Fertilizer exports post 100pc
increase in first quarter
ISLAMABAD (APP): Fertilizers exports from the country during first quarter of current financial year (2015-16) registered 100 percent increase as compared to the corresponding period of last year. During the period from July-September, 2015 about 3,300 metric tons of fertilizers worth $ 0.10 million were exported as compared to same period of last year. According the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, exports of pharmaceutical products grew by 1.80 percent as about 2,914 metric tons of pharmaceutical products costing $50.871 million were exported. The exports of pharmaceutical products were recorded at 3,735 metric tons valuing $49.971 million during first quarter of last financial year, the data added.

Fisheries dept issues 2,800
licences during last year
MULTAN (APP): The fisheries department issued 2,800 licences to fishermen for hunting from rivers and canals during the last fiscal year. The department charges Rs 300 as fee for a new licence by setting up extra counters during September and October every year to facilitate fishermen regarding licences. Deputy Director Fisheries Muhammad Aslam told APP on Friday that field teams conducted raids to check illegal fishing and imposed a fine of Rs 8,000 to those who were hunting fish without licences during current month. Aslam said a licence holders normally do not hunt fish during June, July and August due to breeding season of fish. The department has organized training sessions and seminars for guidance of fish farmers.
he said and added that fish seed was also being provided on cheap rates to them.

PRGMEA seeks relief package from govt
ISLAMABAD (PPI): Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) central chairman Shaikh Mohammad Shafiq has urged the government to provide a relief package to the textile industry, which has been badly hit by unprecedented electricity and gas crisis. He said that Pakistan is 5th largest cotton producing country but in value addition our performance is dismally poor. Textile exports declined to $1.093 billion in September 2015 from $1.110 billion over previous month of August 2015, which reflects a decline of 1.52 percent, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). It is because of the deteriorating law & order situation and the shortage of electricity & gas.
Factories are unable to in-time deliver whatever limited orders they managed to procure from their foreign buyers.
Shafiq strongly opposed the imposition of Regulatory Duty on import of cotton yarn and demanded immediate withdrawal of the regulatory duty on import of cotton yarn and fabric.

Focus on agriculture can lift farming communities out of poverty
ISLAMABAD (INP): Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) on Saturday said sixty per cent working women in Saarc region, who are linked to agriculture, can be lifted out of poverty if this sector is promoted. Women are intentionally kept poor and unprotected in many countries which is discrimination, it said. All the countries stress importance of female education but their share in economy is very small which is blocking their development, said PBIF President and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain. In a statement issued here Saturday, he said that majority of the women working in agriculture are not paid while they are kept away from critical decision.
He said that government should focus on agriculture to support farmers and improve their standard of living. The issues facing this sector should be resolved and provision of loans should be facilitated.
Improvement in the lives of farming communities will boost share of agriculture in the GDP while expanding reach of microfinance banks will help them.
Mian Zahid Hussain called for special emphasis on agricultural insurance to mitigate risks farmers face every year.

CPEC to further boost national economy: Analyst
ISLAMABAD (APP): Analyst Dr Shahid Hassan Siddiqui has said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is an umbrella project which would further boost national economy. He said CPEC will benefit around three billion people of the region. This project is not only beneficial for Pakistan but for the whole of South Asia, he added. He said the CPEC also includes special economic zones, which will create new opportunities of employment for people of the country. Shahid Siddiqui said the government should launch such projects on priority basis for the economic stability and development of the country. “We need to enhance our tax net to improve economic growth,” he said.