Enough stocks of DAP, Urea and other fertilizers available in Punjab

LAHORE (INP): A spokesman of Agriculture department has said that DAP, Urea and all other fertilizer stocks are available in sufficient quantity to meet the demand of farmers in Punjab. District governments have ordered the dealers to display prices of fertilizers in their outlets and ensure that the fertilizer was sold according to notified prices announced by the government. The Punjab government has asked the farmers not pay more for fertilizer and also get receipt from dealers during purchase of fertilizer bags. If farmers have any complaint regarding fertilizers, they should make a call to Punjab Agriculture Helpline on 0800-15000 or 0800-29000 for redressal of grievances. Farmers may contact with Directorate General of Agriculture (Ext & AR) on 042-99200749 or 042-99203709 for registration of their complaint regarding fertilizer prices. Government of Punjab is striving hard to keep the prices of fertilizers under control in the interest of farming community/stakeholders. Saarc Chamber for greater

South Asia-China economic cooperation

LAHORE (INP): The business community leaders from South Asian countries have urged for deeper economic cooperation with China as this collaboration will usher an era of progress, prosperity, development, economic growth and welfare of the people of the region. Talking to high level delegation from SAARC countries here Saturday, Vice President SAARC Chamber Iftikhar Ali Malik said China-South Asia economic cooperation would change the global economic order to add prosperity in the region. He said South Asia is mired in several crisis and conflicts at the moment due to various unresolved political and geographical factors and all these issues would be resolved effectively through strong regional connectivity and business to business contacts. Highlighting the role of China in building South Asian economy, he said China is the world's second largest economy and a global power. It has huge foreign reserves and is massively investing in infrastructure in different parts of the world.

The cash-strapped SAARC is in the dire need of money to tap into its natural resources. “China's entry will undoubtedly bring dramatic economic changes to the region and the life of its people,” he added.

He said since the creation of this platform in 2006, the bilateral trade between China and the South Asian countries paced with tremendous growth rate of 15 percent per annum and from mere 25 billion dollars in 2006, increased to 113 billion dollars in 2017.

He said that South Asia and Southeast Asia have become new driving engines for global economic growth in the region. Countries within this region are economically complementary and regional cooperation has great potential.

Iftikhar Ali Malik said Pakistan attaches great importance to its economic and trade relationship with China. He hopes that the China-South Asia Business Forum will become good platforms for the enhancement of cooperation with China, the promotion of regional integration and realization of regional prosperity.

He further said on a special directive of SAARC Chamber president Suraj Vaidya a permanent desk has been established under the supervision of Secretary General SAARC Chamber Hina Saeed to facilitate all interested investors and businessmen from the member countries for the promotion of trade in the region while Deputy Secretary General SAARC Chamber Zulfiqar Ali Butt will be available to all of them round the clock.

On this occasion, he gave four suggestions on the further promotion of cooperation between Chinese commercial industry and its counterpart in South Asia, including the enhancement of trade and economic information sharing, organization or more companies to invest in South Asia, increasing imports from South Asia and promotion of the creation of good business environment.

Vice Chairman Youth Entrepreneurship SAARC Chamber Shaheryar Ali Malik, Tariq Hameed Chadda, Lala Pervez Life Members SAARC Chamber and Dr Waqar Ch senior faculty member Punjab University were also present on this occasion.

 Wapda Union holds meeting

LAHORE (PR): The electricity workers, in an emergency meeting held at Bakhtiar Labour Hall Lahore under the aegis of All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union CBA, expressed great shock and grief over the tragic death of Muhammad Yasin, Assistant Lineman Mehmood Booti Sub Division Baghbanpura Division Lahore, due to electric shock and head injury while working on the alive transformer. He died in General Hospital. He was married eight months ago. His funeral was attended by hundreds of electricity workers including Khurshid Ahmed, General Secretary of the union, and representatives of LESCO Management.  The union demanded to LESCO management to hold an independent inquiry and take urgent measures to get ensured safe working conditions to the over burdened line staff and prevent their accidents at workplace urgently and get provided all legal and moral assistance to the family of the martyred worker including payment of ex-gratia payment Rs.2.5 million, full pension and double monthly grant and employment of her widow urgently as per agreement with the union. 400 firms to attend expo at Wuzhen Summit

BEIJING (APP): More than 400 companies from 13 countries and regions -100 more than last year - will attend the Light of Internet Expo at the 4th World Internet Conference from Dec 3 to 5 in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province. The companies include industry giants such as BMW, Kaspersky, Alibaba, Tencent and others, Yuan Jiajun, the governor of Zhejiang province, told reporters at the opening ceremony of the expo on Saturday. The four-day expo will also witness launch of 118 new products, host 113 project signing ceremonies and match more than 1,200 projects with potential investors — double the number than last year, Yuan said. The expo features the most innovative and cutting-edge products and fields in information technology, including cloud calculation, big data, quantum communication, artificial intelligence, and shared economy, he said. "The expo has become an important platform to showcase some of the world's latest tech products and business models," Yuan said. "It has become a trendsetter for Internet development."