Pasdec inks MoU with Zaver Mining Company

ISLAMABAD (Staff Reporter): To enhance cooperation and carry out joint venture projects in the marble and granite sector of Pakistan, a MoU has been signed between Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC) and Zaver Mining Company, a group company of the Hashoo Group of Companies. The MoU was signed by Zahid Maqsood Sheikh, chief executive officer PASDEC, and Masood ur Rehman, general manager Zaver Mining Company. Zahid Maqsood Sheikh said that the country has enormous reserves of marble and granite and PASDEC is keen to play its role in the development of the sector in collaboration with the private sector. He also highlighted that such collaborations and partnerships with the corporate sector are essential in order to turn around and inculcate best practices in the marble and granite sector. He further added that the dimension stone sector has huge potential of investment and it is high time for the corporate sector to enter into the untapped market of the marble & granite and seize the opportunities.

Pakistan possesses immense potential for FDI, says SAARC CCI SVP

ISLAMABAD (INP): SAARC CCI senior vice president (SVP) Iftikhar Ali Malik Thursday said that Pakistan has enormous potential for foreign direct investment (FDI) and the target of $100 billion FDI can be achieved easily if coercive efforts are made. Addressing as a chief guest at an Iftar dinner hosted by Ghazanfar Ali Bilour, president Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), in honor of high commissioners and ambassadors including from SAARC member states, Iftikhar Ali Malik said that Pakistan was in a race with other regional countries especially with India in attracting more and more FDI. Diplomats of various countries including China, Japan, France, Australia, Britain, Turkey, India, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Morocco, UAE, Nepal, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Austria and Tunisia attended the Iftar dinner.

He said Pakistan’s economy is based on strong fundamental of competitiveness. As an emerging economy, Pakistan offers the opportunity of diversification to global players and strong intend to structure forms in various sectors of the economy. He said Pakistan has a mature financial and legal system and was rapidly removing the bottlenecks in ease of doing business so as to attract more foreign investors into the country. He said work was also on to provide more tax incentives to those who wish to avail the liberal policies of the country.

FPCCI urges PM to include yarn, tanned leather in extended incentives package

ISLAMABAD (INP): Syed Mazhar Ali Nasir, senior vice president and chairman Budget Advisory Council of the FPCCI, has urged the incumbent government to also include cotton yarn and tanned leather in the recently announced extended export incentives package for traditional and non-traditional items for the next three years from June 2018 to June 2021. He elaborated that although these items were included in the original exports package of Rs 180 billion as announced in year 2017, but have been excluded in the newly announced package without any valid reason. The FPCCI recalled that after announcement of the Prime Minister’s export package of Rs 180 billion for exporters of textile and non-textile sectors the exports have been increased by 13% in the first nine months of the current year 2017-18. However removal of these textile yarn and tanned leather from the recently announced package may create hurdle in keeping the current increasing trend in exports, he apprehended.

Govt sets target to produce 33.50mbbl oil, 1.473tcf gas in 2018-19

 ISLAMABAD (APP): The government has set an ambitious target to produce 33.50 million barrel (mbbl) crude oil and 1.473 trillion cubic feet (tcf) natural gas through indigenous resources during the year 2018-19. “The indigenous gas supply will be supplemented through liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports to the tune of 9.0 million tons, while the supply-demand gap in both oil and gas sectors will be met through import of crude oil and petroleum products,” official sources told APP.

Answering a question, they said oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) companies have planned to drill 90 wells in different areas across the country. Under the plan, as many as 50 exploratory and 40 development wells would be drilled in a bid to make the country self-sufficient in the energy sector, they added. During the last five years, the sources said the E&P companies drilled 445 new wells, out of which 221 were exploratory, adding that the increased exploration activities resulted in 116 new oil and gas discoveries.

Besides accelerating efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in production of petroleum products, the government has signed around 15 agreements and MoUs with different countries during the last five years to enhance cooperation in the field of energy.