Seminar held to highlight opportunities in forestry sector
LAHORE (STAFF REPORTER): South Punjab Forest Company (SPFC) in collaboration with Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) organised an inception seminar to sensitise the business community regarding the opportunities in the forestry sector. FCCI , President Engr Muhammad Saeed Sheikh said commercial forestry is vital for furniture and sports industry and the establishment of SPFC will greatly help to meet these domestic requirements. He urged the SPFC to provide maximum facilities to the investors, so that investments in the forestry sector can be increased. SPFC CEO Tahir Rasheed affirmed that SPFC will completely facilitate the investors in order to boost investments in the forestry sector. He said, “SPFC will help reducing the import bill by providing sustainable farmed wood to the wood-based industry, as the dependence on imported wood will reduce, which will also help to save the existing forests of Pakistan.”
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KKKUK, SMEDA for crafting of olive trees on commercial basis
KARAK (Staff Reporter): Khushal Khan Khattak University Karak (KKKUK) with the collaboration of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) would work for the crafting of olive trees on commercial basis and for the purpose an awareness seminar was held at Tarkikhel village of district Karak here on Thursday to onboard the local farmers of the area. While addressing to the participants of the seminar, Office of Research Innovation and Commercialisation (ORIC) Director Dr Zubair, Scientific Officer of Pakistan Oil Seed Development Board Dr Azmat Ali and SMEDA Assistant Manager Hafeezullah and others threw light on the importance of the olive for the farmers and said that soil and environment of the district was suitable for this tree. They informed that crafting would be made in 500 trees in first phase and in second phases more crafting would be made in olive trees across the district.
They said that the local farmers were unaware about its importance, adding that that very soon it would become an economic activity in the area which would provide job opportunities for the local people.
The experts said that climatic changes were occurring across the globe. The tree of olive has the capacity to brace the climatic change and olive was used in the cure of about 70 diseases of different kinds, they added. They informed that three projects have been launched by the Punjab government in the same field, adding that the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was also keenly interested in the olive project.
They said that they were going to make the association of the farmers in the district to create a network and in March of this year crafting would be made in the existing orchards of olive in the district.
On the occasion, Dr Zubair said that KKKUK was providing an opportunity to the farmers of the district. He asked the farmers that the university would help them in making the orchards secure and the university would establish a local assignment plant for the trees of olive to extract oil from it.
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Chinese delegation visits Pakistan Stock Exchange
KARACHI (APP): Chinese delegation spent a day at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) here on Thursday to streamline the things for taking the exchange to its goals. The PSX spokesman told APP that Chinese were showing their active interest in Pakistan’s fast re-emerging capital market in the world after purchasing 40 percent of total shares of PSX by Chinese consortium last month. To a query, what was the agenda of their today’s meeting, PSX official remarked, “Now, they were owners of PSX. They can come and sit here whenever they want.” He informed that with reforms in Pakistan capital market by the present government, PSX had risen to as one of the top ten best performing international stock exchanges and had become very attractive to the world. More world class bourses had shown interest to become partners. All these developments had provided very good platform especially for foreign investment, he added.
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SIMAP chief lauds incentive package for industrial sector
SIALKOT (APP): Surgical Instruments Manufacturing Association of Pakistan (SIMAP) Chairman Jahangeer Babar Bajwa on Thursday hailed the incentive package for industrial sector and hoped the package would pave the way for enhancing exports of the country. Talking to APP, he said that surgical industry was cottage, labour intensive and export-oriented which was highest foreign exchange earner in engineering sector of the country. The industry was producing and exporting high-tech value-added products to different countries of the globe and keeping in view the contribution its incentive should be increased to 7 percent which would ensure handsome increase in export of this sector, he said. The export of surgical instruments during 2014-15 was $358 million that shows a considerable increase in export of surgical instruments, he disclosed. There are 2,300 companies with labour force 150,000 engaged in surgical industry which produce average 150 million pieces per year, of which 95 percent was export-oriented, he revealed.