Day: November 26, 2021

Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar, held a fertilizer review meeting with the fertilizer industry on Friday.

The meeting discussed the current position of the supply chain of urea in the country. Chief Secretary Punjab apprised the chairman regarding the action taken by the Punjab government against hoarders in the last two weeks. The Chief Secretary informed that inspection teams booked 159 arrests in relation to hoarding/black marketing of urea, and 2.76 lac tonne urea was confiscated during raids. He further informed that the district administration auctioned the urea bags at notified rates, i.e., Rs. 1,768/bag.

The fertilizer industry also shared the latest position of supply of urea in the country through a real-time portal, which showed inter-provincial distribution anomalies of urea. According to available data, Punjab lagged by 4 percent in urea supplies, whereas 52 percent of urea supplies flew to Sindh, compared to last year in the period from September to November, showing the excess amount of urea in the province.

Speaking to the meeting, Minister Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar said that the Sindh government had become a safe heaven for hoarders and profiteers. He appreciated the efforts of the Punjab government against hoarders and said that he expected the same measures to be taken by the Sindh government to provide urea at affordable prices for increased wheat production throughout the country in the interest of the public welfare at large.

Furthermore, the Minister stated that owing to the negligence of the Sindh government towards controlling prices of essential commodities in the province, especially Karachi and Hyderabad, the country had witnessed an increased inflation rate over the past years, which had put a lot of pressure on our economy in term of high-interest rate, which needs to be controlled.

In his concluding remarks, the Minister stated that the incumbent government was taking all possible measures for a robust supply of urea to farmers at affordable prices for wheat sowing. He also assured the constant monitoring of the supply of urea from manufacturing units and movement of fertilizers at selling points across the country.

He lauded the action of fertilizer manufacturers to blacklist the hoarders to smoothen the supply chain and market correction of urea countrywide.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Pakistan’s total exports of sports equipment have registered an increase of 20.73% in the first four months of the ongoing fiscal year as compared to the same period last year.

According to the data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country’s sporting equipment exports stood at $105.120 million between July and October in FY 2021-22. Pakistan had exported sports goods worth $87.070 million during the same period in FY 2020-21.

As always, the demand for Pakistan-made footballs is very high. The country exported footballs worth $50.148 million between July and October in FY 2021-22 as compared with the exports of $42.780 million in the same period last year, registering an increase of 17.22%.

The exports of gloves surged to $24.552 million in the first four months of the current financial year as compared to $23.163 million in the same period last year, reporting a growth of 6%.

The exports of other sporting goods increased to $30.420 million between July and October in FY 2021-22 as compared with the exports of $21.127 million in the same period last month, witnessing an increase of 43.99%.

Pakistan’s sports equipment exports stood at $27.228 million in October 2021 as compared with the $20.388 million worth of exports in the same period last year, showing a 33.55% year-on-year increase.

However, Pakistan’s exports of sporting goods on a month-on-month basis went down slightly in October as the country had exported sporting equipment worth $27.335 million in September, showing a decrease of 1.78%.

Source: Pro Pakistani

In a watershed development at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), Pak Agro Packaging Limited (PAPL) has become the first company to be listed on PSX’s Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) Board.

The GEM Board is a listing platform created to facilitate growth enterprises whether small, medium or greenfield businesses for their capital raising needs.

Pak Agro Packaging Limited had set out to raise Rs. 180 million through the PSX GEM Board Listing. The Issue of Pak Agro Packaging Limited consisted of 8,000,000 ordinary shares comprising of 40% of the post-issue paid-up capital of the Company. The entire Issue was offered through book-building process at a floor price of Rs. 22.50 per share.

The amount raised was Rs. 198,000,000 against total bids received Rs. 366,453,573 (or 14.79 million shares) at strike price of Rs. 24.75 per share, thereby the Issue was oversubscribed by 1.85x. A large number of investors participated in the book building process and out of 106 bidders, 69 investors were declared successful.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin who was the Chief Guest of the gong ceremony while hailing the inclusion of the first company on the GEM Board, said, “As we celebrate the first listing on the GEM Board, I congratulate not only the management of Pak Agro Packaging Limited but also the Board Members and the Management of Pakistan Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan who have worked tirelessly in converting this dream into reality. I would recommend SMEs to come forward to avail this opportunity to raise capital through the Stock Exchange.”

In response to comments of MD PSX regarding rationalisation of tax incentives, Shaukat Tarin stated, “We absolutely have to rationalise tax incentives so that investment in Pakistan’s productive sector increases. We want to see investment in this country in productive sectors. While I am not against the real estate sector as it benefits the economy and supports around 40 other industries as well as creates employment, we have to make sure that the benefits to the real estate sector are aligned with those given to other productive sectors of the economy as well. We do see an anomaly in the real estate sector when plots of land are bought and are held for years. That is productive capital sunk. In this regard, I would like to announce that we will be introducing a certain scheme of taxes that will be applicable to these assets so that the money can be recycled to the other sectors of the economy as well. We are also approving REIT listings that will benefit the capital market. Additionally, we are in favour of listing of SOEs which are currently encumbered by the circular debt phenomenon. This has choked some of our public sector entities, especially in the energy sector. We are, however, in the process of unlocking that. Petroleum and some power companies in the listed domain will see some activity and that will help the Stock Exchange as these are heavy weight companies.

We appreciate the hard work put in by you, and I will stand with you in all your efforts; I also call upon the FBR to provide the necessary support that you need and to review the tax regime to encourage companies to list “, he added.

The Chairman SECP Aamir Khan, stated, “The SECP has always focused on improving access to finance for SMEs, and the GEM Board will facilitate small enterprises, start-ups and green field companies in gaining access to private capital.”

Speaking about the successful book building and listing of Pak Agro Packaging Limited on the GEM Board of PSX, the MD PSX Farrukh Khan, stated, “I congratulate Pak Agro Packaging Limited as the first company to be listed on the GEM Board of the Exchange since the Board was launched in 2019. The GEM Board is an important innovation in Pakistan’s capital market and will support the financing needs of the hugely important and vibrant SME sector in Pakistan by enabling them to raise debt and equity capital at a low cost and with ease. The new Board will also help in the full value chain of early stage financing in Pakistan as such investors will now have a viable exit mechanism via listing on the GEM Board.

As an industry leader in providing agricultural support packaging and storage products, Pak Agro Packaging Limited is now raising capital to expand its industrial base by manufacturing fishing nets. We are very happy that they have utilised the GEM Board to raise of capital for diversifying their industrial capacity as well as for meeting their working capital needs.”

He further stated, “Pakistan Stock Exchange has been working diligently to facilitate the SME sector of Pakistan in meeting their financial needs through the capital markets. We are thankful to the SECP and Ministry of Finance for their guidance and support in this effort. We are confident that this will become an important source of capital for Pakistan’s SME sector.”

Speaking about the successful listing of Pak Agro Packaging Limited on PSX’s GEM Board, the Chairman of the Company Dr. Safdar Ali Butt, said, “I wish to offer my congratulations to Pakistan Stock Exchange, SECP, our consultants, AKD Securities Ltd, and all those entities who have been instrumental in opening the doors to access equity capital for SMEs of this country through the GEM Board of Pakistan Stock Exchange.”

He further stated, “The common misconceptions of SMEs being a risky proposition has clearly not stopped informed and sensible investors, particulary the institutional investors, from investing in the bright & potentially enormous future of SMEs.”

The Chairman of AKD Group Aqeel Dhedhi, stated “The first listing at the GEM Board has paved the way for SMEs access to equity capital and created opportunity for investors to participate in evolution of progressive enterprises.”

The CEO of AKD Securities Ltd. Farid Alam, added, “SMEs are a backbone of any developing economy. The growth path that we as a nation have embarked upon, requires contribution from all participants of the economic value chain. By introducing the GEM Board, SECP and PSX, with the help of financial sector entities, have allowed SMEs access to that integral capital for long term growth. We are delighted to be part of the first ever GEM listing and a catalyst for long term growth.”

Head of Investment Banking at AKD Securities Ltd. Syed Khurram Shahid, said, “PAPL’s inaugural listing at PSX GEM Board executed by AKD Securities Limited is a testimony of our firm belief in leading the development of the financial ecosystem and supporting the growth stimulus of Small and Medium Enterprises. This Board offers a lot of promise and a formidable channel for raising funds for financially challenged SME sector companies.”

AKD Securities Limited took the initiative of bringing the first growth company for listing on the Exchange’s GEM Board. The book building attracted tremendous response from investors. This reflects the interest and appetite that investors have for sound and sustainable businesses that offer good potential returns and growth opportunities.

The ceremony was also attended by Chairman Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Aamir Khan, Chairperson PSX Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, MD & CEO PSX Farrukh H. Khan, Board Members PSX, CEO Pak Agro Packaging Limited Khalid Butt, CEO AKD Securities Ltd. Farid Alam and senior management of the participating organisations including PSX, SECP, Pak Agro Packaging Limited and AKD Securities Limited.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Chairman Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali, has stated that Pakistan has the potential to improve agricultural exports and earn precious foreign exchange, hinting at the need for making a due investment, promoting agricultural research, and improving the agro-economy of Pakistan.

“We can export our products to the Gulf countries, which are only an hour’s flight away from Pakistan, while they are importing from far-flung countries such as Brazil,” the Chairman PARC stated while addressing a workshop in Muzaffarabad on Friday.

The workshop was organized by CropLife Pakistan for the capacity building of journalists, who were made acquainted with modern tools used for sustainable agriculture. Chairman PARC chaired the session, also addressed by Executive Director CropLife Rashid Ahmad and agriculture experts, including Muhammad Asim, Talal Hakeem, Murtaza Qaddusi, Muhammad Shoaib, and Development Consultant, Babar Malik.

The speakers urged the government to focus agricultural research and adopt the latest innovative technologies, while following the international standards, for the growth of Pakistan’s agro-economy. They asserted that steps taken in this direction would help address the food security challenges to save future generations.

Chairman PARC said Pakistan’s allocation for agricultural research was just 0.18 percent of the total agricultural GDP. “Sri Lanka is spending 0.62 percent, China 0.5 percent, Nepal 0.45 percent, and India 0.29 percent of their agricultural GDP,” he added. He underlined that Pakistan had the potential to improve agricultural exports and earn precious foreign exchange.

He said PARC was focusing on olive production, adding that the extraction ratio in Balochistan was around 29 percent compared to globally around 20 percent. “It shows how favorable the environment of Pakistan is for olive oil production,” he stressed.

Dr. Ghulam Ali regretted that the budgetary allocation for PARC only catered to its salaries and medical bills, while they were even unable to pay pensions in the recent past.

He emphasized that the agricultural land should not be allowed to be used for housing societies; instead only non-productive land should be used for setting-up new cities. “Unfortunately, new housing societies are being set up by cutting mango orchards or on another agricultural land,” he remarked while referring to Multan where mango orchards were cut down to build a new housing project.

Dr. Ghulam Ali said that PARC had written a letter to Inspector General Frontier Constabulary regarding encroachment of PARC’s research center’s land in Quetta. He maintained that the Punjab government was allocating 30 acres of prime agricultural land lying under the control of the PARC research center to build a much-trumpeted Southern Punjab Secretariat in Bahawalpur. Food security is much more important than any other security, he concluded.

CropLife Bio-Technology and Seed Committee lead, Muhammad Asim, said that the prevailing trend suggested that there would be 50 percent more food and feed requirements by 2050 to meet the growing population, which would be more than 2.2 billion. However, climate change may result in 17 percent losses in harvesting and a significant 20 percent loss in arable land per capita by this time.

He said that continued investment in innovation would enable agriculture to continue a more efficient and more sustainable trajectory.

Industry experts also discussed agriculture-related policies and stressed the need for involving the industry in the policy decision-making process.

One of the sessions of the workshop was on data mining for storytelling to help journalists use reliable data in journalistic content.

Source: Pro Pakistani