly believes that overall exports are three times higher than the reported numbers which includes exports of services by freelancers and various IT services in different sectors such as financial and textile sectors.
Accordingly, the exports of IT and related services stand $756 million by end of first quarter of 2017-18, which will likely to touch a mark of US $ 3 billion as per estimates.
In this regard, the central bank is working to bring IT companies and service providers on-board. It has designed a reporting structure of inflows that will help in increasing inflows of IT sector in future if companies follow this pattern.