SECP appoints administrator of Unicap Modaraba
ISLAMABAD (Staff Reporter): The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has appointed an administrator of Unicap Modaraba in place of its management company, i.e., Map Out Modaraba Management Company (Pvt.) Limited. The SECP had noted that the Unicap Modaraba affairs were not being managed in accordance with sound business principles and prudent commercial practices, which was prejudicial to the stakeholders’ interests. Map Out was non-compliant with the mandatory condition of injection of funds in Unicap Modaraba imposed by the SECP at the time of transfer of the management rights of Unicap Modaraba to it in November, 2014.
Despite getting a number of extensions by the SECP, Map Out failed to inject the requisite funds into Unicap Modaraba. This was contrary to its earlier commitments. In addition, Map Out also failed to comply with various other regulatory requirements, including non-transmission of quarterly accounts since takeover of Unicap Modaraba and non-deposit of shares and modaraba certificates with the Central Depository Company.
After taking over the charge of the affairs of Unicap Modaraba, the administrator will submit his recommendations with regard to the assets and liabilities of the modaraba and further course of action in this matter as per the modaraba regulatory framework. Since the administrator has been appointed, the SECP advises the general public and other stakeholders not to deal with the Map Out in matters pertaining to the affairs of Unicap Modaraba.

Entrepreneurs asked to use digital marketing to expand business
LAHORE (Staff Reporter): Entrepreneurs should use most effective tools like digital marketing and social media to give a notable expansion to their business and to keep in touch with the outer world effectively. LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad, Senior Vice President Almas Hyder and Vice President Nasir Saeed said that right technology is a must to move ahead so that entrepreneurs should focus this particular area and harness the power of digital marketing and social media. They said Information technology has transformed the way of doing business. Manual business functions have been automated with the development of personal computers, business software and Internet-based intranets.
While companies may develop internal business technology to increase the effectiveness of business functions, they may also use personal digital products to enhance operations. Developing different uses for information technology and various computer-related devices can help companies develop a competitive advantage.
They said that social media allows a business to promote and market its own brand with a large number of customers using social media as a primary source in their purchase decisions. They said that social media is a major element in assisting consumers in their decision marking process while customers and entrepreneurs could also interact directly through this important segment of information technology.

Pak-Ukraine economic
cooperation discussed
ISLAMABAD (Staff Reporter): Minister of State for Board of Investment Dr Mifta Ismail and Volodymyr Lakomov, Ambassador of Ukraine, discussed important aspects of bilateral cooperation between two countries in economic, trade and investment sphere. Minister of State was briefed by the Ambassador of Ukraine about the 3rd mutual agreement on investment’s draft (other two being, Trade agreement, and Taxation avoidable agreement), which has been finalized by the Ukraine for the consideration of Pakistan. Although the FDI is nil but trade has been improved over the years. Total trade between the two countries was $ 275,862 in year 2014-2015 as compared to the $186,135 in the year 2013-2014.

Based on the recent trends and keeping in mind the international arbitral awards, Pakistan is also revising the draft of BIT (Bilateral Investment Treaty) in consultation with relevant stakeholders. Therefore further negotiations with any country will be done accordingly. Minister of State and Ambassador of Ukraine also discussed the cultural aspects of the countries.

Dar chairs meeting to review legal position of investment regime
ISLAMABAD (Staff Reporter): Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the Laws Review Committee to review the present legal position regarding the investment regime governing inflow and outflow of capital in the country. The Laws Review Committee reviewed the present legal position regarding the investment regime governing inflow and outflow of capital in the country. The Committee noted that there was need for a detailed review of the relevant laws to bring them in line with the latest trends and international best practices. It was decided that the ministries/authorities concerned should carry out the necessary review and submit proposals, in the form of draft amendments, for consideration of the committee.

The review should aim at removing any loopholes or lacunae in the existing laws which enable windfall gains that are detrimental to public revenue.
The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Law & Justice Zahid Hamid, Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rehman Khan, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Law Barrister Zafarullah Khan, Secretary to Prime Minister Fawad Hassan Fawad and former Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt.

Microsoft launches Pakistan’s Employability
LAHORE (Staff Reporter): Microsoft along with its implementing partner, World Vision-Pakistan, Wednesday launched Rozgar.work – an employability and entrepreneurship platform. The Rozgar.work platform provides job seekers with end-to-end career guidance, up skilling, job-matching and mentorship – all centred on a free online hub that brings the best resources together in a bold attempt to address unemployment and underemployment. The platform is powered by Microsoft Windows Azure Cloud, SQL, & SharePoint 2013. Ahsan Iqbal was the chief guest at the launch ceremony. Rozgar.work is aimed at catalysing ‘Employability’ and ‘Entrepreneurial skills’ among the Pakistani youth.
It is a Microsoft YouthSparkinitiative to create a comprehensive ecosystem to support the talented Pakistani youth in enhancing their skill-set and ensure a bright future for the whole nation.  Microsoft’s solution, in the form of its Employability Platforms, has previously landed in 16 markets to date including Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Iraq, Qatar, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Botswana, Algeria, Ghana, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and now Pakistan, and will expand to 21 countries across MEA including Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, Madagascar and Mauritius. To date, the YouthSpark employability platform has reached 5.8 million youth with a target of reaching 7 million by the end of FY15. In addition, 69,000 job opportunities have been posted on the job search tool against 100,000 job openings goal to be reached by the end of the year.
Speaking on the occasion the Federal Minister for Planning – Mr. Ahsan Iqbal stated that: It is heartening to see a technology leader like Microsoft, working on Youth Workforce Development, in collaboration with a robust humanitarian organization like ‘World-Vision International-Pakistan’. Leveraging technology can help expand social-development outreach like never before. Smartphone penetration and increased connectivity can transform eLearning & teaching resources, while opening fresh avenues of knowledge for the masses. We need to invest on our youth, to meet national challenges.