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DAWN WIRE SERVICE
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Week Ending : 19 July 1997 Issue : 03/29
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HRCP chief says agencies running parallel govt.
PIA raises domestic fares
UAE deports 119 Pakistanis
Hubco chief sees no room for tariff renegotiation
Dar lists 14 items to be imported from India
Way paved for US investment in Pakistan
Pakistan 2nd largest recipient of IBRD loan
Sale of blocked F-16s to Bahrain under study
---------------------------------
Exports fall by 5.1pc, imports 1.4pc Trade gap widens by 9pc
Industrial zoning authority to be private set-up
Roadblocks to Japanese investment in Pakistan
US coercing Pakistan on intellectual property rights
$750m target for software exports
US capitalism is not a model
Exports projected to yield $9.57bn
---------------------------------------
2010 Ardeshir Cowasjee
The dead are other people Omar Kureishi
Not just Karachi Rifaat Hamid Ghani
Riba Hafizur Rahman
-----------
Has Aamir Sohail case been really closed?
Century knocks in both innings of a Test
14 Juniors-seniors mix in hockey a failure
Jansher agrees to participate
970715
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HRCP chief says agencies running parallel govt.
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Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, July 14: The chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan (HRCP), Asma Jahangir, said on Monday that there were "two
governments" in the country, and one of them was run by what she called
"the agencies".
The HRCP chairperson was speaking at a seminar organized by the Alliance
Against Discriminatory Laws (AADL), a 14-member umbrella organization made
up of human right�s groups. Tehrik-i-Niswan, led by Khalid Ahmed and Sheema
Kirmani presented several dramatic scenes highlighting the often secondary
and subservient role that women were relegated to in the Pakistan society.
Speaking before a packed FTC auditorium Ms Jahangir said that Pakistan was
going through a very difficult phase. She said that the laws were made for
those who used them for their own benefit. She said the Hudood Ordinance
was made "only for men" to suppress women and the underprivileged.
She said according to Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution the
legislators should be "angels" and asked which one of them is an angel. Ms
Jahangir said all discriminatory laws must end. The blasphemy law, she
said, was surprisingly made not during a martial law regime but when there
was an assembly.
She said there were never any blasphemy cases or sectarian incidents during
the time of martial law or even during the time of the caretakers but when
an elected government came to power these incidents began occurring.
The HRCP chairperson said the attitude of the courts in Hudood cases needed
to improve and become more progressive. She said the judges "talk of
morality" but send women in Hudood and similar cases to Darul Aman without
taking into consideration that a woman might want a different choice for
herself.
Speaking from her personal experience in defending people accused under the
blasphemy laws, the HRCP chairperson said that the prosecuting lawyer in
the famous Salamat Masih case, after the judgment was announced, supervised
the deliberate demolition of her car parked in the court premises.
She said during the case hearing, three lawyers would be standing behind
her while she would be making her submissions before the court and on one
occasion a lawyer sitting in the audience even got up and abused her. In
addition to this, Ms Jahangir said, another lawyer who had nothing at all
do with the case had appeared before the court. The court, she said, never
took notice of these occurrences. And when the judgment was read out in the
Salamat Masih case, she (defence lawyer) was not allowed to be present in
the room.
One of the opposing lawyers, Ms Jahangir said, had printed a libelous
pamphlet defaming her religious beliefs and as many as three judges had
written forewords to this book. She said that when she approached the
learned judges and asked that would it not be embarrassing if she filed a
defamation suit against the writer of the pamphlet and the judges might be
dragged into the proceedings, she said she got the answer : "People ask us
to write forewords all the time, who has time to read the whole book."
The other speakers at the seminar were lawyer and activist Hina Jilani and
columnist and academic Eqbal Ahmed. Ms Jilani said that the proposal that
33 per cent seats be reserved for women was very necessary given the past
and ongoing discrimination against women.
She said that the reservations should however be for a limited period of
time till when women could come in large numbers in parliament so that
issues that were close to them could be advocated for at the highest
policy- and decision-making levels. Ms Jilani said her experience as a
lawyer had shown that those affected by the Hudood laws, especially women,
often had to face very difficult times with the police. One example is, she
said, that they police when they register the case do not specify whether
it is Zina (Section 10 [2]) or Zina-bil-jabr (Section 10 [3]) which carries
punishment for the woman also.
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970716
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PIA raises domestic fares
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, July 15: PIA raised its domestic fares by up to 10 per cent on
selected domestic routes on Tuesday, airline officials said. Fares on
flights in the Northern Areas and certain regulated routes along
Balochistan�s coastal areas were not raised.
The one-way economy fare from Karachi to Islamabad is now Rs 3,210, up from
the previous fare of Rs 2,920, an increase of 9.93 per cent. Similarly, the
one-way economy fare from Karachi to Lahore was raised from Rs 2,420 to Rs
2,650, an increase of 9.5 per cent. A first-class one-way ticket to
Islamabad will now cost Rs 5,230 and a club class seat will be for Rs 3,690.
For flights from Karachi to Lahore, one-way fares for these seats will be
Rs 4,750 and Rs 3,050 respectively.
The increase, which PIA chairman Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had already indicated
last month, was due to the airline�s belief that it had to "rationalize"
its domestic fare structure, the officials said. Later, he had also said at
press conference that the increase was necessary due to a 40 per cent rise
in fuel prices.
INTERNATIONAL FARE: The increase in the domestic fares is the first since
June 16, 1995, while international fares were last raised on October 1,
1996. Airline officials said that while the International Air Transport
Association (IATA) regulated changes in PIA�s international fares, an
increase was expected in August. International air fares usually increase
with the advent of summer, which began for PIA in April.
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970717
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UAE deports 119 Pakistanis
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Our Correspondent
DUBAI, July 16: Following a mass flushing of illegal residents last year,
the UAE authorities have deported 119 Pakistanis found in violation of UAE
immigration laws during the first six months of 1997, disclosed Bakhtiar
Khan, counselor at the Pakistan consulate in Dubai.
However, Mr. Bakhtiar said violations of immigration rules by Pakistanis
have decreased considerably since the new immigration laws were imposed by
UAE authorities on October 1, 1996, and those deported during the period
are those who could not avail the opportunity due to various reasons. He
thanked the UAE authorities for being cooperative in settling the issue of
the 119 Pakistanis in an amicable manner.
UAE authorities announced unprecedented amnesty for illegal residents last
year during which approximately 200,000 illegal residents including over
33,000 Pakistanis left the country.
Pakistanis with a population of approximately 400,000 comprise the second
largest expatriate community after the Indians who number over 750,000 in
the country of 2.3 million.
Mr. Bakhtiar, who handles the passports and visa section in the consulate
said steep decline in number of violations of UAE resident laws and other
criminal cases by Pakistanis is encouraging.
According to figures provided by the consulate 2,978 passports were issued
in March 97 and 2,066 passports in April during the same year compared to
2,944 and 2,459 passports during the same months in 1996 respectively.
According to government procedure, the respective applications filed in
foreign missions are sent to Islamabad for verification by the police
stations of the respective areas before the final approval. This procedure
is officially said to take three months, but it usually takes longer period
thus creating hardships for Pakistanis who travel frequently. Some
Pakistanis say that police has been the sole beneficiary of this rule as
the police extorts huge sums of money to put a seal of bonafide Pakistani
for the applicant.
Similarly, according to government rules the passport without the valid
national identity card can be issued only for a limited period of one year.
The rule has been imposed without providing a facility of issuing I.D.
cards at the missions.
The mission sources say that upon request they have sent hundreds of
applications but the response from Pakistan have been very slow. The
sources also say that every month they are flooded with calls from those
who have recently attained the age of 18 years for I.D. cards to
subsequently apply for a separate Passports. The government has no adequate
provision of issuing ID cards at mission abroad, thus leaving no option for
the applicants but to visit Pakistan specifically for this purpose.
Due to long delays in issuance of ID cards through the missions, it is said
that almost 500 ID cards are lying unclaimed at the Dubai consulate alone.
It is presumed that either the applicants have left the UAE or apparently
given up the hope to get their cards.
Pakistanis in the Emirate have suggested that the government can either
delegate the responsibility to existing staff or depute officers from the
registration office in its foreign missions so that the cards can be issued
without unnecessary delay.
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970718
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Hubco chief sees no room for tariff renegotiation
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Our Reporter
LAHORE, July 17: HUBCO managing director D M Woodroffe sees no room for any
renegotiation of HUBCO power tariff at which the company is supplying power
to WAPDA.
Addressing a Press conference here on Thursday, the HUBCO chief said the
president of Pakistan had given guarantees on behalf of the government to
implement the agreement signed with HUBCO.
Moreover, there were about 50,000 Pakistani shareholders of the company who
had invested capital on terms and conditions as agreed upon with the
company and they would not be prepared to revise the tariff in any form.
He said besides thousands of shareholders, 45 international banks and
financial organizations had lent money for the project, including 12 banks
which had never made any investment in Pakistan earlier.
Mr Woodroffe said he warned that any attempt to revise the tariff of
private power producers might discourage foreign investment in Pakistan for
future projects. He thought that the debate on revision of tariff by
renegotiation was in fact political.
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970718
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Dar lists 14 items to be imported from India
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, July 17: The government has permitted the import of 14 items
from India, but decided not to allow the import of reconditioned cars at
least during 1997-98,Commerce Minister Ishaq Dar stated here on Thursday.
"Then I can also tell you that there is no programme to devalue Pakistani
currency. However some little adjustment and readjustment here and there
would continue to be made by the State Bank of Pakistan", he further stated.
At a press conference, the minister listed 14 items allowed to be imported,
and declared that he did not think that the government had politically
compromised on the Kashmir issue by allowing India to export new items to
Pakistan.
The 14 items which could now be imported from India include: tyres, cotton
and yarn, wood and wood charcoal, raw and wet blue hides and skins, light
weight steel rail up to 20 Kg per meter (not manufactured locally), whole
chilies, nickel cadmium batteries, cutting dies for shoe uppers, carbon
brushes, arc lamp carbons, battery carbons, anti-snake bite venom serum,
whole turner, tanning or dyeing extracts, dyes, pigment and other colouring
material, paints and varnishes etc,.
The minister defended the import of new items from India and said the move
will save a lot of foreign exchange. "If we can get any item by paying 5
dollars why should we pay double the amount by importing it from far away
countries".
He said there were already 587 items on the list which could be traded
between the two countries and the inclusion of few more items would not mar
the political or economic interests of the country. Further he pleaded it
will help the local market as the decision has been taken on the request of
the local importers.
However, Dar said Pakistan was not immediately offering the status of Most
Favoured Nation (MFN) to India which it had already extended to Islamabad.
"Sooner or later we will have to give this status to India as is being
asked by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other compulsions of the
SAARC".
Talking about the import of re-conditioned cars, the commerce minister said
their import would not be allowed at least during the current financial
year. "We will have to forgo around 40 per cent of the capacity of local
automobile industry if we allow the import of second hand cars," he said
adding that the government was forced to protect domestic car industry for
which it was necessary that the ban should continue on the import of
re-conditioned cars.
Answering a question Dar said the government expected to earn 500 million
dollars by allowing export-refinancing to computer software industry.
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970718
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Way paved for US investment in Pakistan
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Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, July 17: The US Senate on Wednesday unanimously adopted an
amendment which would clear the way for resumption of military exchanges
between Pakistan and US and provide the vital insurance cover to US
investors in Pakistan.
Senators Tom Harkin and John Warner moved the amendment which effectively
alters the Symington Amendment that was blocking the provision of OPIC
cover to US businesses and military exchange programme IMET, originally
agreed to in the Brown Amendment.
The Senate adopted the Harkin-Warner Amendment without a debate and
congressional experts said the House of Representatives was also likely to
pass it without any objection, thus paving the way for further
implementation of the Brown Amendment.
Originally the authors of the Brown amendment had promised that IMET and
OPIC would be restored with its passage but it did not turn out to be so as
only military equipment worth $368 million was released and no other
provision could be implemented.
The reason was that the provision of the OPIC cover and military exchange
programmes were forbidden by the Symington Amendment which the authors of
the Brown Amendment had either ignored or had deliberately misled everybody.
The Harkin-Warner Amendment was adopted as part of the Senate Foreign
Operations Appropriations Bill which was passed by the Senate and would now
go soon for reconciliation with its House version.
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970717
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Pakistan 2nd largest recipient of IBRD loan
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Shaheen Sehbai
WASHINGTON, July 16: The World Bank on Tuesday announced that it had
disbursed $2.67 billion to South Asia for fiscal 1997 ending June 30 of
which Pakistan received $644.6 million. India was the largest recipient in
South Asia with $1.56 billion followed by Pakistan.
Disbursements to others in the region were $314.56 million to Bangladesh,
$87.72 million to Sri Lanka and $58.42 million to Nepal.
In comparison, disbursements for FY96 were $2.253 billion, composed of:
India-$1.309.5 billion, Pakistan-$521.1 million, Bangladesh-$226.6 million,
Sri Lanka-$108.9 million and Nepal-$82.4 million.
The Bank announced that it provided $2.011 billion in loans, credits and
guarantees to South Asia during the same period.
The Bank�s lending commitments, for 19 projects, included US$1.385 billion
from the International Development Association (IDA)-the concessionary
lending arm of the World Bank-and US$626.5 million in loans from the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
Disbursements to the region increased sharply by more than $400 million,
totaling $2.668 billion.
Lending to South Asia in previous years was $3.01 billion in FY96 for 22
projects, $3.25 billion in FY95 for 19 projects and $2.37 billion in FY94
for 19 projects.
The Bank�s FY97 assistance programme aimed to provide high-quality services
and innovative and efficient programmes by working with partners and
involving broad community participation.
The main prongs of the Bank�s strategy focused on helping countries improve
their fiscal situation and push ahead with reforms that will increase
saving and investment, attract foreign capital and thus increase the
region�s growth rate in a sustainable manner.
India was the largest borrower in the South Asia Region. Bank lending
commitments to India reached US$1.5 billion for ten projects, with IDA
credits accounting for US$903 million and IBRD loans for the remainder.
This was followed by Pakistan (US$84.8 million for two IDA projects),
Bangladesh (US$321 million for three IDA projects), Sri Lanka (US$57.8
million for three IDA projects) and Nepal (US$18.3 million for one IDA
project).
No lending was provided to Afghanistan, Bhutan or the Maldives.
Lending for population, health and nutrition projects totaled nearly US$600
million, accounting for nearly 30% of total FY97 lending. Agriculture and
rural development received US$424 million or 21% of FY97 lending.
Lending for transportation projects totaled US$685 million or 34% of
overall lending. FY97 lending also went to projects in environment,
finance, power, public sector management and water supply and sanitation.
New lending commitments were down almost $1 billion from FY96 due to annual
fluctuation.
Also, the Bank and borrowing governments are exercising great care during
project preparation in order to achieve higher quality-at-entry for new
projects, particularly in complex sectors dealing with sensitive issues
such as resettlement and the environment.
In addition, policy reform and implementation in some sectors was not at
the level needed for loan effectiveness.
For Pakistan�s Financial Reporting and Auditing Project, US$28.8 million
equivalent IDA credit is being provided to enhance public sector accounting
and financial systems.
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970713
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Sale of blocked F-16s to Bahrain under study
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Shaheen Sehbai
WASHINGTON, July 12: Pakistan�s blocked F-16 aircraft now parked in Arizona
could be sold to Bahrain as the small Gulf state is considering a purchase
of 20 F-16s of the same make and model, defence experts said on Saturday.
The Bahrain announcement comes as two other countries �- the UAE and Saudi
Arabia �- are also considering buying new F-16s in what experts believe
would be a potential deal worth more than 12 billion dollars.
The Bahrain request to the US to purchase the 20 fighter aircraft for a
total of 303 million dollars was officially confirmed by the Pentagon last
week.
Bahrain either wants the F-16 A and B models, the same as built for
Pakistan, with modification kits from the US Air Force, or 10 new F-16 C
and D models, according to Pentagon officials. Pentagon has not said
whether the US will offer the 28 Pakistani aircraft but the announcement
says that if Bahrain opts for the A and B models, these will come from
Arizona.
Defence experts say it is now for Pakistan to pursue the matter with both
the US and Bahrain to ensure that the deal with Bahrain resolves a
long-standing dispute between Washington and Islamabad while satisfying the
defence needs of a brotherly Islamic state. This has become more important
after the collapse of negotiations between the US and Indonesia and threats
from Pakistan that it may take the US Government and the Lockheed Martin to
court if the matter is not resolved by other means soon.
The US also has a large inventory of its own used F-16 aircraft which it
has been trying to dispose of in the international market for some years,
but without success. Their efforts are focussed on former east European
states which need to modernize their air forces. Pentagon was in fact even
ready to offer these used F-16s on very attractive lease terms to these
east European buyers where the price of each aircraft was close to two
million dollars as compared to the huge cost Pakistan had paid in 1990.
Pentagon officials, however, said the deal with Bahrain could be worth up
to 303 million dollars. They said in a statement that the Defence
Department had notified Congress of Bahrain�s intentions.
Pentagon says if Bahrain picks the older F-16As and Bs, the aircraft would
be taken from the US Air Force�s so-called bone yard at Davis Monthan Air
Force Base at Arizona. If Bahrain chooses the newer F-16Cs and Ds, the
aircraft would be manufactured at Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems
in Fort Worth, Texas. As part of the deal, Bahrain would receive spare
parts and logistical support with whichever package it chooses.
970713
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Exports fall by 5.1pc, imports 1.4pc Trade gap widens by 9pc
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Faraz Hashmi
ISLAMABAD, July 12: The trade deficit, in the financial year ending June 30
expanded sharply by a nearly a record 9 per cent per cent as it jumped to
$3.37 billion in 1996-97 from $3.09 billion in 1995-96, according to the
official data released by Federal Bureau of Statistics on Saturday.
The total exports declined by 5.1 per cent from $8.7 billion in fiscal
1995-96 to $8.26 billion in the fiscal 1996-97. Imports also declined by
1.4 per cent from $11.8 billion in 1995-96 to $11.63 billion in 1996-97
showing a decline of 1.4 per cent.
In June the exports declined by a huge 34 per cent against what was earned
in the corresponding month last year despite the production and
export-friendly policies announced by the government in March, this year.
Imports despite the substantial concessions given by the government
decreased sharply by 8.9 per cent compared to the month of May and whooping
25.7 per cent in June 1996.
The figures issued by the Statistic Division belied the claims made by the
Finance Minister, Sartaj Aziz that the economy has come out of the
recession and was showing signs of recovery.
All the main exporting items like rice, raw cotton, cotton year, leathers
and carpets showed a declining trend. The exports of raw cotton dropped
from $506 million in 1995-96 to paltry $30 million in 1996-97. The country
exported rice worth of $460 million down from $504 million in 1995-96. The
exports of leather and leather goods also decreased from $259 million in
1995-96 to $238 million in the year ended on June 30.
Exports of cotton yarn decreased by over $1 million from $1.54 billion in
1995-96 to $1.4 billion in 1996-97. Tarpaulin and Canvass exports slipped
from $39 million in the fiscal 1995-96 to $34 million in 1996-97. Carpets
exports showed alarming decline from $209 million in 1995-96 to $193
million in 1996-97. Exports in chemical and pharmaceutical group and
molasses dropped from $59 million to $46 million and $70 million to $51
million, respectively.
Exports of fruits, fish and fish preparations, raw wool, towels, cotton
bags, readymade garments, synthetic textile and textile made-ups, sports
goods and leather manufactures increased in the year.
The largest increase of $78 million was registered in exports of readymade
garments from $648 million to $726 million. The exports of sports good
increased by $52 million from $247 million in 1995-96 to $299 million in
1996-97.
It was followed by synthetic textile which registered increase of $39
million in the export in the 1996-97. In the year 1995-96 the export of
synthetic textiles were of only $457 million but in the year 1996-97 it
increased to $496 million. Exports of towels and cotton bags increased from
$174 million to $193 million and $24 million to $25 million, respectively.
Textile made-ups jumped to $206 million in 1996-97 from $179 million with
an increase of $27 million.
The fruits exports also increased from $43 million to $69 million showing a
substantial increase of $26 million. Raw wool exports increased from $12.2
million to $13.5 million. Country also exported fish and fish preparation
more in the years as their exports increased by $8 million from $140
million to $148 million.
The imports of all items, *demand of those increase in thriving economy*,
dropped sharply including textile machinery, construction machinery,
agriculture machinery and electrical machinery.
The country in the year 1996-97 imported less textile machinery than in the
previous year. The imports dropped by $61 million from $187 million to $126
million. Construction machinery worth of $19 million was less imported in
the year. Import of agricultural machinery decreased from $52 million to
only $35 million.
However, the only bright aspect of the decreased imports was that the
country purchased less consumption items like soybean oil, palm oil,
pulses, milk, spices and tea. The import of soybean dropped from $117.2
million to $99.5 million. The country consumed less tea as its import
decreased by $35 million from $169 million to $134 million. The largest
decrease was in palm oil as it declined from $738 million to $408 million.
Imports of pulses decreased by half down from $100 million in 1995-96 to
only $42 million in 1996-97. The country also imported less paper and its
imports came down from $156 million to $125 million.
The wheat crisis suffered by the country during the year was also reflected
in the trade figures as the import of unmilled wheat increased from $444
million to $477 million. Interestingly, the import of dry fruits also
increased from $33.5 million to $35.48 million.
The progress of power plants being installed in the country was reflected
in the imports as the country imported power generating machinery of nearly
$1 billion. Whereas, in the last year country had imported machinery worth
of $742 million. The imports of fertilizers also remained on the up and
fertilizers worth $387 million were imported against $345 million in 1995-96.
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970713
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Industrial zoning authority to be private set-up
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Ihtashamul Haque
ISLAMABAD, July 12: A new �Industrial Zoning Authority� is being set up
which will be responsible for providing all infrastructural facilities to
local and foreign investors for setting up their projects without
approaching any government functionary.
�This proposed Authority will be given the powers of sanctioning
electricity, gas, water, telephone, roads and other necessary facilities to
new local and investors instantly,� said Sec, Board of Investment (BOI),
Abdullah Yousef.
He said that such an Authority was working in many developing countries
including Bangladesh that has greatly benefited the local and foreign
investors where the involvement of custom, income tax, police and other
agencies has been done away with.
Yousef said that foreign investors have started coming into Pakistan with
the change of the government but they were certainly concerned about the
lengthy procedure to get any facility like electric, water, phone etc.
�Secondly, the investors from various countries including Malaysia,
Singapore, Japan, Korea, USA and other western Europe who have visited
Pakistan after prime minister Nawaz Sharif took over, though appreciated
the new economic policies, they did talk about bottlenecks hampering the
investment,� the new BOI Sec said.
He disclosed that some new industrial zones will soon be set up having
�special status� where a number of facilities could be offered. �At
present, there are about 63 industrial zones which will be reduced and a
set of new zones will be established including the one in Port Qasim and
others along the Motorway,� Abdullah Yousef said.
Responding to a question he conceded that the level of foreign investment
that has touched $ 1.2 bn have now reduced due to a number of factors
including political instability in the past and the change of policies
every now and then. However, he was hopeful that the target of $ 500
million which has been fixed for the current year will be achieved.
Abdullah Yousef also disclosed that the BOI has arranged a number of local
and foreign conferences to boost investment in Pakistan. Giving the details
he said that these conferences will be held with the cooperation of UNIDO
which was currently inter-acting with a number of foreign investors. One of
the major investors conference, he said, will be held in August this year.
�Then we will have an international investment conference in UK in the
third week of October which will be our major marketing effort to boost
investment in Pakistan,� he added.
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970714
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Roadblocks to Japanese investment in Pakistan
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M. Ziauddin
The HIGH-LEVEL Japanese economic mission comprising 50 members which
visited Pakistan between May 23-28, 1997 has identified 11 roadblocks which
according to its report, "Survey of business climate in Pakistan" submitted
recently to the government of Pakistan, have impeded normal inflows of
foreign private investment into this country, especially from Japan.
These roadblocks include:
1. inconsistency and non-transparency of policies;
2. civil insecurity and political instability;
3. lack of infrastructure;
4. poor living environment for resident representatives of foreign companies;
5. defective legal and tax systems;
6. complex procedures;
7. inadequate supplies of raw materials, parts and components;
8. lack of skilled workers and high cost of labour;
9. inefficient financing sector;
10. unreliable partners and;
11. bad public image internationally.
In some cases, what the Japanese are asking could be likened to the chicken
and egg situation. However, if one were to remove the extraneous
suggestions, one is struck by the striking similarities between what the
Japanese businessmen want the government to do and what is urgently needed
to be done for the country to get out of its current economic mess.
In view of the importance of the subject and to avoid being accused of
misinterpretation or misrepresentations of thoughts and ideas, all the
roadblocks are being described, in the following passages, in the exact
language used by the Japanese mission in its report.
Roadblock 1: Pakistani government policies tended to lack consistency in
the past given the country�s political circumstances. Increased efforts are
needed to make stable policies from a long term point of view.
The interpretation of many of the laws and tax systems now in force in
Pakistan has not been firmly established and largely depend on the judgment
of administrative agency officials involved.
It is desired that necessary improvements be made in this respect because
arbitrary application of laws and tax systems could lead to unequal
treatment of local companies.
Action should also be taken to clearly set forth incentives for investment
and to ensure that such incentives will not be readily invalidated by a
change in the applicable policy.
In addition, we (the Japanese) desire, arrangements will be made that any
action announced by the Board of Investment (BoI) for improvement of its
policy be accompanied by a statutory regulatory order (SRO), so such action
will bring forth real improvement.
Roadblock 2: Public security in Pakistan has improved considerably due
primarily to the recent petering out of armed strifes between the
government and MQM, but grave concern still remains with religious
struggles in the country.
We (Japanese) desire that effective measures be taken for drastic
improvement and the satisfactory operation of the police organisation.
Although terrorism is declining, general crimes, especially robbery, are
increasing. While Karachi is attaining better public security, the
situation in Lahore is something to be concerned about.
We (Japanese) strongly hope the Pakistani government will exert more
efforts to build up better relations with India.
Roadblock 3: Power (electricity) service is interrupted too often. The
construction of new power plants is gradually proceeding, but there are
concerns about delays in the enhancement of transmission and distribution
networks. Increased efforts should be made to accelerate additional
generating capacity projects.
It is desirable that more construction projects be carried out to develop
networks of roads and railways for transportation between seaports and
inland areas. Airport facilities should be improved and expanded. According
to our (the mission�s) survey seaport facilities are improving steadily.
It is desired that necessary measures be taken for enhancement of
communications infrastructure. Both water supply and sewer systems are
inadequate. We (Japanese) request the Pakistani authorities to secure as
stable supply of water and gas.
We (Japanese) request the competent authorities to accelerate the
development of infrastructures in industrial areas particularly designated
districts for location of factories.
It is desirable that Pakistani authorities follow a consistent policy in
building infrastructures with limited financial and other resources
properly allocated to priority projects.
Also, we (Japanese) request the authorities to neither leave the
development of infrastructures to private enterprises, including foreign
affiliates, nor to force the enterprises to undertake these public works in
return for the approval of their investment projects.
Roadblock 4: Public security is inadequate. The quality of medical and
public health institution facilities is not sufficiently reliable.
Water and electricity services are frequently interrupted, making it
necessary for resident representatives of foreign companies to install
water supply and power generating facilities for themselves at additional
cost.
Certainly, it is attractive to foreign residents that they can enjoy golf
inexpensively, but there are few other facilities for recreation or
self-enlightenment.
We (Japanese) request the Pakistani authorities to liberalise the import of
Japanese food. It is desired that more liberalisation action be taken to
permit non-Muslim foreigners to bring alcohol beverages into the country
and have alcohol drinks at restaurants.
Also, we (Japanese) desire that restrictions on multi-visas be removed.
With a moderate Islamic nation in view, we (Japanese) hope, the Pakistan
government will take steps, including the expansion of recreational
facilities for foreigners, to make the country more comfortable and
pleasant for foreign residents to live in.
Roadblock 5: It is desirable that action be taken to simplify the existing
tax systems which are likely to cause corruption as these are too complex
and vague, with their interpretation left to the discretion of officials in
charge.
Also we (Japanese) desire that the practice of making sudden, abrupt
amendments to the tax system be discontinued.
We (Japanese) believe well-balanced tariff rates should be applied to the
import of finished and intermediate products and raw materials.
In addition, steps should be taken to reduce import tariff rates,
especially for those materials and machines which are not available from
domestic sources in Pakistan.
The competent authorities should establish or simplify the tax rebates
system for raw materials, products and other things used for products that
are exported from Pakistan.
A system should be established to unconditionally license foreign-owned
trading houses to carry out import and export business.
Steps should be taken to correct the present situation including, among
others, disparities in the assessment rate of taxable amounts, which
foreign investors feel unfair.
Another problem is �octroi�, a tax unfamiliar to most other nations in the
world, is in force in Pakistan. There are some cases of disputes over the
Pakistani authorities� demand for payment of the portion of tax which
should be collected from the source in Japan under the taxation agreements
between Pakistan and Japan.
We (Japan) request that improvement measures be taken in this respect.
The problem is that Pakistani authorities do no collect the taxes which
should be collected. In other words, they should impose taxes on big
landowners and agricultural income, instead of increasing taxes on foreign
affiliates.
Roadblock 6: Pakistan has in force many complex, time consuming procedures
which are difficult to understand.
Also notable, is extreme bureaucracy that involves the lack of
communication among government agencies, within each of them and among
different classes of officials.
We (Japanese) desire that steps be taken to reduce the time required to
obtain work permits for foreigners sent to joint venture companies in
Pakistan.
Representative of Japanese companies are now required to obtain work visas
in Japan. We request that action be taken to make such visas obtainable in
Karachi and Islamabad as well.
We also request that steps be taken to make the licensing systems and their
respective tasks and functions clear for foreigners to understand.
Another request is that effective measures be taken for government
officials to strictly adhere to law and fixed procedures.
Improvement efforts on the Pakistani side are reflected in the
establishment of BoI and some other measures, but we (Japanese) think
arrangements should be made to provide better guidance for the government
agencies responsible for implementing such improvement measures. Further
efforts are needed to relax the exchange and trade control.
Also steps should be taken to ensure that decisions ( on investment
incentives) by the government leadership will be fully implemented at lower
organisations.
Roadblock 7: We (Japanese) request the Pakistani side to enhance the parts
and components industry and to ensure that products of satisfactory quality
will be delivered within the specified time. Parts and components available
now from Pakistani sources are made to European specifications.
We (the Japanese) desire that another incentive be provided for foreign
investment by reducing import duties on raw materials and parts and components
The time required for customs clearance should be reduced. In addition,
stronger measures should be taken against imports through illegal channels
like smuggling.
Roadblock 8: The Pakistani work force has an advantage in that many workers
speak English and are diligent. Although the Pakistani labour is rated high
as its quality and cost are balanced fairly well, the problem is a wide
disparity in quality.
Efforts should be exerted to raise the literacy rate which differs
significantly between cities and rural districts.
We (Japanese) hope that Pakistani government will take measures against
inflation to retain the attractiveness of low labour costs.
A notable problem in the area of work force is that many of the workers who
have reached a certain skill level after they were hired leave the
companies (especially to find jobs abroad).
It is desirable that satisfactory programmes for fundamental and technical
or professional education be provided both at school and job sites.
Despite religious constraints, we (Japanese) hope, the Pakistani
authorities will take steps to develop social climate that makes better use
of female work force.
Roadblock 9: The interest rates in Pakistan is too high. We (Japanese)
desire that financing in Pakistan be facilitated through such measures as
the restructuring of financial circles, the retrieval or disposition of
non-performing loans and the improvement of the monetary conditions.
Efforts should also be exerted to stabilize the political and economic
climates, so latent funds will appear on the market.
Pakistan is a high risk country which makes financing to foreign investors�
difficult and costly.
We (Japanese) believe, therefore, the exchange rate of the rupee should be
stabilized by improving Pakistan�s balance of international payments
through further development of export industries.
It is desired that the cost of financing from financial institutions in
Pakistan be cut back by introducing more elements of competition among them
through the relaxation of regulations (e.g. the permissible limit to total
holdings and specified scope of operation) on banks and other financial
institutions, including those with foreign capital.
Means of risk hedge should be established by enhancing the forward exchange
contract to facilitate financing for foreign investors and affiliates.
Arrangements should be made for foreign affiliates to freely hold foreign
currencies and remit money abroad.
In addition, we (Japanese) desire that the existing control measures be
improved to allow foreign affiliates to make full use of the capital they
have brought in to Pakistan.
Roadblock 10: There are many reliable partners in Pakistan, depending on
industrial sectors, and foreign investors or affiliates would face no
problem if they sign joint venture agreements with good partners.
However, efforts are needed to increase the transparency of management
because many local enterprises are a family-operated business whose
managers lack a sense of modern business administration.
Fortunately, the BoI takes a positive stance on the solution of problems in
this respect through business forums with Japanese companies.
It is desired that the competent government agencies provide clear,
definite information on the office or divisions in charge of dealing with
foreign investors or affiliates and on responsible divisions or officials
that have the authority to make decisions.
Roadblock 11: We (Japanese) request the Pakistani side to implement more
positive public relations in a bid to attain a better public image of the
nation abroad, especially in Japan.
Effective measures should be taken to solve the lack of information on such
matters as joint ventures and financing.
Also, we desire that Pakistani authorities offer assistance to the
establishment of Japanese schools in the country.
Another request is that a national plan be worked out for regional
development and priority industry development, which will serve as
investment guidelines.
In addition, it is desired, arrangements be made to provide correct and
accurate information including, among others, newspaper stories.
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970714
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US coercing Pakistan on intellectual property rights
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Dr. Jassim Taqui
ONE OF the most challenging issues confronting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
and his economic decision-makers is to positively respond to the pressures
by the United States regarding the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).
Pakistan has to set and act very quickly to bring her rules into conformity
with the Uruguay Round agreement in matters relating to Intellectual
Property Rights. Pakistan is reminded time and again that it is a signatory
to the GATT and has now to abide by the rules of the game particularly in
matters relating to trade.
According to one estimate, global publishers and distributors of computer
software lose about $1200 million annually as a result of software piracy.
Piracy losses to other industries that produce electronic, chemical,
scientific, industrial and cultural products sound recording, movies,
photographic materials dwarf those faced in software industry.
Global producers of these industries and others are knocking the doors of
Pakistan and other developing countries to stop trade in goods that
infringe on such intellectual property rights such as patents, trademarks,
copyrights and trade secrets. In doing so they are using a comprehensive
new set and stronger measures under GATT.
Pakistan is trying to attract foreign investment through incentives and
privatization. But the American and Western investors have repeatedly
informed the government that they would not invest in Pakistan unless the
government took some serious steps to enforce the IPRs.
On one side are the industrial countries whose business claim that it is
counter-productive for them to spend the required large funds on research
and development to create new product and processes if illegally copying
and sales of their products prevent them from recovering their expenditures.
On the other side are some developing countries that claim that the
monopoly rights provided to the patent and copyright holders translate to
higher prices for consumers. Some of these countries say that they cannot
afford to pay for pharmaceuticals they need and have every right to copy
the drugs and sell them at cheaper prices. They further argue that a
stronger international code would slow the process of technology transfer
to their economies.
According to the affluent West "without effective protection of
intellectual property rights, new inventions and artistic works might never
be available to consumers at all. Investors and inventors are going to
hesitate to bring their product to a country where it can freely copied by
someone else." But how does one enforce the IPRs? Well, the American thesis
centres on a strong judicial system in Pakistan. The most useful test of
any intellectual property rights system is not whether the law contains any
particular provision or whether the courts decide cases in any particularly
way. The test is whether there is a general confidence among the public at
large that if inventions are made and created, the ability to protect the
same should be available.
Whereas a weak judiciary that consumes considerable time in resolving
disputes relating to IPRs not only inhibits the ready transfer of the
propriety technology, it also tends to undermine the receipt and
utilisation of information which is freely available in the media and other
public sources, such as patent disclosures field in other countries.
Essentially a weak protective system discourages those who might make use
of freely available technological knowledge. They know that if they pursue
this knowledge and try to advance from it to something new or adoptive
result, then the predatory hiring and constrained financing will assert
themselves. This will make their efforts less worthwhile than would be the
case in countries where protection for new technology is effective.
An intellectual property system that works well, includes not only the
appropriate substantive law but also effective enforcement mechanism and
transparent administration of the law.
Pursuing the theme of increasing private activity, effective enforcement
should include the ability of private parties to initiate litigation
without the need of public prosecutors. Effective enforcement should also
equip the courts with the authority to issue orders to immediately stop
parties which infringe the intellectual assets of someone else.
Substantive law frequently neglects the trade secrets, a form of protection
much relied on in the United States and Europe. It is also a low cost form
of protection. Another low cost protective device is the utility patent,
used widely in Germany and Japan as an alternative to ordinary patents.
Broadly speaking, a legal system produces a guide behaviour, a means to
prevent or correct a wrong-doing and a mechanism for resolving disputes.
Still more broadly, a legal system include the rule-making process at both
the administrative and legislative levels and it defines those who are
permitted to participate in making laws.
Recent studies have shown that countries attempting economic liberalisation
suffer at least a 15 per patently in their growth momentum if their
judiciary systems are weak. That is to say if the GDP growth rate were
otherwise capable of reaching something like 3 per cent, a weak. That is to
say if the GDP growth rate were otherwise capable of reaching something
like 3 per cent, a weak judicial system would restrain growth to perhaps
2.6 per cent.
If the issue of IPRs is resolved, it could lead to the smooth transfer of
advance technology to developing countries, particularly Pakistan.
Through academic centres and bright minds, a task could be worked out
whereby many facets of the development process would be developed in less
advanced countries like Pakistan. Thus, IPRs would not only benefit the
developed nations but also the developing countries if they choose to
improve these technologies or modify them.
If Pakistan�s economy has to develop a massive technological base, it needs
to be developed by the private sector, as, private decision rather than
state command is becoming more prominent around the world.
In market-based economies, private decisions take centre stage. The
allocation and use of resources, labour and capital are made through the
decision of those who are willing to gain or lose as a consequence of their
decisions.
The creation and use of technology are also chiefly the work of the private
sector, once state command recedes. With this in mind, the private sector
in Pakistan should also devise parallel institutions on IPRs since it is
becoming more prominent in economic and trade activities.
It should be noted, however, that the IPRs cannot be easily enforced
because of the wide-spread international piracy. Ironically, the piracy of
intellectual property is prevalent even in industrial countries.
Washington-based International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA)
reports that 75 per cent of the piracy is found in developing countries and
in the newly emerging industrial countries in Asia. In another report IIPA
discloses that 45 per cent of the estimated losses of the US companies from
intellectual piracy occur in Asia (particularly in Taiwan, Korea, China,
India, Thailand and Philippines). Another 17 per cent is in Eastern Europe
and the former Soviet Union, 9 per cent in Latin America (mostly in
Paraguay, Brazil and Venezuela), 7 per cent in the Middle East (mainly
United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia), and 23 per cent in Western Europe.
Though protection of intellectual property has been covered by both
international and bilateral accords for years, these arrangements have no
effective remedies and there is no way for the companies hurt by the
violations to demand compensation. Perhaps this is prompting the US
administration to enforce the so-called Super 301 in dealing with Japan and
other Western nations.
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970715
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$750m target for software exports
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ihtashamul Haque
ISLAMABAD, July 14: The government has worked out a plan to earn $750
million through the export of computer software during the next 30 months.
Minister for Commerce and Investment, Muhammad Ishaq Dar has however,
stressed the need for utilizing the existing resources and facilities in
information technology at various universities and institutions to
accomplish task of earning $750 million. He also called for providing a
computer training to maximum number of people in the country. "The
objective, is to earn the said amount from the export of computer software
in the proposed time limit".
The minister was addressing a meeting of the Vice Chancellors Committee
which was convened by the University Grants Commission here on Monday.
Dar said that while tremendous potential existed in the export of computer
software in the growing international market, Pakistan was lagging far
behind in the trained manpower requirement. He asked the vice-chancellors
to draw their action plan in this direction on war-footing so that Pakistan
could succeed in capturing a fraction of around $600 billion market created
by the Millennium Bug in the existing software. He also advised them to
formulate long-term plans for enhancing indigenous capability to develop
and produce information technology both for hardware and software.
Ishaq Dar informed the meeting about the government�s decision to give
incentive to computer software industry which included zero-rated duty on
hardware import, access to credit, participation in soft-ware related
international fairs and zero-rated income tax on earnings from soft export.
Earlier, the minister briefed the vice chancellors on the economic
situation in the country and the various measures government was taking to
bring in fiscal discipline and good governance. He also urged the vice
chancellors to contribute their knowledge and expertize by giving
suggestions to the government for the betterment of the country�s economy.
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970715
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US capitalism is not a model
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Kamil Siddiqi
WASHINGTON carries two divergent weapons at a time: one is the sword of
free market; and the other is the shield of protectionism. When confronted
with Europe it picks the sword and becomes aggressive but when the
confrontation is with Japan, it goes on to its backfoot and uses the
shield. Paradoxically, America is trying to play the game, �heads I win,
tails you lose�, with the rest of the world.
When Clinton says that America�s entrepreneurial capitalism has proved
itself to the world as the model for how an economy should be organized,
very few economists would approve the statement in its wholeness. The word
"America" will have to be deleted to remove the dubiety of the statement.
The United States may be the mother of entrepreneurial capitalism but there
are a number of surrogate mothers too. Such as Europe and Japan.
The need of surrogate mothers arose when the real mother could not foster
the offspring in a complete civilized manner. The uncivilized activities of
American entrepreneurial capitalism included the gunboat diplomacy during
its infancy, when on 16 May 1854, the captain of an American company-owned
steamboat shot a native Nicaraguan boatman after their ships collided. When
Greytown (Nicaragua) authorities tried to arrest the captain for murder,
the American minister, Solon Borland, intervened. Later that evening,
Nicaraguan officials attempted to take Borland into custody, and in the
confusion, the minister was hit with a fragment of a broken bottle. United
States secretary of state W.L. Marcy felt Nicaragua should apologize to
Borland; the US Secretary of Navy dispatched Captain Hollins and the Cayne
(American sloop-of-war) to protect company property and redress the insult.
When the demands were not met, Hollins on 13 July bombarded Greytwon,
destroying it entirely. President Franklin Pierce justified the captain�s
action in his message to Congress in December 1854.
Another uncivilized activity of this capitalism was the buying of
government head/officials in the host countries. For example, in 1884
Equitable of America made Mexican President Porfirio Diaz head of its
company�s Mexican advisory board. Similarly, on the European side, when New
York Life�s vice president, George Perkins went to Germany to negotiate on
behalf of Equitable, he employed Guidon von Nimptsch, who was a school
friend of the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Bernhard von Bulow.
This strategy worked well in Europe also, and as a result of this work
Equitable were able to continue in business.
The unfair and uncivilized act of American entrepreneurial capitalism in
the recent past could be the overthrow of the democratically elected
president of Chile, Dr Salvador Allende, in 1973.
These instances of gunboat diplomacy in Nicaragua; buying of head of state
in Mexico; Perkins strategy in Europe; and the conspiratorial dethronement
of an elected president in Chile speak clearly of the defects in the
American model of entrepreneurial capitalism. These acts of arrogance were
committed in the days when the Americans enjoyed a greater monopoly in the
field of multinational enterprises. Time has changed a lot. The Americans
are now facing a tough competition from Europe and Japan. This competition
has compelled every entrepreneur in the world in general and the United
States in particular to behave properly or be ready to lose business.
The fear and dislike which most developing countries carried against
entrepreneurial capitalism since many decades is now fading away. Even
countries like China and India are now keen to invite the FDI on a large
scale. In the year 1996, China was able to attract more than $40 billion of
FDI, while India attracted around three billion dollars.
Dr Herbert A. Henzler, in his book �Europreneurs�, writes: "Today,
understanding the varieties of capitalism in the three regions of the
Europe-US-Japan Triad seems to me easier � but also more important � than
ever before. Easier, because after the decline of socialism discussion on
the subject seems to have advanced several steps. More important, because
each form of capitalism needs to develop further if it is to find answers
to today�s most pressing problems: population explosion, poverty,
preventive health care, and so on. As variations in the capitalist model
emerge more clearly, the internal conflict between them is more readily
apparent."
In all the regions of the Triad, companies and their leaders are confronted
with almost identical challenges. Also free markets, private ownership,
private investment decisions, comparative advantage, and a supportive legal
structure are capitalist principles of universal validity. Notwithstanding
its historic victories over centralized economic structures, capitalism
itself wears many different faces.
In the United States, for example, an unrestricted free-market economy and
individual performance are the quintessential models. Corporate executives
are far more concerned with quarterly results, trends in stock prices, and
the public image of their companies. By general consent, profits should
benefit investors, who provide the capital. �Shareholder wealth� is
consequently, the widely recognized yardstick of management performance.
By contrast, Japanese capitalism is much less individualistic. It is also
aimed at private profit, but it is primarily the company or the Keiretsu
that benefits from growing revenues, not so much the dividend-earning
investor. Japanese managers are expected to use profits to finance
corporate investments, not to distribute them to stockholders or to
employees. the foremost objective of Japanese corporate strategy is to win
sustainable market position. Japanese top managers normally earn much less
then their American, and slightly less than their European, counterparts.
There is practically no class struggle in Japan, however. More than 90 per
cent of Japanese people see themselves as middle-class, although many live
in cramped conditions and spend hours commuting to work crammed like
sardines into crowded trains.
Capitalism in Europe is not a product of joint decision-making or of a
unified policy. On the contrary, it grew step by step over time, often out
of very different motives. It is a patchwork composed of thousands of
poorly matched pieces. The differences are everywhere. Labour costs vary
dramatically from one country to another; the weighted average of $17.50
per hour calculated for its manufacturing industries in 1990 is made up of
figures ranging from $23.40 in Germany to $4.40 in Portugal.
The fundamental difference between Eurocapitalism and the forms dominating
the economies of North America and Japan does not lie primarily in the
details of outward appearance; of greater significance are the underlying
convictions. Meaning, in particular: Is inequality accepted, ignored or
moderated?
In Japan, notwithstanding the perceived homogeneity of Japanese society,
there are still serious social and economic discrepancies. The economic
system has managed to ignore them so far, since thousands of small Japanese
companies, often family firms, still accept them without complaint.
In the United States, on the other hand, with its cult of individualism,
the economic system is not required to keep a close lid on inequalities.
The idea of unlimited opportunities, the fairy-tale rise from dishwasher to
millionaire, is still deeply rooted.
Only Europeans have set themselves a twofold task: creating and sustaining
an efficient economic system that upholds a multi-faceted social and
cultural heritage and, at the same time, does not allow the gap between
rich and poor to become too wide. In contrast to American capitalism,
Eurocapitalism is bound to the terms of social contract supported by the
vast majority. In contrast to Japanese model, it is highly pluralistic and
aimed at protecting the basic needs of all sections of the population.
None of this means, of course, that Eurocapitalism has put an end to
poverty or achieved an even-handed distribution of wealth. True, the
percentage of people living in poverty in the US is said to be twice as
high as in Germany and one and a half times as high as in France. However,
if the poverty line is drawn at around half the average living costs for
one adult, around 15 per cent of the population of Spain, Greece and
Britain, 9-12 per cent in France and Italy, and roughly seven per cent in
Germany live below it.
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970717
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Exports projected to yield $9.57bn
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, July 16: The government on Wednesday announced the trade policy
for 1997-98 aimed at reducing the trade deficit by $1.04 billion through a
15 per cent increase in exports and envisaging steps to meet the export
targets of $9.575 billion. The trade deficit is projected to be reduced to
$2.33 billion.
Unveiling the trade policy on radio and television after the cabinet�s
approval earlier in the day, Commerce and Investment Minister Ishaq Dar
said imports were projected at $11.90 billion which would narrow down the
trade deficit to $2.33 billion during 1997-98 as against $3.37 billion
during 1996-97 which is 30.86 per cent less compared to the outgoing
financial year.
The trade policy envisages increase in exports including improvement in the
competitive edge of exportable, encouragement of value-added exports,
simplification of procedures to develop export-friendly culture and other
measures to boost export-related activities.
Import of 14 new items from India has been allowed in response to the
demands of local trade and industry, Mr Dar said.
One of the major features of the policy is that the government will offer
export re-financing for computer software up to 100 per cent of export
contract for 180 days. The State Bank will issue a circular in the behalf.
According to details, 50 per cent of the admissible duty drawbacks will be
paid within three days of the presentation of complete documents by
exporters to Customs authorities and the balance will be paid after the
verification of the claim.
The new policy allows duty drawback for the export of cement inputs,
including furnace oil. However, it was decided that the duty drawback rates
of the engineering industry will be reviewed covering all inputs including
fuel oil while calculating the rates.
Customs duty on wet blue hides has also been reduced from 5 per cent to 0
per cent while import duty on finished and patent leather has been reduced
from 45 per cent to 15 per cent.
The import of raw materials and components for the manufacture of
engineering goods meant for exports has been allowed duty free against bank
guarantee for specific orders. The commerce minister said machinery
imported by engineering units for export-related production would be
subjected to zero rate of tariff up to 200 per cent of the export value and
the facility will be there up to June 30, 2000.
Similarly, local assemblers/manufacturers of automotive vehicles and
components have been allowed duty-free assembly kits corresponding to the
number of their exported units provided no duty drawback was claimed by
them at the time of exports.
Imports of certain items, machines, tools and equipment required by the
gems & jewellery industry have been allowed duty free to
manufacturers-exporters.
"Priority will be given in export re-finance facility for the export of
jewellery", the commerce minister said adding that there would be no sales
tax on imported raw materials, components and sub-components required for
manufacturing goods to be supplied against international tenders.
The government also allowed, under the new policy, the import of high
value-added foundation garments which are quota free.
Exporters of engineering products have been allowed to establish warehouses
in selected countries for specific products to enable sale of engineering
goods off the shelf in foreign markets through local dealer. In this
behalf, the State Bank would allow exports on consignment basis and also
allow export refinancing for 250 days instead of the existing 120 days.
Specific engineering and other industries have been allowed duty-free
import of raw materials after the manufactured goods using imported one
have been exported without claiming duty drawback.
The notification for new scheme about duty drawback will be notified by
September 30, 1997.
Duty-free import of textile designs, artwork, transparencies (bearing
design for textiles) has been allowed to the actual exporters up to 0.5% of
the value of exports in the financial year immediately preceding. This
facility will be available up to June, 30, 2000.
The government through the Export Development Fund will share the cost of
ISO 9000 certification for manufacturer-exporters up to Rs150,000/- per
certification. This facility will be available up to June 30, 2000.
Export of packed meat has been allowed against the import of live animals
with the condition that 60% of the gross weight of live animals is exported
as packed meat-beef and the foreign exchange spent on the import of animals
is recovered at least in full by export of meat only. This will also
improve the availability of hides and skins for the local tanning industry.
The import of whole chilies and pulses has been allowed by
processor-exporters against bank guarantee for re-export after value addition.
The regulatory duty on the export of crushed bones has been increased from
20% to 50% to encourage local production of value- added gelatin for export.
Dyed yarn and yarn of counts above 30 has been given the facility of export
re-finance to encourage export of higher counts of yarn.
Duty-free import of raw sugar has been allowed for re-export of equal
quantity after refining. This would save foreign exchange, utilize idle
capacity of sugar mills and result in value-addition.
To simplify procedures so that an export-friendly culture emerges, it has
been decided that:-
Import of special labels, special buttons, special brand tags and other
items required to be fixed on readymade garments on the request of the
foreign buyers shall be allowed duty free for re- export.
Import of raw materials used in stuffed toys i.e. plush fabric, nylon,
polyester fibre, eyes and nose shall be allowed duty free to
manufacturers-exporters for re-export.
Export processing zones have been allowed to sell raw materials in the
tariff areas after payment of duties and taxes under the law.
Duty-free import of samples marked as such and cut by Customs will be
allowed (as permissible under the Import Trade Control Order-SRO 599(I)/91)
to manufacturer-exporters.
In addition to the above-mentioned specific decisions, the following
miscellaneous decisions have also been taken to facilitate export-related
activities:-
Export of all items excluding kitchen items and POL has been allowed via
land route to Afghanistan and the central Asian republics at market prices
on filing of regular shipping bills, without the facility of duty drawback.
Private sector will be allowed and supported by the government on (BOO)
Build Own and Operate basis to construct airports and set up allied
facilities like transport, storage and packaging in cities and towns where
exportable surplus of items like fruits, vegetables, fresh flowers, sports
goods and surgical instruments is available.
Local sponsors of engineering goods industries operating under foreign
licences will be required to have specific provision in their agreement for
buy-back arrangement or guaranteed export of 30% of the production.
Export of blister copper mined and produced by the Saindak Mining Project
and other areas shall be allowed as refining facilities are not available
within the country. Presently, the exports of all minerals and ores are
banned.
In addition to the proposals for facilitating exports, the following
changes have been made in the import regime.
A few new items, mostly industrial raw materials are also being allowed for
import from India.
Construction companies/foreign contracting firms have been allowed to
import construction machinery for subsequent re-export on payment of 1/5th
of leviable duty and a bank guarantee for the balance duty only. They will
not be required to furnish second 100% bank guarantee for the issue of
import permit.
Oil and gas companies and refineries can import freely importable items on
the authorization of the ministry of petroleum and natural resources
without further authorization from the ministry of commerce.
The facilities for the temporary import of specific equipment available to
the oil exploration companies or their contractors and subcontractors will
be extended to multi-national mining companies as well.
Units operating in export processing zones will be allowed to undertake
sub-contracting for units of the tariff area subject to payment of duty and
taxes on value-addition only.
EP Zones have been allowed to supply goods to a customs manufacturing bond
in the tariff area. Import of gold and silver is allowed to only three
companies specifically registered for this purpose by the ministry of
commerce. It has been decided to open this import by issuing a public
notice inviting applications from interested parties. However, foreign
exchange for such imports will be privately arranged by the importer as per
existing practice.
The import of specialized and sophisticated second hand/used (not more than
three years old) surgical equipment like CT scanner, dialysis machines,
reverse osmosis equipments and other similar electro-medical equipment has
been allowed.
The import of security paper is allowed on the recommendations of Security
Printing Corporation or Pakistan Security Papers. It is proposed that for
the purpose of printing of cheque books, and other security documents to be
specified by the Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan Security Papers shall
either give NOC to private sector parties allowing imports or the
requirements of the private sector parties shall be supplied by Pakistan
Security Papers from its own stocks. It will, however, be allowed only
against specific orders held by the private sector parties.
The import of motorized wheel chairs to the actual users has been allowed
without seeking authorization from the ministry of commerce.
The import of secondhand boilers, tractors and stock-lot items has been
disallowed under any import regime.
Licences for manufacturing bonds will be issued/renewed within two weeks of
receipt of applications and shall be valid for three years, renewable for
further period of three years each time.
Transfer of goods from one bond to another be freely allowed under a
simplified procedure.
Public sector agencies participating in international tenders floated by
local public sector organisations shall be exempt from furnishing bid bond
and performance bond.
The period of export re-finance in case of international tenders for
engineering goods has been increased to 180 days.
The import of Bagomatic Bladders, used in the soles of "chappals" and
combat boots, have been allowed without the condition of "cut into pieces".
To discourage the import of used automotive vehicles under Transfer of
Residence Scheme additional restrictions have been introduced i.e.
production of driving licence from country of import and verification of
registration by our embassies/consulates.
To facilitate the import of goods for demonstration purpose, a simplified
procedure is being notified under which the customs authorities will
release such import.
Ministry of interior will issue, on additional payment, passport containing
72 pages to the businessmen who are members of any chambers of commerce and
industry or All Pakistan Associations of Trade and Industry.
Protocol passes will be issued allowing access to relevant airport lounges
to the exporters having exports of dollars 10 million or more in the
immediate financial preceding year.
All procedures and SROs etc. to be issued by the ministry of finance,
ministry of commerce and CBR will be issued within 30 days unless otherwise
specified.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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970713
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2010
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ardeshir Cowasjee
"AS you are aware," starts the letter, and it then continues to make me
aware of what I was not aware � that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has made
Pakistan 2010 (the start of his fourth term?) the cornerstone of his policy
to bring Pakistan into the ranks of the newly industrialized nations and to
transform it by that year into an Asian Tiger.
The letter emanates from the Chief Coordinator of the "Prime Minister of
Pakistan�s 2010 Programme", Minister of State Ahsan Iqbal, and it invites
me to participate in a "stakeholder consultation process, to review and
comment on policy options for good governance" for the purpose of
"soliciting views on a range of policy options which will be provided at
the beginning of the meeting. Policy options relate to civil services
reform and downsizing, decentralisation, accountability, citizens� charter
(public sector performance) and legal and judicial reforms."
The writer ends with the hope that all those who have been invited will
"help prioritize and revise policy options in good governance for
Pakistan�s future."
Many fresh ministerial posts have been created during the on- going
downsizing process, with spanking new offices, filled by the usual army of
favoured supporting staff and their paraphernalia. This particular new
minister of state�s special division is part of the ministry of planning
and development. Who and what is this new minister, I asked? A friend from
the Dead City obliged. Firstly and above all, he is a FON (Friend of
Nawaz), then he is an MNA from Narowal, an MBA from Wharton, and a rising
star of the PML. He is on a solo flight into 2010. That explained it all.
The minister requested an RSVP "as soon as possible." I rang his office, he
was not there, I left a message. I rang again, he was in a meeting. The
third time he was in the bathroom, and the fourth he was addressing a Press
conference. There being no comeback, I wrote.
"Dear Minister Iqbal, You talk of 2010. Let me bring you back to reality,
as it now is, on the ground in 1997.
"Each time we in Karachi leave our houses it is with the hope that we will
return without being shot, that we will return alive, to find our houses as
we left them and our families and belongings safe. Each time we park our
cars, it is with the hope that they will still be there when we need them.
"Your letter arrived soon after I received the news that my friend Navaid
Hussain of the NGO SHEHRI, an organization that fights for the preservation
of the environment, had been shot and lay critically wounded in the Aga
Khan Hospital, fighting for his life. Why was he shot? Because he was
trying to help halt, or at least slow down, the damage being done by the
corrupt and the greedy to what pathetic little is left of the environment
of this ruined city. He was not shot in a robbery, he was not shot in a
blood feud, he was not shot out of revenge. He was targeted specifically as
a lesson to the few other citizens of Karachi who are attempting against
massive odds to do what he was doing. The message to us all: We can, with
impunity and without fearing any retribution, shoot and kill any of you in
broad daylight, and accord to the incompetent ministers and their �close
advisers and supporters� photo-opportunities when they present themselves
to offer �fateha�.
"Three mornings prior to this, Shahid Hamid, Managing-Director of the KESC,
left his house for his office. He, his driver, and his gunman were shot and
killed not far from his gate. The police recovered 150 empties, proving
that the killers were deadly serious and intent on doing a thorough job.
Why was Shahid shot (the driver and gunman were merely incidental, of no
importance)? He was only trying to do his duty as a civil servant and an
officer of the Government of Sindh. I had the pleasure of knowing him over
the years. He was bold and decisive, a man with a conscience and with the
courage of his convictions. He did not wish to be a martyr, he sought no
cause to die for, he merely wanted to live as a normal decent human being
and do a good job for the betterment of his country and its people.
"Shahid leaves behind an aged mother, a wife, a son, brothers and sisters,
whose anguish all the thinking people of Karachi share, as they do the
anguish of those left behind by the unfortunate driver and gunman.
"On the day Navaid was shot, our prime minister came to Karachi in his
special plane with his usual load of sycophants. They had their concern
photographed, and flew back the same evening. An expensive round of
�fatehas� which neither revived the dead nor consoled the living.
"Men die and are injured every day, due purely to the government�s
inability to abide by its first responsibility, its first duty by any book
of governance, which is to maintain and enforce law and order for the
protection of the lives and properties of its citizens. Forget your Wharton
jargon, Minister Iqbal, and if you must �prioritize� (as you put it), then
try to instill this primary rule of governance into the minds of those men
who sit with you in the Assembly, with most of whom many self-respecting
men would not deign to sit.
"Nawaz must know that the same old gang he has brought into his government
were voted in simply because the people considered them to be unnees to
Benazir�s bees. They, like Benazir and her family and friends, are known
better for their vices rather than for their virtues. So far, all that
Nawaz and his men have done is to consolidate their stranglehold on power.
Almost every act they have legislated, or ordinance they have promulgated,
has been worded for that purpose alone. The first priorities of the people
are to stay alive, to have drinking water, to be able to afford to eat, to
have a roof over their heads, to educate their children, to keep themselves
and their families in good health. These play no part in any of our
governments�, or your, scheme of things.
"Are you aware, Minister Iqbal, of the �human distress� figures of our
country? Do you know that 40 million people live in absolute poverty, that
70 million of our people have no access to safe drinking water, that 75
million have no access to health facilities, that 95 million are deprived
of basic sanitation facilities, that there are 800,000 child deaths a year,
half of them linked with malnutrition? Do you know that we have one of the
lowest literacy rates of the world, that 100 million adults of Pakistan are
illiterate, that over 20 million children have no primary education and
that over half of those who do have primary education drop out before
reaching Grade 5.
"Over half the cultivable land is in holdings of 50 acres and above and it
is in the hands of very rich and substantial landlords who predominate our
legislatures and who announce, loudly and shamelessly, that they will not
pay income tax.
"The defence burden is heavy. There are ten soldiers for every one doctor,
and three soldiers for every two teachers.
"The prime minister has had to accept as a cabinet minister an infamously
corrupt man, on the excuse of majboori one supposes. On the same pretext,
the chief minister of Sindh has included in his cabinet a whole bunch of
famously corrupt politicians. Corruption is on the rise all over the land.
"Case in point: Octroi contracts, which the Sindh government should have
auctioned but did not. They were negotiated behind closed doors in the
house of Jam Hyder Ali. Millions have been made. Proof: The MQM is now
praising Jatoi for having been accommodating. Notoriously corrupt suspended
officers, and Imtiaz Shaikh, are still found on the prowl in the corridors
of the chief minister�s offices. You may get the details from the chief
secretary. "Have you read Humayun Gauhar�s column, �Tiger or pussycat�,
published in The Nation of July 87? From it you will learn that the budget
allocation for the Prime Minister�s household is Rs 1 billion and for his
secretariat Rs 1.7 billion, which means that it costs the country some Rs
75 lakhs (7.5 million) per day to keep him alive and ticking. The
allocation for the President�s house and office is Rs 1.8 billion, or Rs 35
lakhs (3.5 million) per day. Can, or rather must, our poor country suffer
them, at this expense.
"But, going back to basics, the most essential requirement for the people
of a country is the preservation of life. Democracy may be better than
martial law, but martial law is better than anarchy. Martial law may be no
law but at least it enforces order.
"Go home to Narowal, Mr Iqbal, and set your priorities right."
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970714
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The dead are other people
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Omar Kureishi
THE late Shahid Hamid was a friend of mine, not a close one for there was
too big an age-gap between us. In our culture, the relationship could be
described as avuncular. He greeted me affectionately always and his smile
lit up his face. He was sunny and bouncy. He was young both in years and
disposition.
I had no idea that he was a troubled man whose sense of duty had imperiled
his life. When I heard the news, I did not make the connection immediately.
I thought it was someone else. We are conditioned into thinking that the
dead are other people, not one of ours. John Donne had got it wrong that
any man�s death diminishes us and we are not all involved in Mankind,
involved only in ourselves. When the bell tolls, it tolls only for the dead.
There is no doubt that Shahid Hamid was killed by professional hitmen. That
is to say that those who pulled the trigger did so on behalf of someone
else. It was a contract job and the killers had no personal enmity with
Shahid Hamid. Presumably, they did it for money. Murdering people is a
career. I suppose it needs a certain aptitude and perhaps in the
underworld, there are training courses and diplomas are handed out at a
graduation ceremony.
The hit-man has always fascinated me. What is there is his make-up that
dries up all feelings? We use the expression "cold- blooded killer." How
does one�s blood get cold? Is it physical or psychological, what mechanism
in one�s system break down? And what about those who hand out the
contracts. What manner of men are they? As callous and unfeeling, as
"cold-blooded" as the killers themselves? or worse? Worse I would imagine
for they are cowardly in the bargain.
One thing is perfectly clear. What I or any of the other columnists,
Ardeshir Cowasjee, Mazdak, M.H. Askari, Riffat Hamid Ghani, M.B. Naqvi to
name a few from this newspaper�s stable, write will not make the slightest
difference. Thousands and thousands of words have been written about the
killing fields of Karachi. All we have been doing is preaching to the
converted, re-cycling despair, and perhaps, diminishing returns have set
in. It is entirely possible that our readers are bored by what we write
because they know that it isn�t going to make the city safe.
I don�t know whether the authorities read what we write. But I�m pretty
certain that the killers do not. The real tragedy of Karachi is that rather
than get on a common platform and condemn the violence and mayhem outright
and thereby isolate the criminal elements, we blame each other and turn by
turn become the accusers and the accused. And we find ourselves on a
tread-mill. Killings as such have become routine and their numbers may as
well be printed on the business pages of newspapers, along with other
listings of stocks and shares. It is the high-profile killings, like that
of Shahid Hamid, that gets our attention and there is outrage, momentarily,
and there is much talk of exemplary punishment and there is a crackdown
(round up the usual suspects) and there is an increased presence of police
and rangers on the streets.
If the problems of Karachi are political then a political solution will
have to be sought. If the problems are criminal, the existence of various
mafias, then tougher solutions should be sought. The problem is that there
is no way of telling which is which. It has all got intertwined and I have
not the slightest doubts that our external enemies find the conditions
tailor-made for whatever designs they may have.
It may be simplistic to say that the will to find solutions is missing and
there are political constraints but why not treat what is in effect a law
and order problem as a law and order problem and proceed without looking
over our shoulders to see on whose toes we may be stepping?
Khalid Ansari, the editor-in-chief and owner of Mumbai�s afternoon
newspaper Mid-Day sent me a clipping of what he had written recently. In an
open letter to Shri Munde, the deputy chief minister and home minister of
Maharashtra, Khalid Ansari came out with all guns blazing.
He writes: "If, as we would like to believe you have not � heavens forbid �
been the victim of amnesia are we justified in concluding that you and your
government have proved to be utterly inept in maintaining law and order in
the state and guaranteeing the lives and safety of its inhabitants? To aver
that the law enforcement machinery is close to rigor mortis is to state the
obvious. Vandalism is rampant, kidnapping on the rise, contract murders
frequent. The dons of the underworld have not had it as good anywhere since
the halcyon days of Al Capone in the US in the infamous roaring twenties.
Whereas the impunity with which organised crime is allowed to flourish is
alarming, the rapid rate at which lesser crime including vandalism of all
kinds is becoming the order of the day gives great cause for concern."
This is about Mumbai and it could be easily about Karachi except that it
would be considered relatively mild for Karachi. Khalid Ansari makes a
crack about election promises and wants to know what happened to them. It
is, ofcourse, no consolation for us that other cities too have problems but
there is an important difference. There is no confusion between crime and
politics. In Karachi, we do not know which is which.
What torments the people of Karachi is that they are at a loss to
understand what is at stake in this on-going violence. Surely it is not
violence for its own sake?
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970717
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Not just Karachi
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rifaat Hamid Ghani
FOR a Karachiite it is instructive that it needed the killing and disorder
of a higher-echelon bureaucrat in this city to refocus attention on the
resurgence of violence in Karachi. At long last it seems the rest have
woken up to the terror and uncertainty of living in this troubled city. For
years Karachiites felt as if their city and they themselves were not part
of the sentient body politic. Anything could be happening in Karachi but it
didn�t seem to concretise itself for those up north, especially in the
cocoon that is Islamabad.
The Punjabi or Pakhtun who feels threatened by the circumstances that
prevail in Karachi has somewhere to go, roots to return to � even if
temporarily. Where can the Mohajir go? Certainly not back to where they
came from. Today�s generation of Mohajirs may not have given up anything
for Pakistan, but it is the sole receptacle of their identity. And when
they feel threatened, they have nowhere to escape to for safety. It is this
vein of truth that the MQM tapped, and that is why whatever reservations a
section of the Mohajirs or others may have about the MQM, it remains the
focus of hope and assurance for the large majority of the Mohajirs and any
harsh criticism of it by others is liable to be misunderstood.
When opinion is aired that General Babar�s campaign and Benazir Bhutto�s
prescription was the right medicine for Karachi, it can also seem as if
Punjab that voted PML(N) and allied itself with the MQM to exclude the PPP
politically in Sindh does not care much about the plight of the Mohajirs.
Karachi has more than one kind of armed militants and political activists,
but General Babar only touched one sort. It is a little like picking on a
single sect for the offence of sectarian extremism.
There have been keenly focused TV discussions on the phenomenon of violence
in Karachi in the wake of Shahid Hamid�s brutal murder. But the discussions
were out of sync with the perception that those who live in Karachi have to
get reconciled to their fate as it has been for a long time and expect no
respite from the cycle of violence and lawlessness that goes on unchecked.
What alarms Karachiites so deeply now is that the causes are no longer
contained in the parameters of Karachi�s ethnicity and contradictions and
conflicts. That malaise has been left untreated long enough to have
overgrown and outstripped its origins.
Karachi�s tales of violence are indicative of national, administrative and
political ineptitude and inertia. It has become something much larger than
the MQM being used to contain the PPP, or Mohajir and Sindhi entities
engaging in a slanging match. Mir Murtaza�s murder symbolizes the breakdown
of public confidence in the police and reflects public misgivings about
those in power can make of their clout. Shahid Hamid�s murder is generally
seen as the price on honest, competent and conscientious officer sometimes
has to pay for his refusal to bend under pressure or blink at things.
Navaid Hussain has survived a murderous assault: he was creating public
awareness about the misdeeds of the builders and a bureaucracy that did not
detect or try to check their violations of the rules and standards.
Corruption, a bias in accountability, the misuse of power for money and
personal gains, recourse to clandestine schemes or open terror to acquire
levers of control: All these form the root of Karachi�s mayhem and show
themselves disrupting normal life, peace and public order in other cities
and districts all over Pakistan. There is a profound disillusionment with
the people who run the system and the system itself. The agony is the
paucity of alternatives.
Karachi�s problem is not just Karachi�s problem any more and there is no
solution save a widely repentant and reformed civil and political
administration. Though it may be true that Karachiites are always a little
bit ahead: the realisation doesn�t seem to have gelled or traveled all the
way up north or scaled the heights of Islamabad�s Margalla Hills where the
ruling elite and would-be challengers alike remain impervious, seeking to
score their own limited points and personal gains out of any and every
development.
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970716
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Riba
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hafizur Rahman
ONE of the most refreshing articles in recent days was the one in Dawn
Sunday Magazine of June 1 entitled "Islamic Economics: What Does it Mean?"
it described in first person the thoughts and mindset of a young MBA who,
instead of wanting to go abroad for his Ph.D. (like everybody else these
days) has decided to acquire the degree from the International Islamic
University of Islamabad.
It was refreshing because it mirrored the determination of a young man who
does not feel shy about his Muslim identity as most yuppies do, is not
overwhelmed by western notions about Islam and its "fundamentalism," and is
realistic enough to understand that if we call ourselves Muslims there is
no escape for us from Islamic economics in the coming days.
In this respect the writer, Shehryar Hydri, has shown more sense and
boldness than the present and past heads of government in Pakistan who have
tried to shove Islamic economics, particularly its most vital aspect � riba
� under the carpet instead of facing the problem with some courage. They
have been too fond of playing Islam to the gallery through slogans than
showing any anxiety in dealing with the intellectual-cum-religious economic
issue that riba is.
I do not know if young Shehryar Hydri will finally join the Islamic
University or not, but if he does he will be a student in its International
Institute of Islamic Economics (IIIE) which is both a teaching and research
organisation. For his Ph.D. he will have to read both modern western
economics with all its ramifications along with the economics that forms
one of the basics of Islam. The latter, as he himself informed a cynical
friend who was inclined to sneer at his decision, "is about cooperation
instead of competition in controlling (that) profit-making which is at the
cost of others� losses."
He may then like to tell his friend that the IIIE has more foreign-educated
Ph.Ds on its staff than any economics department of any university in
Pakistan. It has now also acquired the distinction of tackling the problem
of riba with dedication and insight, displayed neither by the Council of
Islamic Ideology nor by any commission or committee set up by the
Government of Pakistan ever since it was decided in principle to abolish
interest as known in the rest of the world.
The IIIE�s report is a truly remarkable document. It not only examines the
question in detail, not forgetting its international aspects, but, while
showing the way to the transition, lays down a time table for taking the
various steps necessary to complete the transformation from an
interest-based economy and western banking to a truly Islamic economy and a
banking system that is not in conflict with the shariah in even the
minutest respect.
The IIIE study asserts that the CIII report takes only a partial view of
riba, excludes many shariah-compatible alternatives and is incomplete in
several critical spheres. For example, government transactions,
international transactions, central banking and a sure strategy for
eliminating riba.
As for the report of the Commission for Islamisation of the Economy, set up
in 1992 when Mian Nawaz Sharif was prime minister earlier, the study
believes that it looks at various issues from the banker�s angle, does not
cover all the matters involved and is partial in examining the alternatives.
Nowadays people work less and shout about it more. In fact, in some cases
there is only propaganda and no achievement. Quite in contrast with this
tendency, the International Institute of Islamic Economics has silently
completed the study on its own, without fanfare or prompting from any
quarter, and in a spirit of sheer enquiry and scholarly intent.
There has been no publicity in the Press, and no PR attempt to approach the
Prime Minister and present a copy to him, or at least to the Finance
Minister who partly shares the embarrassment in which the regime finds
itself on the question of riba before the Federal Shariat Court and the
Supreme Court.
I don�t know if these lines will be read by the powers-that-be but if I
were the Prime Minister I would immediately send for the IIIE study, go
through it, and, if it answers the all-important questions on riba, make a
public acknowledgement of the time, labour and talent put into it by the
experts and economists of the institute. For them it has been a labour of
love, and faith.
I have mentioned the time table devised by the IIIE study for moving from
the un-Islamic system to the one sanctioned by Islam. In respect of banks �
even foreign banks operating in Pakistan � it prescribes a day-to-day
schedule both in respect of the time to be taken and the branches to be
initially involved. It is a marvel of detail, and nothing has been left out.
A column like this is hardly an occasion for dwelling on the finer points
of an economic study, especially on a subject which is still controversial.
It is controversial because almost all Muslim economists agree that Islam
lays down its own economic system, but they are so educated, so trained and
have developed such an orientation that they are disinclined to accept it
and consider it an imposition and a bother which had best be ignored.
All this makes one admire the spirit of young Shehryar Hydri who, in quest
of new knowledge, has ventured to face the taunts of his westernised yuppie
friends and decided to delve into Islamic economics, thus agreeing to be
labelled as a "fundo" and "mullah." I hope this spirit is infectious and
catches on.
970714
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Has Aamir Sohail case been really closed?
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Lateef Jafri
THE recall from wilderness of Aamir Sohail has apparently been made by the
cricket board to strengthen the national squad for the Asia Cup, which gets
going in Colombo today. He is a recognized opening batsman � a hard-hitting
stroke-player � and a left-arm spinner useful for the turning wickets which
may surprise any batsman with his flight and break. The above is purely a
technical and cricket explanation of his selection and all experts will
agree that an established all-rounder, especially whose exploits are quite
known in competitive matches, was needed for the team, not raw hands for
experimental purposes.
However, many observers and enthusiasts of cricket are of the opinion that
Sohail�s induction into the team, when he had not played any cricket for
the last six months, was not entirely due to the requirement of the
regional competition but perhaps to meet the demands of the federal
Government and the fans in general. A day before the selection committee
meeting he had paid the fine of Rs 50,000 imposed by the board for
violating its Code of Conduct by giving an interview to a newspaper. The
other lingering case was the allegation levelled against some team-mates of
match-fixing and betting. The disciplinary panel of the PCB had not cleared
him of the charge, which in the members� view was bound to affect the
overall morale and ordered behaviour of the lineup in international duels.
Sohail had yet to face the questioning of the board committee. The members
wanted solid and documentary evidence from Aamir Sohail. He appeared before
the committee for about 70 minutes and according to media rapports the
cricketer could not substantiate the allegations to the total satisfaction
of the PCB panel. The documents were submitted, the queries were put to him
but Talat Ali, the chief of the panel, thought that the clarifications did
not go to the extent of proving that some members of the team were in the
habit of indulging in bribery for throwing away the matches or to use a
light term were engaging themselves in betting. If Aamir Sohail could not
provide the necessary papers against the accused cricketers why he was let
off and included in the mainstream side? The Talat Ali Committee may
presumably have given an adverse report. The two-year ban would then have
been reimposed. But perhaps the board was fearful of the Federal
Government�s sword of Damocles and the Chief Executive and the Chairman did
not press the issue and believing that discretion is the better part of
valour advised the Executive Council to close the matter. Will the issue
again raise its ugly head? No, say the board officials. Yes, presume the
observers of cricket affairs. The board council at its July 6 meeting at
the cricket headquarters in Lahore gave approval to the constitution of a
four-member committee with Justice Ijaz Yousuf as convener to go into any
sort of allegation against cricketers and charges relating to match-fixing
and betting in future. Will the report earlier submitted to the PCB and the
verdict given by Justice (Retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim on the charges
levelled by Australians Tim May, Shane Warne and Mark Waugh be open to
review by the new probe body. Justice Ebrahim, one of top lawyers of the
country and a former member of the higher judiciary, had spurned the
viewpoints of the Australians, even though the signed statements were
despatched from far-off West Indies where their team was touring. The
Chairman of the Ad hoc committee had vetted the papers at Lord�s and was
shocked over the alleged happening, especially the offer of bribery by
Salim Malik, captain of the Pakistan squad during the duels against the
Australians in Pakistan (September-November 1994).
Justice Ebrahim had gone through the papers submitted by the board in
detail. He wanted the Australians to come over to Pakistan for questioning.
The Aussies, busy in the cricket schedule were unable to accede to his
demand. The result was an �ex-parte� report. No doubt he exonerated the
senior Pakistan cricketer. But many take the decision with a pinch of salt.
Can the Ebrahim report be considered as absolutely fair?
The observers of the game would want the evils like match-fixing and
bribery to be eliminated from the Pakistani cricket if it is admitted that
betting is now a world phenomenon. It actually started from the earliest
days of cricket when the game was a village pastime. Even during the
popular Pentangular matches of Bombay there was open betting. However,
fixed matches are intolerable and steps have to be taken to get rid of them.
Many followers of the game have taken interest in the Indian board�s
example of appointing a former Chief Justice of their country, Y.V.
Chandrachud, to investigate the bribery and match-fixing charges aired by
former Test all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar. "The board will not spare anyone
found guilty of match-fixing," said Jagmohan Dalmiya, former Secretary of
the Indian board, now heading the International Cricket Council at Lord�s.
Most of the former Test stars welcomed the BCCI move with the comment: "It
is definitely a positive action from the board. The sooner the allegations
are proved one way or the other the better."
The Aamir Sohail case was linked to the selection of the team. At least he
has got the chance again in the team. Cricket fans expect the Saeed
Anwar-Aamir Sohail combination to rise to the occasion again in the Asia
Cup. The side has depth in batting. But can the bowling too prove equal to
the onerous task in Colombo? Much can be expected from experienced pacer
Aqib Javed as also from Saqlain Mushtaq, who has established himself as a
world-class off-spinner. It will be a hard job for Shahid Nazir and Kabir
Khan, the other seamers.
Sri Lanka, the world champions, should be the favourites on their own
grounds. They have proved their all-round strength in recent tournaments.
India too cannot be taken lightly with the return to the squad of former
captain Azharuddin, though skipper Sachin Tendulkar is complaining of
selection of a weak conglomerate.
All lovers of Pakistan cricket wish that its team is resilient enough to
put up a better performance than in the earlier edition of Asia Cup in
Sharjah (April 1995).
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970714
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Century knocks in both innings of a Test
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Mohammad Shoaib Ahmed
Australia�s Steve Waugh wrote his name into the record books with the
second century of the match in the third Test at Manchester early this
month. He becomes the 39th player to perform the feat on the 45th occasion
- the eleventh Australian to do so.
Graham Gooch is the only batsman in Test history to score a triple-hundred
and a century in the same Test against India at Lord�s in 1990. Four others
have a double-hundred and a century in the same Test to their credit. Greg
Chappel, Sunil Gavaskar, Lawrence Rowe and Doug Walters.
Graham Gooch�s aggregate of 456 runs (333 plus 123) is a world record in
Test cricket, outstripping by a long chalk the two previous records for the
highest aggregate by a batsman in a Test, Greg Chappell�s is the 380 (247
plus 133) Aus v NZ (Wellington �73-74) and Andy Sandham�s 375 (325 plus 50)
Eng v WI (Kingston �29-30). Sunil Gavaskar holds the record for registering
separate hundreds in the same Test on as many as three occasions, whilst
England�s Herbert Sutcliffe, Australia�s Greg Chappell and Alan Border,
West Indies� George Headley and Clyde Walcott have each done it twice.
The West Indian Lawrence Rowe is the only one to perform this twin century
feat on his Test debut. The Australian skipper Allan Border was the only
one to register 150-plus in both innings. The Sri Lankan Duleep Mendis is
the only one to hit exactly the same scores in each innings. Two brothers
from Australia, Ian and Greg Chapell, created a unique and hitherto
unprecedented record of both hitting two separate �tons� in each innings of
the same Test.
The feat of a batsman scoring a century in each innings of a Test has taken
place most often at Adelaide (six times) followed by three instances each
at Calcutta and at The Oval. It has happened twice at each of eleven other
venues. Christchurch, Karachi, Melbourne, Manchester Wellington, Lord�s,
Johannesburg, Georgetown, Kingston, Port-of-Spain, and Hamilton and once
apiece at eleven more centers: Auckland, Bridgetown, Brisbane, Colombo,
Dacca (formerly the eastern wing of Pakistan), Durban, Hyderabad (Sindh),
Lahore, Madras, Nottingham and Sydney.
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970714
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Juniors-seniors mix in hockey a failure
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A. Majid Khan
Pakistan juniors hockey team is currently touring Poland for a four-match
series against their seniors squad and by the time this article appears in
print the outcome of series might be clear. The current tour of the
Pakistan junior squad is the last preparatory outing for the sixth world
juniors Cup, scheduled in Milton Keynes, England, from September 17.
According to the announced programme by the Pakistan Hockey Federation the
final camp of the team is scheduled from Aug 3 at Karachi.
The present juniors squad of 16 includes senior players who also played for
the national seniors teams in the Madras Champions Trophy last December
five-nation Golden jubilee tournament in Karachi in March this year toured
with the Pakistan team which played drawn series against Australia and
four-nation tournament in Holland in June.
Among these players are Goalkeeper Ejaz Khokar, fullbacks Tariq Imran and
Ali Raza, halfbacks "Aseem Ahmed, Irfan Yousuf, and forwards Babar Abdullah
and Mohammad Khalid junior.
All these seven players are in the seniors team currently on the tour of
Poland and are considered the most experienced ones. Their induction into
the team was aimed to make the juniors squad, a winning squad for the
September World Cup. Whatever may be the motive of the PHF selection
committee and the team management it has its own negative impact on the
seniors squad for it has so far not be moulded into a strong combination.
Later the seniors team finished disappointly third in Karachi five-nation
tournament, failed to win the four Test series against Australia and turned
out to be a big disappointment in the four-nation event in the Netherlands.
Knowingly or unknowingly the eslablished international players in the
Pakistan seniors squad were discarded in the name of rebulding the National
team for the 1998 Seniors World Cup. This policy seems to have resulted in
a weakening of both the seniors and the juniors team.
We had a very bad experience when the Pakistan juniors squad, which had
eight 1988 Seoul Olympians plus one player of 1986 Senior "World Cup,
suffered the biggest humiliation in the 1989 world Juniors Cup in the
Malaysian city of Ipoh. Pakistan failed to qualify for the final and got
the bronze medal of the 12-national final round by securing third place.
It was rated as the strongest Pakistan team but failed to come up to the
expectations. It seems the policy makers were wrong in inducting so many
olympians in the juniors side. No other country at Ipoh had so many
Olympians and World Cuppers in their sides for they had a different system
of raising the juniors and seniors teams.
There may be one or two highly outstanding players, who stole the great
honour of representing the seniors team and not so many players playing
both for the seniors and juniors team as Pakistan had in Ipoh.
The Ipoh humiliation might have been fogotten by the PHF policy makers
since they have adopted virtually the same policy by including seven
players in the juniors team. Let us hope this time they come out successful.
The record shows otherwise as after winning the inaugural 1979 world
juniors Cup, Pakistan had miserably failed in its five previous attempts to
regain the title. In the last championship at Barcelona Pakistan did reach
the final but lost to Germany who will be defending the title in England.
Recently Germany�s junior team undertook Pakistan tour and lost the series
by 0-4 but its manager said a good number of juniors could not come because
of their studies and domestic reasons. However the victory for Pakistan
juniors was a great morale booster in the home series.
The juniors current tour of Poland is very important for if we lose or draw
the series, we would be right in saying that we did fairly well against
Poland�s national seniors team and victory indeed would help in building
new confidence in the team.
Whatever may be the outcome of the Poland tour, the Pakistan juniors squad
of 16 would remain unchanged as its team manager Samiullah and coach Ayaz
Mahmood are against any change in the team playing together for about two
years. The PHF selection committee too had endorsed the view of the juniors
team management when it rejected the rightful claim of fullback Sohail
Abbas emerging as penalty corner specialist, by retaining the squad, that
won the Asia junior Cup in Singapore last year.
It took every body by complete surprise when the PHF selection committee
named 20 standbys, surpassing its all previous records. Normally eight or
ten players are named as standbys. But the committee retained all those who
were not picked in the juniors team for the Poland tour as standbys. It is
both an unusual and expensive experiment.
It is high time that the PHF adopted a clearcut policy of raising seniors
and juniors teams independently, as done in other top hockey playing
nations of the world instead of sacrificing established internationals by
substiting substandard juniors.
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970715
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Jansher agrees to participate
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Farhana Ayaz
ISLAMABAD, July 14: World number one Jansher Khan will play in the Pakistan
Open and will also represent Pakistan in the World Games at Lathi, Finland,
this year.
The world champion reversed his decision of not playing in Pakistan
following a two-hour meeting with Air Marshal Aliuddin, senior vice
president, Pakistan Squash Federation, at Air Force Headquarters on Monday.
Before going back to Peshawar, Jansher confirmed that everything has been
sorted out during the meeting with the PSF official. Talking to this
correspondent, AM Aliuddin said all matters were generally discussed and
sorted out.
The official said that Jansher has agreed to play in Pakistan Open as
initially the dates did not suit him. The new dates, he said, don�t clash
with his other schedule and appearances to which he has committed.
"Hopefully, he will win the title for the 12th consecutive time," the
official said.
Before the Pakistan Open, the world champion will represent Pakistan in the
World Games to be held at Lathi, Finland, in first half of August. "We had
written to Jansher about the event in March but somehow he never got the
mail. However, I have shown him the letter signed by me asking his
availability for the world event."
Elaborating the points discussed in the meeting, the official said that
Jansher gave various plans for the improved standard of training/coaching
of the juniors. "He appreciated the programme of juniors� training but was
not satisfied with the standard of coaching," AM Aliuddin said.
The world champ wants world standard coaches to be associated with the
juniors� training. It may be added here that PSF launched a one-year
juniors� training programme in order to reduce the existing gap between
Jansher and other Pakistanis at world ranking. Mohibullah and Qamar Zaman
who was associated with the juniors coaching were replaced after three
months which angered Jansher.
Clarifying the official position, AM Aliuddin said that after three months,
the youngsters dispersed to figure in various tournaments and in order to
spot a junior lot for the 1998 Junior World Cup, the junior clinic was
shifted to Wah. Jamshed Gul is currently training the lot at Wah.
The second point discussed was lack of coverage by PTV. "We agree with
Jansher but since coverage on PTV is pretty expensive and the federation
was not in a position to pay so much money or generate the amount, we
would request the concerned authority and emphasise on them the need for
coverage of squash on television for the popularity of the sport."
Meanwhile, a divisional champion and one of the top under-14 juniors Haider
Jamal from Fetahjang was interviewed by BBC world service on Monday, as a
step to satisfy Jansher Khan. Haider�s father was in Islamabad trying to
get a sponsor to send his son to next month�s Hong Kong Open.
On the subject, AM Aliuddin said that although he is not the top junior in
his category but Imran, Majid and Haider have the potential to hit big in
world squash in future.
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