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Author: Faisal Shahnawaz

  • SBP hailed for allowing opening of banks during Eid Holidays

    SBP hailed for allowing opening of banks during Eid Holidays

    KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Friday hailed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for allowing banks to open their branches during Eid holidays to facilitate general public.

    Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) Zubair Motiwala and President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Shariq Vohra appreciated the central bank for paying attention to KCCI’s legitimate demand and accordingly deciding to keep those authorized branches of banks operational on May 10th and 11th who are dealing in foreign exchange & trade activities.

    “We are very grateful to the government and SBP for keeping the authorized branches operational on first two days of next week to facilitate trade & industry, particularly the exports during the extended holidays before Eid-ul-Fitr,” said Chairman BMG Zubair Motiwala.

    While welcoming Sindh government’s move to keep all businesses operational on Friday and Saturday from 6am till 6pm, Chairman BMG reiterated KCCI’s demand to allow small traders and shopkeepers to keep their businesses operational throughout the remaining few days of Ramazan ul Mubarak while the business hours have to be redefined from 12am till 12pm instead of existing 6am to 6pm. 

    President KCCI Shariq Vohra said that SBP’s move would certainly give some breathing space to the exporters by enabling them to carry out important banking transactions and dispatch shipments either on 10th or 11th May, 2021. Although the Sindh government has issued holidays notification from May 10th to 15th but this needs to be reissued under Factories Act in which holidays should be categorically mentioned from May 12th to 15th which would help in dealing with confusion amongst many circles.

    He also requested the Sindh government to allow shopkeepers to keep their businesses operational during the remaining days of Ramazan and urged the shopkeepers to ensure strict implementation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) at the commercial markets.

  • Turkey’s BiP communication introduces new feature

    Turkey’s BiP communication introduces new feature

    KARACHI: Turkey’s secure life and communication platform BiP has introduced new feature, allowing users to convey their group chats easily from other applications, a statement said on Friday.

    Turkey’s secure life and communication platform BiP has witnessed 2 million downloads in Pakistan and 80 million downloads globally.

    Reaching out to 80 million users globally, BiP sustains innovative investments and introduces group chat import enabling users to move their existing group and individual chats including videos and photographs automatically at once.

    Unlike other applications, users are not obliged to manually add every fellow user one by one as BiP handles the import directly by adding all participants in.  

    Commenting on the most recent feature of BiP Burak AKINCI, CEO of BiP, said: “Digitization is becoming a norm rapidly. A messaging application is not only a messaging application anymore but more of a living ecosystem via we communicate, work and trade. Users need to feel safe and secure in that ecosystem. In an era where we are under continuous cyber-crime threats as businesses and individuals, consumers’ protection and consent are critical.

    Data ethics and security has paramount importance for us. A protected and seamless migration experience is a symbol for our dedication in a thorough and fulfilled CX.”

    Underlining the importance of the Pakistani market, AKINCI said: “Exceptional relations between our countries have been a great motivation for us from the day one. In just a couple of months we’ve reached more than 2 million downloads with very high rates of like scores in various platforms.

    “We also pursue productive collaborations with operators and local content providers in the Pakistani market. We’ll gratefully continue to invest in innovative and localized solutions to make Pakistanis’ everyday lives and digital interactions easier and safer.”

    Messaging and group video calls up to 10 people with HD quality are the most popular features for Pakistani users. The messaging traffic per user in March becomes 4 times of the value in January for Pakistani users.

    The peak day for the downloads is Monday and Lahore comes up as the first city in terms of download numbers within the country.

    BiP’s awarded instant translation   and secret messaging are other significant features that are highly preferred by Pakistani consumers. BiP instantly translates written words and phrases in 106 languages, including Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto and Sundanese.

    BiP has received the ‘Most Innovative Mobile App’ award at 2020 Global Mobile Awards under ‘Connected Consumer Category’ with this built-in real-time translation feature. Secret chat is another highly preferred feature in the Pakistani market as it enables users to make the chats disappear from the chat screen with the period they determine.

    Secret chat creates a solid sense of security and privacy for its users, with no data backed up by BIP or decrypted. In BiP, no data is shared with third parties, and all data is kept under high-tech data centers in Turkey. Nothing is imposed on the users, and everything is operated under their consent only.

    Operating in 192 countries, Turkey’s life and communication platform BiP offers HD-quality group video call with up to 10 people along with instant messaging and voice call features.

    Allowing up to 1000 users in groups chats, BiP also enables shortcuts for frequently communicated users or groups on home screen.

    BiP has also recently announced superior features such as dark mode and personalized menu. The application makes text formatting seamless with its recent feature which makes users to emphasize their words with bold, italics, strikethrough or underline in addition to chat archive… Paying genuine attention to localization BiP has also introduced its Ramadan and Cricket Channels in Pakistani market.

    Throughout Ramadan BiP users may follow all location based iftar and suhoor timings, menu alternatives and meal recipes and spiritual insights via exclusively designed Ramadan channel. Cricket channel is another locally designed medium which tells live scores, team info, live news and evaluations about cricket.

  • ICAP presents proposals for budget 2021/2022

    ICAP presents proposals for budget 2021/2022

    ISLAMABAD: Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) on Thursday presented proposals for budget 2021/2022 to Shaukat Tarin, minister for finance and revenue.

    ICAP Vice President Ashfaq Tola called on the Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin here at the Finance Division to present proposals on Model Federal Budget 2021-2022.

    SA PM on Revenue Dr Waqar Masood Khan and Ali Latif, Vice President ICAP were also present during the meeting.

    The Finance Minister welcomed the Vice President ICAP Ashfaq Tola and discussed the proposals by the ICAP team for the economic growth and development of the country.

    The Minister lauded the professional insight of the members of the ICAP and their valuable contribution.

    The Vice President ICAP briefed the Minister about the sector-wise Budget Proposals prepared by the Advisory Committee of the ICAP for the first time.

    The Model Budget Paper included recommendations for widening the tax net, increasing per capita income, managing the non-tax income, measures on domestic and foreign debt management and rationalizing the pension expenditure.

    The Vice President also appreciated the housing initiative of the federal government to boost economic activity and suggested ways & means to extend the outreach.

    The Finance Minister commended the efforts made by ICAP’s Advisory Committee in working out the Budget proposals and reiterated firm commitment for formulation of a growth-oriented budget by following a participatory approach.

    The underlying rationale is to take all stakeholders on board for evolving consensus and coming up with innovative ideas to overcome economic challenges. The VP ICAP felicitated the Finance Minister on assuming new responsibilities and extended invite to be a Chief Guest at ICAP webinars and also presented the Coffee Table Book on the occasion.

  • SBP allows opening of banks during Eid holidays

    SBP allows opening of banks during Eid holidays

    KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday directed banks to open their 50 percent branches on May 10 and 11, 2021 during Eid holidays to facilitate trade and industry.

    In a statement, the central bank said that in order to ensure the availability of banking services to trade and industry in particular and public in general during the extended holidays before the forthcoming Eid-ul-Fitr, it has been decided that banks shall open 50 percent of their total authorized branches dealing in foreign exchange and trade activities on 10th May, 2021 (Monday) while the remaining 50 percent of such branches on 11th May, 2021 (Tuesday) from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (without break).

  • MCC Hyderabad announces auction of non-duty paid motor vehicles

    MCC Hyderabad announces auction of non-duty paid motor vehicles

    KARACHI: The Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Hyderabad has announced an upcoming auction of non-duty paid motor vehicles scheduled to take place on May 19, 2021.

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  • FBR notifies duty exemption on cotton yarn import

    FBR notifies duty exemption on cotton yarn import

    ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday notified exemption of customs duty on import of cotton yarn till June 30, 2021.

    The FBR issues SRO 533(I)/2021 to comply with the decision of Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) to exempt whole of customs duty on import of cotton and cotton yarn.

    The ECC on April 14, 2021 approved the withdrawal of customs duty to ensure smooth supply of cotton and cotton yarns to the value-added industry, while bridging the gap between domestic production and overall demand for the inputs.

    The FBR allowed duty exemption on cotton yarn on import of following categories:

    — Cotton Yarn (other than sewing thread), containing 85 percent or more by weight of cotton, not put up for retail sale.

    — Cotton Yarn (other than sewing thread), containing less than 85 percent by weight of cotton, not put up for retail sale.

    — Cotton Yarn (other than sewing thread) put up for retail sale.

  • FBR extends date for filing sales tax return

    FBR extends date for filing sales tax return

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has announced an extension of the deadline for filing monthly sales tax returns for the period of April 2021.

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  • Prolong Eid holidays to adversely affect exports: APTMA

    Prolong Eid holidays to adversely affect exports: APTMA

    KARACHI: All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has strongly reacted to the announcement of the government regarding Eid Holidays and stated the prolong closure may adversely affect economic activities.

    The Patron in Chief APTMA, Gohar Ejaz has rejected the decision of the Government for Eid ul Fitr holidays from 10th to 16th May 2021. While expressing his concerns, stated that this will bring the whole country practically shut down for 10 days from Saturday, 8th May to Monday 17th May 2021.

    Shutting down the country for 10 consecutive days is unacceptable as it would create a lot of glitches for the economy, industries, particularly the exporters who will not be able to dispatch their shipments abroad due to the complete closure of banks, ports, customs, and all other departments during excessive holidays. 

    He warned that we cannot afford such extended holidays as they will result in giving losses of up to billions of rupees to the national exchequer and terribly affect business activities particularly the exports.

    Simultaneously, it will badly affect and deprive the daily wage earners of the country of their desperately needed earnings for continuous 10 days. Workers will find it impossible to feed their families creating a social disaster.

    He particularly highlighted the Textile Industry that despite the issues and hardship, committed to double the exports.

    Textile manufacturers have orders in hand and are working day and night to dispatch shipments according to the agreed schedule.

    This decision will end up in the cancellation of orders which will not only result in losses to manufacturers but also to the country.

    Keeping in view the social overall business climate and economic crises being faced by the country, Gohar Ejaz requested the Government to review the decision of Eid ul Fitr holidays from 10th to 16th May 2021.

    The holidays should only be from 13th to 16th May 2021. The government should not shut down production and transportation for 10 days as the country simply cannot sustain such production and export loss.

  • Pak Suzuki posts sharp 285pc growth in first quarter

    Pak Suzuki posts sharp 285pc growth in first quarter

    KARACHI: Pak Suzuki Motors Company Limited on Thursday announced an unprecedented growth of 285 percent in gross profit to Rs2.21 billion during the first quarter (January – March) of 2021.

    The company declared the gross profit of Rs573 million in the same quarter of the last year.

    The sales of the company sharply grew to Rs36.1 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 as compared with Rs17.74 billion in the same quarter of the last year.

    With the higher sales, the distribution and marketing expenses of the company also increased to Rs710 million during the quarter under review as compared with Rs320 million in the same quarter of the last year.

    The company declared profit from operations at Rs1.12 billion during January – March 2021 as compared with loss of Rs1.32 billion in the same quarter of the last year.

    The net profit of the company was at Rs778 million during first quarter of 2021 as compared with net loss of Rs941 million in the corresponding quarter of the last year.

    The company declared earnings per share at Rs9.45 for the period ended March 31, 2021 as compared with net loss of Rs941 million in the corresponding period of the last year.

  • APTMA disapproves Indian cotton import

    APTMA disapproves Indian cotton import

    KARACHI: All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has strongly disapproved any plan to import cotton yarn from India.

    In a statement issued on Friday, Asif Inam, Chairman – APTMA Sindh-Balochistan Region expressed deep concern on drastic decline in price of fine counts of yarn by Rs. 10,000/- per bag in the Faisalabad Yarn Market which is in expectation of massive tax evasion plan by individuals in anticipation of permission be allowed to import cotton yarn from India through Wagah Border.

    Asif Inam in a statement issued to the press and electronic media has said that industry has procured cotton at very high prices and they are not in a position to sustain these losses.

    He said that about 90 percent of yarn produced in the country is available for the domestic market and there is no shortage of yarn in the country.

    Asif Inam urged the government not to allow import of cotton yarn from India as India has imposed restriction on import of all Pakistani products.

    To restrain import of yarn from India and support the local industry he demanded the government to withdraw levy of sales tax on zero rated sector so that the genuine industry may flourish and be able to provide yarn at affordable prices.

    He also urged the government to save domestic industry from total closure, DLTL should not be provided on those entire textile products produced using imported materials which are either produced or manufactured in Pakistan as all such textile items which are produced using imported materials are incurring losses to the national exchequers because most of the exporters falls under the category of Fixed Tax Regime whereas they are also availing DLTL facility ranging between 2 percent to 4 percent and subsidized Export Refinance Facility which is provided from the revenue earned by the government from Pakistani Taxpayers. DLTL and ERF should only be provided on the products produced using domestic yarn and fabrics, he added.