Ministry rejects APCNGA’s claims about LPG Air Mix projects KARACHI PR The LPG Air Mix projects have been ap- proved by the ECC after a period of due diligence and strict adherence to all Gov- ernment including PPRA rules over a pe- riod of twelve months. These projects are necessary to be able to bring an additional 100 MMCFD of natural Gas equivalent within the shortest possible time and from assets that already exist within the public sector. This project is part of a quick short term solution that has been developed by the Ministry with the help of the natural Gas utilities and other energy experts. How can the APCnGA support this loss fig- ure of Rs 60 billion? It is patently incorrect and only being articulated to create a false impression and agitation in the mind of the readers. Lack of natural Gas had led to the unem- ployment of nearly 4 million people in the Sialkot/ Faisalabad and Lahore areas. The desire of the APCnGA to not increase nat- ural Gas and LPG Air Mix as a substitute fuel was paradoxical. The cost of LPG Air Mix will be applied to industry only and will not affect the domes- tic consumer thereby not impacting the price of ‘roti’. Mr. Paracha was bordering on defamation and statements issued with a malafide agenda. This additional fuel will be supplied by the nG utilities which were regulated by the OGRA and totally operate in the public in- terest and were owned by the public sector. The LPG Air Mix projects have been oper- ating in Pakistan since the early 1970’s when it was a global pioneer by setting up these alternative fuel projects in Quetta and Larkana. SSGC was providing a clean natural Gas alternative to Gwadar, nushki, Kot Ghulam Mohammed and Suhrab. The proposed large LPG Air Mix plants at Karachi bin Qasim can deliver an addi- tional 100 mmscfd within six months. In addition to the mentioned LPG Air Mix projects, there were well over 3 dozen LPG Air Mix projects that have been operating in the private sector in Pakistan for the past eight years. This clearly refutes Mr. Per- acha’s contention that LPG Air Mix proj- ects will put people out of work. To the contrary, the injection of LPG Air Mix in the system will create more employment opportunities as the currently natural Gas starved industry will have a constant sup- ply of fuel available ensuring enhanced productivity, leading to greater exports, improved tax revenues and generation of foreign exchange. These projects have been developed by people who understand the energy sector and have several decades of experience. Mr. Peracha was clearly misinformed and building an entire argument based on an incorrect understanding of the project and technology. The LPG Air Mix solution was an elegant means of delivering a fuel to in- crease supply of natural Gas as it requires no transportation by road but provides a natural Gas alternative in Karachi through the existing pipeline network. The LPG can be easily imported into Karachi as an alter- native fuel for SSGC while Punjab can get the additional 100 MMCFD natural Gas through SnGPL for its industry through swap arrangement. Tuesday, 22 January, 2013 ISLAMABAD APP The Acumen Fund and JS have launched Pakistan Fellows Programme aiming to develop the social change leaders of next generation who are building innovative businesses and strong institutions across the country. The Acumen Fund, a pioneering nonprofit global venture firm address- ing poverty across Africa and in South Asia, hosted an event on Sunday to in- troduce the first class of Acumen Pak- istan Fellows, said a statement issued here on Monday. In partnership with JS Bank, the Mahvash & Jahangir Siddiqui Founda- tion and the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations, Acumen was working to develop the next generation of social change leaders who were building inno- vative businesses and strong institutions across Pakistan. Twenty individuals have been se- lected out of over 500 candidates to par- ticipate in this year-long training, while simultaneously continuing to pursue their social impact initiatives. Fellows’ initiatives range from creat- ing an interest-free microfinance institu- tion, to a disaster relief project and to a teaching training programme. In addi- tion to a presentation given by the newly selected Pakistan Fellows, the launch event featured remarks by Jacqueline novogratz, Founder & CEO of Acumen Fund, and Edmond de Rothschild Foun- dations Executive Director Firoz Ladak. “Pakistan today faces many chal- lenges, and we need new leaders who are dedicated to creating a better future for this country,” said Acumen Fund Pak- istan Country Director Farrukh Khan. “It is exciting to help develop a commu- nity of leaders with the financial skills, operational excellence and moral imag- ination to address pressing social issues and we’re humbled by the support and interest we’ve received from our part- ners and local community.” “The depth and breadth of talent in the applicant pool size is evidence that the people of this nation want to seek ways to improve the prevailing condi- tions and challenge the existing status quo,” stated Mahvash & Jahangir Sid- diqui Foundation CEO Ali J. Siddiqui, “With this inaugural class of bright and ambitious individuals, we are creating a brighter future of this country by pro- viding the tools and the knowledge re- quired to develop a new generation of Pakistani leaders.” The Pakistan Fellows programme was just one part of Acumen’s invest- ment in leadership and community of the Acumen Fund alumni network. The East Africa Regional Fellows Program was in its second year and just selected its fellows for 2013. Acumen intends to launch similar Regional Fellows Programs in India and West Africa in the coming years. Additionally, Acumen Fund had in- vested over $ 7 million in Pakistan since 2001, focusing on a wide range of sus- tainable, scalable businesses-in agricul- ture, housing, health, water and energy-that use market-based ap- proaches to deliver products and serv- ices to millions of rural and urban poor. Recent additions to Acumen Fund Pakistan’s portfolio include the nRSP (national Rural Support Program) Mi- crofinance Bank, which was the first agency in Pakistan to provide financial services to rural agricultural markets, and Pharmagen Healthcare Ltd, which supplies safe, clean, and affordable drinking water to low-income residents in Lahore. Acumen Fund and JS launch Pakistan Fellows Programme ISLAMABAD ONLINE I n the wake of tension between Indian and Pakistan, Minister Commerce Makhdoom Ameen Fahim has called off a scheduled visit to India to attend a business confer- ence on direction of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, media quoting officials said on Monday. According to re- ports quoting officials in commerce ministry in Islamabad, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf was in the loop about the decision to call off Mr. Fahim’s visit. Officials said Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf directed the minister not to visit India in current tense situation between two countries as Pakistani play- ers and artists have been threatened and expelled from India. The decision was linked to the spike in tensions between India and Pakistan over a string of clashes along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir that left three Pakistani sol- diers dead, while India claimed that two of its sol- diers were killed. Fahim and Secretary Com- merce Munir Qureshi were scheduled to visit India during January 27-29 to participate in a Partnership Summit being organ- ised in Agra. Ameen Fahim was invited to the meet by his Indian coun- terpart Anand Sharma. In recent weeks, differences had emerged between Fahim and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar over the issue of giving Most Favoured nation-status to India. Media reports have said that Khar had held Fahim responsible for the delay in giving MFn-status to India. Pakistan missed the December 31 deadline for phasing out a negative list regime for trade and giving MFn-status to India. Ameen Fahim subsequently said the process had been delayed. Bilateral trade to mutually benefit India, Pak: Baig ISLAMABAD: Advisor to Prime Minister on Textile Mirza Ikhtiar Baig has said that the bilateral trade between Pakistan and India would be mutually beneficial, therefore the two countries were focusing on steps to increase its volume. Talking to Pakistan television, he said that the trade between India and Pakistan would be enhanced in fu- ture, which would be a win-win situation for both the countries. He said that efforts were being made to improve the trade with regional countries and the South Asia was the best place for investment purpose. He said, “We have the best example of regional block like SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Association) and European Union (EU), which are considered the strong economic blocks to boost each other’s economies through mutual free trade facilities”. He said that regional trade would be successful with China and India being the big trade partners. Replying to a question, he said that the tense Pak-India relations should not affect the trade between the two countries. APP LCCI for macroeconomic reforms, policy changes LAHORE ONLINE The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and In- dustry Monday called for macroeconomic reforms and policy changes in consultation with stakeholders for a sustainable eco- nomic recovery. In a statement issued here after IMF decision that it will not write-off or reschedule Pakistan’s loan, the LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar, Senior Vice Pres- ident Irfan Iqbal Sheikh and Vice President Mian Abuzar Shad said that the government would have to reorganise the power sector, restructure public sector businesses and re- duce trade deficit to overcome economic woes. The LCCI office-bearers also stressed the need for a mechanism to ensure in letter and spirit implementation of economic pol- icy decisions in the larger interests of the stakeholders. “Since gas and electricity shortage is mother of all economic ills, therefore, a focused attention to stop pilfer- age and allocate more revenues to overcome circular debt issue is needed. The power sector infrastructure should be upgraded as without doing so there will be little im- provement even if major new generation fa- cilities are built. The government-owned power generation companies should be technologically refurbished as it could close the demand-supply gap by 1500 MW.” ISLAMABAD ONLINE The Islamabad Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IWCCI) said on Monday IMF’s lack of trust and persistence to accelerate the pace of economic reforms in exchange for fur- ther financing calls for immediate bold decisions to save country from eco- nomic collapse. The President of IWCCI Faridia Rashid said that the foreign lender had made loans conditional to transforma- tion in existing policies including real- istic revenue goals, fixing the issues of power and other public sector organi- sations, eliminating untargeted subsi- dies, revamping tax regime, improving bureaucracy, and reducing the budget deficit. The IMF demands were not new but this time these must be taken seri- ously to ensure rescue loans as cur- rency was depreciating and the very survival of country was on the stake, she added. Farida Rashid said that IMF’s frus- tration over Pakistan’s failed commit- ments could have far-reaching impact on the future of the country, as gov- ernment will not be able to use the lender’s money to support dwindling reserves, which will invite a disaster soon. This was high time for government to take tough and unpopular decisions to save the country from economic col- lapse and ensure sustainable economic recovery. The unfair and oppressive tax structure should be overhauled without wasting time. Farida said that our tax system was promoting inequality damaging country’s growth and blocking access of masses to economic opportunities; it had contributed to worsening in- equality due to reluctance of the gov- ernment to impose tax on rich, bring exempted and influential into the tax net. She said that reforms have become imperative as complex tax system was failing to support government expen- ditures, development initiatives and it redistributes a small amount of money while doing little to slow the wealth polarisation. However, Farida Rashid said that tax was imposed on rich to benefit poor but in our country it is other way around due to non-transparent post- ings in the FBR by the political class. Proper taxation on agricultural in- come, real estate, brokers and retail sectors can resolve most of the prob- lems country was facing if FBR was given freedom from political influence. IMF advice recipe to bail out economy from mess Amidst LoC tensions, PM asks Fahim to ditch Indian visit PRO 22-01-2013_Layout 1 1/22/2013 12:13 AM Page 1