Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
Cool links, thanks.
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
**Dubai to invest over $30b in Pakistan **
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
[quote=TheRealDeal]
Unfortunately the truth is not all milk and honey as some would want others to believe
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=9544
Don’t get me wrong TRD, i do agree to some extent that things may not be exactly as government wants us to believe they are BUT have you ever and i mean EVER in your whole life said something positive about Pakistan???
I don’t think ALL this development or economic progress is going to help PUNJABIS only (your MAIN issue) so maybe there is no harm to be positive for a change ( Even if you are Afghani you can be positive about neighbours because as a Pakistani i really hope that your country will inshallah improve leaps and bounds with proper leadersip).
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
Global buys stake in Pak brokerage
Global Investment House (Global) has acquired a 42.8 per cent stake in the Karachi-based Jahangir Siddiqui Capital Markets Limited (JSCM). The Kuwait-based investment company informed the stock exchanges in Kuwait and Bahrain, where its shares are listed, that it paid $37.5 million to purchase 10,350,000 shares of JSCM. Brokerage firm JSCM is a subsidiary company of Jahangir Siddiqui and Company, one of the biggest investment firms in Pakistan. “Global acquired the stake through a special issue of shares by JSCM,” a senior official of the Karachi firm told Bahrain Tribune over telephone. The official said that Jahangir Siddiqui and Company owned 75 per cent shares of JSCM before the deal. He, however, claimed ignorance of the new shareholding pattern after the Global deal. The official, who did not want to be named, said: “Global would infuse fresh capital into the company. The money would be used to further strengthen our brokerage services and investment banking business.” The official added: “In investment banking, we would want to focus more on corporate financing and underwriting businesses.” Global told the stock exchanges that it is waiting for the Pakistani market regulators to officially approve the deal. “We expect to close the deal, including getting all regulatory approvals, by September this year,” the JSCM official told the Tribune. Global, in April, had said it acquired 22 per cent stake in the Jordan-based bank Societe Generale De Banque – Jordanie. “We are currently looking into expanding into key emerging markets, and this comes as one of the many steps taken by Global to achieve its expansionary goals,” Global’s Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Maha K. Al Ghunaim said after acquiring the stake in Societe Generale De Banque – Jordanie.
Pakistan is now considered among the top destinations for investment by many of the region’s companies. According to reports, the country registered 6.6 per cent economic growth during 2005-06. Earlier this month, Dubai-based property developer Emaar and DP World announced projects worth $30 billion in the South Asian country. Dubai Islamic Bank recently said that it will open 70 branches in Pakistan in the next 18 months.
http://www.bahraintribune.com/ArticleDetail.asp?ArticleId=110251&CategoryId=5
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
I think the focus of this thread is on postive things happening in Pakistan.. There is more then enough gloom and doom threads open, so no need to cast a shadow over this one.
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
Govt allows duty-free import of 300 taxis
** Private firm to set up cab manufacturing plant in Sindh at a cost of one billion US dollars*
**** DW of Dubai to build modern cities in Karachi with $15b investment***
*Staff Report *
ISLAMABAD: The government said on Thursday Pakistan is poised to attract the highest ever 36 billion US dollars investment in diversified fields over the next five years.
Minister of State for Privatization and Investment Umar Ahmad Ghuman said the planned investment include the London Taxi of the UK equipped with modern gadgets such as satellite tracking will be plying the roads of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad by the next month. The minister admitted that the London Taxi International (LTI) was shrinking its business in the UK due to heavy cost.
The government has allowed duty-free import of 300 taxis (CBUs), while the Prime Transport Limited, a company owned by a US-based Pakistani will invest one billion US dollars for the setting up of an assembly plant of LTI at Gharo in Sindh, he told a press conference. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khusro Bakhtiar, Minister of State for Finance Umar Ayub Khan, Minister of State for Environment, Malik Amin Aslam, MNAs, Donia Aziz and Waqas Akram were also present on the occasion.
Mr Ghumman said that President General Pervez Musharraf will inaugurate the London Taxi terminal at Karachi Airport by the end of next month, while Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will perform the ground breaking of LTI assembly plant at Gharo, for which 300 acres of land have been allocated.
He said the company would provide affordable fare (Rs 11.20 per kilometer).
Mr Ghuman said that LTI plant will assemble 18,000 taxi cabs every year in Pakistan, out of which 9,000 taxi cabs would be exported. The export of 9000 taxi-cabs will fetch $2.8 billion every year, he added.
The 2400 cc (2.4 liters diesel engine) London Tax priced at 42,000 pounds in the UK will be available at around 20,000 pounds in Pakistan, he added. He said that Dubai World (DW) of the UAE, Daimler Chrysler, Dubai Islamic Bank, and certain other organizations of international repute will invest in Pakistan. The total volume of investment will touch around 36 billion US dollars in the next five years.
DW will construct new modern cities at Clifton Beach, Sandspit & Manora and Hawkesbay & Cape Mount in Karachi with the investment of $15 billion.
**He said the DW will build housing units in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad which will not only overcome the six million shortfall of housing units in the country, but will also help check property prices. He said Daimler Chrysler of the USA will establish its assembly plant near Sheikhupura for the production of Mercedes-Benz trucks, buses and cars. **
Mr Ghuman said Volkswagen, Renault and Jetta will set up their car manufacturing plants in Pakistan with investment of billions of dollars
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\06\16\story_16-6-2006_pg5_3
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
:k: Great to see overseas Pakistanis investing in Pakistan.
WOW!!! Great news if it’s really true that they can assemble that many and export to earn $2.8 Billion a year:k:
Karachi will soon become a MEGA city, $15 billion investment in karachi alone is GREAT news:)
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
Malaysian firms to invest $500m in Sindh
KARACHI: A group of Malaysian companies have planned to invest US$500 million (Rs 30 billion) in various projects in the IT, environment and power sectors, which will generate 5,000 technical jobs in the province. This was announced in a presentation given to Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad by a delegation including representatives of IRIS-RIST Group including IRIS Corporation Bhd, DRB Hicom Group Company Puspakom and MSC Power, said a statement here Sunday. These projects include the Vehicle Registration and Driving License project (IT sector), Urban Air Quality Management and Vehicle Testing project (environment sector) and Alternative Energy Solar Wind Water Power Plants (power sector). The Vehicle Registration and Driving License project envisages the provision of standard chip-based biometric enabled security documents. It will make available a number of facilities and services to the public on one smart card, increase security, prevent crimes especially car and motorcycle theft.
Under the Urban Air Quality and Vehicle Testing project, multiple international quality inspection and testing stations will be set up across the province to provide clean air to citizens and safety for the public. In the power sector, the Malaysian companies will set up 10MW to 75MW solar/wind/water power plants at the national, provincial, district and tehsil/town level. These projects would be established on a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) basis, which will not require any funding from the government. The local workforce would be trained according to international standards. The delegation announced that work on these projects would start in six months and would be completed in two years. They requested the provincial government for cooperation. Rs 50 billion to be spent on projects: APP reports that City Nazim Mustafa Kamal has said that various ongoing development projects in city costing a total of Rs 50 billion are likely to be completed in the next two years. He was talking to people during visits to review ongoing work at various development projects in the city, said a statement issued by the City Government Sunday. Kamal said that the under-construction roads, underpasses and bridges will open for use within the next few months.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\06\12\story_12-6-2006_pg12_1
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
**BP to invest $20 million in offshore exploration
**
ISLAMABAD: President British Petroleum (BP), Steve Peacock, who is currently on a visit to Pakistan, called on Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Amanullah Khan Jadoon here on Thursday and briefed him about BP’s plan to invest $20 million in offshore exploration. Steve Peacock informed the minister the company would undertake offshore exploration jointly with Oil and Gas Development Company in coming months. He appreciated the tremendous growth achieved by Pakistan’s petroleum sector during the last few years as a result of attractive incentives and level-playing field for investors. The minister lauded BP’s contribution to promoting oil and gas exploration activities in the country, which was producing 12,000 barrels of oil per day from Badin field. He invited the company to participate in the forthcoming gas pipeline projects and enhance onshore exploration activities in the country. Jadoon said the government was according top priority to speedy development of oil and gas sector on sound footings aimed at exploiting untapped hydrocarbon resources to meet growing energy needs of the country. Secretary Petroleum Ahmed Waqar, BP Country Manager, Tariq Khamesani and Director (Petroleum Concession) Muhammad Sher Khan were also present during the meeting.
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
Great news indeed. All this will further help reduce the poverty levels in the country, which despite the high inflation, have gone down. Keep in mind that using the same methadology, poverty actually ROSE during the 90s. In recent years a downward trend has been observed. Huge amounts of investment will help reduce it further.
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
NetSol Technologies’ Largest Client to Invest $5.8 Billion to Spur Growth in Pakistan
NetSol Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTWK), a developer of proprietary software applications and provider of information technology (IT) services, released comments today from its Chairman, Najeeb U. Ghauri. Mr. Ghauri issued this statement concerning the recent announcement, as reported by the World News Network, that Daimler-Chrysler and Coastal Group of UAE intend to invest more than $5.85 billion in Pakistan through the production of Mercedes-Benz commercial and military trucks, buses and Mercedes automobiles of various types in an effort to create a “vendor industry” in the region. “This tremendous investment by NetSol’s largest customer, Daimler-Chrysler, along with the Coastal Group of UAE, stands to create thousands of jobs and underscores the global business community’s commitment to an already burgeoning business environment in Pakistan,” commented Ghauri. “We are pleased to see our business partners support Pakistan’s economic growth and look forward to our continued success and profitable relationship with Daimler-Chrysler moving forward.”
According to Umar Ahmed Ghumman, Minister of State for Privatization and Investment, and Chairman of the Board of Investment (BoI), speaking at a news conference at the Parliament House in Pakistan, the investment group will set up its manufacturing plant near Shaikhupura on 1,200 acres of land provided by the government. The investment is expected to create upwards of 5,000 jobs directly and indirectly. Once production commences, the investment group would export products to neighboring countries as well as to the Persian Gulf region, which would earn billions of dollars in foreign exchange for Pakistan.
http://www.elaonline.com/news/MembersOnly/news_report.cfm?id=6282
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
:k: good news kakay.
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
HSBC plans to acquire Prime Bank
Another international bank, Hong Kong Shanghai Bank (HSBC), has decided to expand its operation in Pakistan and started negotiations to acquire the whole operations of Prime Commercial Bank, well-placed banking sources said on Thursday. A team of experts of HSBC had been holding meetings with the high-ups of Prime Bank, said the sources. “Prime Bank has also shown its willingness to sell out its whole operations.” This will be the second acquisition of the local bank by a foreign financial institution. Earlier, Standard Chartered Bank negotiated the deal to buy Union Bank and completed due diligence last week. The agreement is expected to be completed next month. HSBC is one of the leading financial institutions in the global banking industry and its sudden interests in Pakistan have surprised financial analysts. HSBC has only four branches -– two in Karachi, one each in Islamabad and Lahore. Some bankers said HSBC was planning to wrap up its operations in Pakistan a few years ago and was operating on low key level.
Standard Chartered Bank, after the acquisition of Union Bank, would be the biggest bank with the largest branch network in the country. The acquisition of Prime Bank would make HSBC second biggest foreign bank in Pakistan. Prime Bank has 62 branches across the country. If the deal is struck, HSBC will be able to reach all corners of the country. Analysts said the banking industry in Pakistan exhibited tremendous potential of growth in the last couple of years. The profitability reached 99 per cent and the sector stood number one in terms of growth during the financial year 2005-06. They said the average economic growth of seven per cent for the last three years was another reason that attracted foreign banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank. “HSBC has shown keen interest in Prime Bank which has the potential to grow fast, while the cost will be much less than Union Bank,” said a senior banker. When Standard Chartered Bank had initiated to buy Union Bank, a number of bankers predicted this initiation would create a great interest in the international market and more foreign banks might come to buy local banks. It proved correct with latest development in the banking industry. “The presence of international banks like Standard Chartered and HSBC in Pakistan will improve country’s image abroad and send a very positive signal to the global markets,” said a senior banker, adding that banks had provided record credit to the private sector in the last three years.
As per March 31, 2006 quarterly report, Prime Commercial Bank is operating with 62 branches, having deposits of Rs40.6 billion. In 2005, it posted a profit after tax of Rs495m as compared to Rs345m last year, indicating a growth of 43 per cent. Prime Commercial Bank came into existence on September 30, 1991, with presence in all the stock exchanges. Some of the foreign investors belong to a well-diversified business group, Bin Mahfooz group of Saudi Arabia. In case of Union Bank, the Saudi investor was the majority shareholder who initiated the dialogue to sell the bank. The Saudi group would earn at least eight times more than what they invested in Union Bank. Analysts said the Saudi group would also earn much more than what they invested in Prime Bank. The bank focuses primarily on the middle market commercial banking segment, consumer banking initiatives as well as agricultural, housing, financing of small and medium sized enterprises and Islamic banking. Total asset of Prime Bank during the period from December 1992 to December 2005 has grown at an annual compound rate of about 23 per cent to Rs53.8 billion. Within this period, shareholders’ equity grew from Rs371 million to Rs3.4 billion, deposits to Rs38.9 billion and advances (net) to Rs25.5 billion.
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
Alhamdulillah it seems to be a generally postitive trend for Pakistan. But a serious question to those of you who go to Pakistan often, perhaps every 2 years or so, is the growth visible?
Do you see the progress...
And is it widespread, or are the top 5-10% guzzling it all down without any trickle down effect?
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
**Average per capita income was only $448 in 1998-99.
**http://www.mac.doc.gov/tcc/data/commerce%5Fhtml/countries/Countries4/Pakistan/CountryCommercial/2000/
**Average per capita income grew to $847 in 2005-2006.
**http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/sur…/01-Growth.pdf
Hence, per capita incomes have risen by almost 90% in the close to 7 years of the Musharraf-led government.
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
Do you see the progress...
And is it widespread, or are the top 5-10% guzzling it all down without any trickle down effect?
yes there is improvement in pakistan.
but
there are certain fields and professions that have got the bulk of improvemnt.
IT RELATED FIELDS and there professionals are at the top,meaning that if there is some one from your family in IT and telecom related fields they have really blossomed up bcz of good companies and pays.now if u graduate from a good uni from pakistan with a bacheolar degree in IT related fields then getting job isnt that hard and salaray pacakages are good.
similar things are there in media related fields and banking.
but as far as education and health secor is concerned there is infact no worthy improvement,bcz there is niether gov investment nor investment from abroad.
as far as general labour group is concerned they have increased there wages per day and now as most of people are getting good pays esp in IT related fiels so they can afford to pay.
but still we have a long way to go,and transform this patchy and sector oriented growth to global economical growth.
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
^ We have the lowest poverty on mainland South Asia, at about 17%. Nothing great, but we can reduce it further, we just gotta have faith in ourselves and should learn to ignore all the pessimism and negativity which usually prevails at the end of the day!
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
Impressive stats dude. DUnno how you dig 'em up 
Wonder if our so-called analysts [read quacks and witch doctors] need to read into more of these?
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
Wateen Telecom invests $1b in Pakistan
Abu Dubai Group based Wateen Telecom has invested $1 billion in telecom sector, chief executive Tariq Malik said on Monday. In a statement he said Wateen telecom is providing best services adding that services would be further improved to facilitate users. He said more investment was expected in Pakistan in this sector and Wateen telecom has started to lay fiber cable to connect other cities of the country. He said Wateen telecom would provide more facilities in video calling, internet, TV cable and wireless phone to the users.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\07\04\story_4-7-2006_pg5_13
Re: Pakistan: A most surprising success story - Newsweek (Merged)
Pakistan’s MCB Bank plans London listing
Pakistan’s second-largest listed bank, MCB Bank Ltd , said it is planning to issue global depository receipts to be listed on the London Stock Exchange. "A consortium of Merrill Lynch and KASB has been mandated to place the issue with institutional and retail investors outside Pakistan, it said in a statement to the Karachi Stock Exchange on Tuesday. It did not give any size or time frame for the planned issue. The private sector MCB Bank Ltd, formerly known as Muslim Commercial Bank Ltd, has an asset base of around $5.0 billion and a deposit base of over $3.8 billion, the statement said.
MCB Bank has a market capitalisation of over $1.7 billion and is the second largest listed bank on the Karachi Stock Exchange behind state-run National Bank of Pakistan (NBPK.KA: Quote, Profile, Research). This is the second planned GDR issue by a Pakistani entity in recent months. In May, the government of Pakistan appointed Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and BMA Capital Management to manage a sale of up to 15 percent of Oil and Gas Development Co. Ltd. (OGDCL) through a GDR issue and a domestic offering. Pakistan plans to sell between 10 and 15 percent, representing between 430 million and 645 million shares in OGDCL (OGDC.KA: Quote, Profile, Research), the country’s largest listed firm, with a market capitalisation of around $9.5 billion. At 0600 GMT, MCB Bank shares were trading 8.00 rupees or 4 percent up at 212.00 rupees in a broader market <.KSE> which was up 1.7 percent.