Dar asks FBR chairman to
resolve FFC issues
islamabad (Staff Reporter): Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday directed Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Tariq Bajwa to have a sitting with the financial team of the Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) Ltd to resolve their issues. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar met a combined delegation of the Fauji Foundation and Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) Ltd here. During the meeting, FBR related matters of the FFC were discussed in detail. The finance minister asked chairman FBR to have a sitting with the financial team of the FFC to settle the issues. The minister highly appreciated the contribution of the FFC to national revenue saying the company was playing a significant role in the production of quality fertilizer and enjoyed due position in the country’s industrial sector.
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He said economic development of the country largely depended on collection of revenue and all business and commercial concerns, whether private or state owned, had a key role to play in revenue.

LCCI lauds Basit appointment
as PBIT chairman
LAHORE (Staff Reporter): The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, while congratulating former LCCI Senior Vice President Abdul Basit for his appointment as chairman Punjab Board of Investment & Trade (PBIT), has urged him to take immediate and urgent steps to improve investment scenario in the province of Punjab. In a letter of felicitation to Abdul Basit, LCCI President Ijaz A Mumtaz expressed hope that PBIT new Chairman would evolve a comprehensive strategy with the consultation of business community to bring much-needed FDI in Punjab. He said that Abdul Basit had performed as Senior Vice President of the Lahore Chamber  and rendered marvelous services for the cause of trade & Industry.

Call for infrastructural reforms in transport sector
LAHORE (Staff Reporter): Shah Faisal Afridi, President Pak-China joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has stressed the need to replicate Transit Oriented Development (TOD) model successfully implemented in some of the populous countries like America, China and India. “China is ranked amongst the finest in the world as far as connectivity, management and reduction of jams is concerned, he added”.  He elaborated that Transit-oriented development (TOD) is an integrated community development model focused on facilitating people and places by connecting them to one another through a robust, “multi-Modal” transportation network.


He declared Transit Oriented Development (TOD) model as the best way to resolve transport issues such as vehicle dependency, peak oil, global warming, fuel utilization pollution hazards and regional connectivity”.  In his call for the infrastructural reforms especially in the transport sector, Faisal Afridi said that such reforms are required to enhance industrial growth and allow millions of rural residents to be absorbed in the urban labor force.

Aptma rejects meager refund of
Re0.81/unit under power tariff cut
karachi (Staff Reporter): Tariq Saud, chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Sindh-Balochistan Region), has rejected the decision of National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on account of meager refund of Re 0.81 per unit to the consumers of K-Electric against the fuel price adjustment for the month of January 2015. In a statement, Tariq Saud expressed serious concern on the meager reduction of Re0.81/unit in power tariff of K-Electric on account of fuel cost for the month of January 2015. He said that for the rest of the country relief of Rs. 3.2426 per unit were given but consumers of K-Electric are being deprived of the benefit of reduction in international oil prices.



Due relief was not provided to the consumers of K-Electric as National Transmission Dispatch Company (NTDC) has increased per unit cost from Rs. 6.58 to Rs. 9.57 which was Rs 2.99 per unit more expensive in January as compared to December 2014 as informed by K-Electric.
Tariq Saud urged the government that the unjustified increase in power tariff by NTDC to be reversed and consumers of K-Electric be given relief at par with the consumers of other parts of the country.
400 trained in stitching sector
APP from Islamabad: Ministry of Textile Industry has imparted training to 400 persons, especially women, in stitching sector this year while 200 will further be trained under a programme launched in collaboration with International Labor Organization (ILO). In addition, under Stitching Machine Operators Training (SMOT) Scheme 8,500 trainees majority of women were trained in Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi to help improve their skills. Official sources on Thursday said the Ministry of Textile Industry was establishing first ginning training institute and recently earmarked an area to initiate its construction. The sources said till date during current fiscal year 60 short trainings and seminars have been carried out on various cotton related topics such as standardization and farm management etc.
Giving further details, the sources said there are seven Export Development Fund (EDF) training institutes under the administrative control of Ministry of Textile Industry and they provide training to 1,000 people per annum in various fields of textile sector.
The Ministry, they said, has also set up Pakistan-Korea Garment Training Institute, Karachi to provide diploma level training in stitching sector. The institute would provide training to 120 people per annum.

SBP-held foreign reserves
decrease by $159m
KARACHI (Staff Reporter): The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $16,131.9 million on March 20, 2015. According to break-up of the foreign reserves, the foreign reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan stood at $11,067.3 million, net foreign reserves held by banks are $5,064.6 million, hence, the total liquid foreign reserves are $16,131.9 million. During the week ending March 20, SBP’s Liquid FX reserves decreased by $159 million to $11,067 million, compared to $11,226 million in the previous week. During the week, SBP made payments of $268 million on account of external debt and other official payments, which include $51 million payment to IMF under ENDA.

During the same period, SBP received US$114million from multilateral, bilateral and other sources.