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AMBASSADOR ALIZADA HOSTS SALVATION DAY RECEPTION

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National Salvation Day is one of the glorious pages of the history of independent Azerbaijan; awards medals and certificates to Pakistani friends; says he will be leaving soon after completing his term in Pakistan

Ansar M Bhatti

ISLAMABAD:  Ambassador of Azerbaijan Ali Alizada has said his country is greatly indebted to Pakistani govt and people of Pakistan for extending whole-hearted support during war with agressor Armenia.

The ambassador expressed these views while speaking at the National Salvation Day function. The ambassador also confered medals on the ministes and parliamentarians. Besides, certificates were awarded to those media persons who contributed significantly toards promitona and strengthening of bilateral relations.

Ambassador Alizada said the National Salvation Day is one of the glorious pages of the history of independent Azerbaijan. After regaining  its independence in 1991 Azerbaijan was at the verge of civil war and loss of independence.

ISLAMABAD, JUN 11: Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub witnessing pictures during his visit to Azerbaijan embassy.=DNA PHOTO

On that time by the persistent demand of the Azerbaijani nation, Heydar Aliyev, National Leader of Azerbaijan assumed the responsibility of the country, saved the state and the nation of Azerbaijan from the hard and strict tests of the history and Azerbaijan embarked on the path of development, ensured stability and the country began to confidently move forward.

The political reforms carried out in Azerbaijan under the leadership of Heydar Aliyev were designed for the development of democracy, human rights, unity and full protection of the interests of the country.

He said, H.Aliyev put an end to all negativity in the country, disbanded all illegal armed groups, established safety and order, and began building the state institutions.Along with the rapid development and dynamic progress of the country, the wise policy laid by National Leader and successfully continued by the current President of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev,gained to Azerbaijani nation to achieve its main goal – the restoration of the territorial integrity of the modern independent Azerbaijan.

Due to dynamic development, high national spirit and unity, professionalism and heroism of victorious Azerbaijan Army, and thanks to the dedication of our martyrs, under the command of the Supreme Commander-in-chief, Azerbaijan has defeated aggressor Armeniawhich kept 20% of Azerbaijani territories under the illegal occupation for almost 30 years, and Azerbaijan hassecured its territorial integrity, put an end to Armenian occupation and restored peace and justice in the region.

‘We are thankful to our fraternal country Pakistan and its nation which always stood by Azerbaijan and put its prinsipal position in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, especially during Patriotic War of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has also always stood byand supported Pakistan in all matters, including the Kashmir issue and I am sure this mutual support to each other will be continued and further strengthened’. Ambassador Ali Alizada added, from the first day of the restoration of independence of Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Azerbaijan as two brotherly countries always enjoy longstanding strategic partnership and cordial relationswhich reflects the will of our fraternal nations and our relations continue to grow in upward trajectory.

The mutual share of our sorrows, as well as the celebration of the different significat occasions of both countries together, including the the victory of Azerbaijan and the mark of National Salvation Day today once again prove our commitment for the strongfriendship and brotherhood, he concluded.=DNA

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E-Paper 11-06-2021

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E-Paper 11-06-2021

Webinar on “Roshan Digital Account” held at Pakistan Embassy Brussels

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BRUSSELS: The Embassy of Pakistan, Brussels in collaboration with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Meezan Bank Limited, organized a webinar on “Roshan Digital Account” (RDA) Sharia compliant investment and financing opportunities, today.

The webinar was addressed by the Ambassador of Pakistan to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the European Union, Zaheer A. Janjua, Founding President and CEO Meezan Bank, Mr. Irfan Siddiqui, and SBP Managing Director Syed Irfan Ali.

Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Janjua termed RDA as innovative initiative of the Government, which has facilitated Pakistani diaspora in sending money to their loved ones in Pakistan and eased digital payment system by providing full range of banking services. He noted that during first 10 months of the current financial year 2020-21 (July-April), remittances from Belgium and Luxembourg have increased by 270 percent amounting to the US $202.6 million as compared to the US $54.8 million in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

The Ambassador thanked the diaspora for the record increase in the flow of remittances and hoped that this trend would continue in the future. The Ambassador underscored that the trend was a sign of confidence and trust of the overseas Pakistanis in the economic policies of the government.

The Founding President and CEO of Meezan Bank, Mr. Irfan Siddiqui, spoke about the wide range of benefits for the subscribers under this initiative. The Managing Director SBP, Syed Irfan Ali also made a detailed presentation on key features and benefits of the RDA.

The virtual interaction was attended by a broad cross-section of Pakistani diaspora based in Belgium and Luxemburg, including bankers, financial experts, business persons, students, academia, and media. The participants actively participated in the discussion, asked questions about the scheme, and appreciated the initiative.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had inaugurated the Roshan Digital Account scheme, in September 2020 to provide innovative banking solutions to millions of non-resident Pakistanis. More than US$ 1 billion have been remitted to Pakistan, since the launch of this facility last September.

Pak economy rebounds with 4% growth

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FBR collection has seen an increase of eighteen percent as compared to the last year. The revenue collection has so far reached 4.2 trillion rupees: Shaukat Tareen

Commerce Reporter

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s economy rebounded strongly during the current fiscal year and posted a growth of around four percent, which is substantially higher than the previous two years.

Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin, accompanied by Minister for Industries and Production Khusro Bakhtiyar, Commerce Adviser Razak Dawood, Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation Sania Nishtar and SAPM on Revenue Waqar Masood, launched Pakistan Economic Survey 2020-21, in Islamabad on Thursday.

According to the Economic Survey, the GDP at the current market price stands at 47,709 billion rupees showing a growth of 14.8 percent over the last year.

The agriculture sector posted a growth of 2.8 percent, industries 3.6 percent and services 4.4 percent. In Industry, Manufacturing recorded 8.7 percent growth on account of significant growth in large scale manufacturing and SMEs. The large scale manufacturing increased by eight point nine percent.

The construction sector recorded growth of 8.3 percent. The IT sector witnessed growth of 18. 85 percent which is the highest growth in comparison with all other industries and the highest in the region.

Shaukat Tarin said FBR collection has seen an increase of eighteen percent as compared to the last year. The revenue collection has so far reached 4.2 trillion rupees, expressing the confidence that it will exceed the target of 4.7 trillion rupees by the end of this financial year.

During the current fiscal year, the total revenue as percent of GDP stood at 15.1 percent whilst total expenditures at 23.2 percent. Thus, fiscal deficit stood at 8.1 percent.

During July-March of this fiscal year, expenditures under the PSDP stood at 653.9 billion rupees.

Shaukat Tarin said remittances grew by 29 percent this year, which shows overseas Pakistanis’ trust in Prime Minister Imran Khan. He said the remittances have so far reached 26 billion dollars and these are expected to increase to 29 billion dollars by the close of this fiscal year.

The Survey revealed that Pakistan’s exports bounced back after a sharp hit during strict lockdown in the last fiscal year, mainly due to export oriented government policies and strong economic recoveries. By April, exports were amounted to 20.9 billion dollars as compared to 18.4 billion dollars in the same period last year which shows an impressive growth of 13.6 percent.

The imports stood at 44.7 billion dollars during the ten months of current fiscal year as compared to 37.9 billion dollars in the same period last year.

He said the inflow of dollars including through exports helped maintain the current account deficit in surplus over the last ten months.

Foreign Exchange Reserves stood at 22.7 billion dollars in the first ten months of current fiscal year. Out of this, the SBP’s reserves were 15.6 billion dollars whereas reserves held with the commercial banks were 7.1 billion dollars. Pakistan’s rupee strengthened against the dollar, effectively appreciating the rupee by 9.5 percent.

Shaukat Tarin said the total debt stood at 38 trillion rupees by the end of March this year, including 25 trillion rupees local debt and 12.5 trillion rupees foreign debt. There has been an increase of 1.7 trillion rupees in loan during this period as compared to 3.7 trillion rupees in 2019-20, which shows reduction in loan growth. He said foreign currency debt decreased by 700 billion rupees as compared to the previous year.

The Survey disclosed that health related expenditure increased by 14.3 percent.  Under this year’s PSDP, allocations of 20,193. 9 million rupees were made for seventy one health sector projects.

The government earmarked 29.5 billion rupees for the Higher Education Commission to implement 144 development projects of Public Sector Universities. The literacy rate in urban areas is 74 percent whilst in rural areas it stands at 52 percent.

In the wake of COVID-19, the government disbursed 179.8 billion rupees as one time emergency cash assistance to 14.8 million beneficiaries who were at the risk of falling into the extreme poverty.

Under Kamyab Jawan Youth program, the government disbursed 8,566 million rupees by April this year for businesses.

China passes law banning defamation of military personnel

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BEIJING: China has passed a law banning the defamation of military personnel.

The legislation was adopted at the closing meeting of a session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress today.

The new legislation also bans the desecration of plaques in honor of military personnel.

Time-tested Pak-China relationship flourishing with each passing day: FM

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ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi says the time-tested Pak-China relationship is flourishing with each passing day, unaffected by changes in the regional and global environment. 

He was addressing at the issuance of commemorative coin in connection with the celebrations marking 70 years of establishment of Pak-China diplomatic relations, in Islamabad today (Thursday).

The coin’s denomination has been kept at 70 rupees, depicting the 70 years of all-weather, time-tested and brotherly relationship between Pakistan and China.

The Foreign Minister said the unrelenting efforts of the successive generations of people and the leadership of both countries have transformed the relationship between them into an ‘All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership’.

He said Pakistan and China have always steadfastly supported each other on the issues of core interest.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in the wake of emerging global and regional environment, Pakistan has recalibrated its priorities from geo-politics to geo-economics.

He said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, being the flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative, complements Pakistan’s renewed efforts of geo-economic shift with emphasis on economic integration and regional connectivity.

State Bank of Pakistan Governor Dr. Reza Baqir, China’s Ambassador Nong Rong and senior officials attended the ceremony.

ISE REIT Management Company hails new amendments to REIT regulations

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ISLAMABAD: The new reforms to the REIT Regulations notified by the SECP, have the potential to unleash an unprecedented boom in the real estate sector of the country. This was stated by Mr. Zahid Latif Khan, Chairman ISE Towers REIT Management Company, while talking to reporters.

The REIT model has been revamped by introducing pro-business changes including for the first time, the  launch of infrastructure REITs on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, REIT Scheme through investment in Special Purpose Vehicle,  adding the real estate to existing REIT Scheme(s) thereby ensuring growth for investors, allowing uncapped financing, relaxed regulatory approvals and territorial limits etc. The process to launch the REIT Scheme has been made easy and simple.

Mr. Zahid Latif Khan said that the PPP model is revolutionary from the perspective that globally the PPP model is considered best for all sort of infrastructure developments as it paves the way for the private sector investment and reduces burden on the public funds. In Pakistan, almost all provinces and the federal governments have now adopted the PPP laws, which had more or less remained unattractive because of requirement of high finance from the private sector. With recently introduced REIT Regulations amendments, the private sector would be able to tap the markets and raise money for projects. In the developed world, hospitals, roads, airports and even jail projects are done through REITs in PPP mode.

Talking of the plans for the launch of REIT Scheme(s) by ISE RMC, the Chairman said that he plans to call a Board strategy session soon so that we could become the first REIT to avail the opportunities created under the revamped Regulations for making an entry to the stock market. He said that due to the current low interest rate environment, the rental REITs would be able to offer competitive investment choices to investors looking for sustainable and consistent returns. At the end, Mr. Zahid Latif Khan appreciated the untiring efforts of the REIT department of the SECP, the Commissioner Specialized Companies Division Mr. Farrukh H. Sabzwari and the Chairman SECP Mr. Aamir Khan, for introducing futuristic REIT Regulations.

Public urged not to miss 2nd vaccine dose

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ISLAMABAD, JUN 10 (DNA) – Parliamentary Secretary for National Health Services Dr. Nausheen Hamid on Thursday urged taking two doses of the vaccine is important and people must remember to take the second dose as a single vaccine dose will not provide sufficient immunity to protect from coronavirus, she said while speaking to a Private news channel.

She said Pakistan has achieved so far a target of 10 millionth of Covid-19 vaccine dose on Wednesday and authorities aimed to inoculate 70 million people by the end of this year. She said Pakistan has received the first batch of Pfizer vaccine under the COVAX facility which would be prioritize administering coronavirus vaccines to chronic and transplanted patients to build their immunity fast.

She said public trust for vaccine increasing day by day when famous personalities and their loved once take vaccine. Nausheen Hamid said that walk-in vaccination facility to all citizens above 18 would start from Friday and government was opening up registrations for more age groups as Pakistan’s vaccine supply continues to improve and the country’s vaccination capacity gets enhanced day by day.

She said it is now prioritizing booster shots for the elderly and those with chronic diseases as part of its vaccination efforts. “Therefore, we call on everyone to get vaccinated and support the national recovery efforts,” she said. Replying a Query, she made it clear that the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) had announced that coronavirus vaccines will be mandatory for all public and private sector employees, adding that government employees must be fully vaccinated by end of this month. 

Knowledge Platform, AFS award scholarship to 5 Pakistani students

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ISLAMABAD, JUN 10 (DNA) – Knowledge Platform (KP), a leading EdTech organization in Pakistan, partnered with AFS Intercultural Programs to offer a fully funded scholarship program for Pakistani students.

The program is sponsored by the Government of Japan under the Kakehashi cultural exchange program.  Knowledge Platform has selected five students from a total of 5,000 applicants across Pakistan after a rigorous evaluation process.

Ten other brilliant Pakistani students from the previous cohorts successfully completed the scholarship program in Japan and returned to Pakistan. This scholarship program is a unique and exciting learning opportunity for Pakistani students aged between 14 to 17 years.

 The selected students will attend regular school in Japan, as well as participate in co-curricular activities, such as arts and crafts and sports.  They will also get an opportunity to interact with Japanese students and learn the Japanese language.

This additional skill will help them communicate more effectively with the Japanese people. Japan will be hosting these five students hailing from different cities of Pakistan.

These students will travel to Japan in August 2021 and return to Pakistan in March 2022. The school itinerary for these visiting students includes numerous engaging activities and trips to make their stay both educational and enjoyable.

Knowledge Platform’s CEO, Talhah Munir Khan, said: “We, as Knowledge Platform, feel immensely gratified to be investing in the future of Pakistan. Here, in Pakistan, we have the most talented and brilliant children.

 It is a pleasure to be helping the youth of the country, so that they can showcase and exhibit their talent and skills in the global village, thus contributing to the country’s pride and honour. Knowledge Platform will work with full dedication and zeal to accomplish the dreams of our ambitious kids. We are grateful to the AFS Intercultural Program for making this scholarship program a great initiative towards a progressive Pakistan.”

Knowledge Platform is an innovative online learning platform, which provides gamified learning opportunities for students and schools in Pakistan. Approximately, 450,000 students, 10,000 teachers, 900,000 parents, and 1,000 Schools in Pakistan subscribe to and use the digital blended learning solution designed by Knowledge Platform. Knowledge Platform will be announcing the Kakehashi cultural exchange program scholarship for 2022 by the end of 2021. If you wish to participate in the upcoming scholarship program, then please stay connected to our platform Learn Smart Pakistan and immediately sign in at leansmartpakistan.org today. 

Tax cut on food items demanded

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SBP decision deserves credit for formulating a scheme that has the potential to contribute meaningfully to the growth of the SMEs sector resulting in modernization and expansion

Shujaat Hamza

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Thursday said facility of collateral-free loans for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is one of the best decisions of the central bank which will lift the economy.

The State Bank of Pakistan has planned to provide up to Rs 10 million loan for the cottage industry without any collateral which will infuse a new life in this sector damaged by the pandemic, it said.

SMEs constitute the dominant part of the GDP and employment in almost all countries of the world and some countries became economic giants by focusing on SME development but this important sector remained neglected for a long time in Pakistan, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President PEW.

He said that successive governments have realized the importance of SMEs but were not able to intervene properly but now their access to credit is improved to ensure the rapid growth of this sector.

Dr. Murtaza Mughal noted that in past most of the schemes fell short of expectations due to lack of required interest and commitment on the part of top officials while banks have always preferred to ignore this sector due to fear of defaults but now the SBP will come forward in case of default.

In this environment, the SBP decision deserves credit for formulating a scheme that has the potential to contribute meaningfully to the growth of the SMEs sector resulting in modernization and expansion.

He said that collateral-free loans should also be made available for setting up of new businesses as practiced in many other countries.

Dr. Mughal noted that borrowing from banks has jumped by 70 percent in the first eleven months of the current fiscal year proving the confidence of the private sector.

Last year the borrowing stood at 288.8 billion rupees which has now jumped to 489.5 billion rupees that is a sign of increased economic activity.

He said that taxes on food items and the telecom sector should be reduced in the wake of pandemic and inflation.

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