Punjab Newsroom


The PML-N’s vision for Lahore: Death-by-concrete

City to lose 620 trees for Orange Line train

Rs165bn Lahore metro train project approved

‘Clandestine’ marking of GPO sidewalk for train project

Campus violence: Private varsity students thrashed for ‘speaking Balochi’

Foreign investment — Punjab at the forefront

‘Wrong policies’ affect tractor industry

 

The PML-N’s vision for Lahore: Death-by-concrete

UMAIR JAVED 


Expecting a party to give up a winning formula under pressure from a small group of activists is akin to hoping for a miracle. —Farida Batool via Facebook
As the Punjab government embarks on yet another mega-project in Lahore, concerns about its environmental impact, and the impact on the city’s heritage sites grow in tandem.
Based on assessments by environmental groups, it appears the Orange Line metro-train project directly or indirectly threatens several historical structures, such as the Chauburji monument, the colonial-era General Post Office building, the Tomb of Dai Angan, and the Shalimar Gardens.
Objections to the project originate from two dimensions:
When the Government breaks its own laws
The first dimension includes violation of existing laws by the government itself. At the time of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), and its accompanying public hearing, the existing route alignment was not made clear.
As a result, the ‘approval’ obtained from the general public was premised on faulty or incomplete information.
Secondly, the initial notification of plots (khasras) demarcated for the purposes of land acquisition failed to include others that have now been served notices. This has led to a court intervention in the shape of a stay order on further acquisition and construction.
Thirdly, by building and acquiring land near marked heritage sites, the government is violating certain sections of the Antiquities Act.
A failure to observe its own laws – ostensibly created to safeguard the public interest against such ad-hoc construction – is a glaring shortcoming on part of a belligerent government.
As such, this disregard rightly serves as a basis for civil society mobilisation, both through the courts and through public demonstrations.
A celebration of concrete
The second dimension of opposition is centered on normative or moral-ethical concerns about the city itself. Such concerns focus mainly on the environment, the aesthetic appeal, and the heritage of the city.
They proffer a different view of how the city ‘should’ look like, compared to the concrete-project obsessed perspective of the government.
These concerns have previously emerged against environmental degradation caused by road-widening projects along the canal, the construction of signal-free corridors, and elevated expressways.
The normative dimension of opposition to the government is noble, well-intentioned, and important. Heritage sites should be protected, and environmental concerns need to be highlighted in a city where they are often ignored.
Yet, this aesthetic and environmental battle waged by civil society is, at the end of the day, political in nature.
The government has through its actions repeatedly put forth its vision for Lahore, in which road construction and bludgeoning mass-transit projects are central components. This may not primarily be an aesthetic vision – though looking ‘modern’ is a part of it – it is, however, a ‘developmental’ vision.
While one can rightfully argue that this vision induces skewed development, or accumulates concrete without any real economic growth, it has been sold as such to the citizenry.
Road-widening, flyover, and underpass construction is hailed by a significant chunk of the motor vehicle owning segment in Lahore. Going by MICS data, on average six in 10 households own at least a motorbike in the city. Traders and businessmen see this as proof of the city’s prosperity, and argue that enhanced road networks and infrastructure growth induce greater investment.
This celebration of concrete is also clear in the political mandate that the party has received – from the same affluent segments – at different points in the city’s electoral history.



—Raza Ali Dada via Twitter.
Even today, most local government office aspirants from either of the two main parties are selling roads and public work projects as their promise to the voters.
In a decidedly different moral universe from flyover construction and road widening, this ‘developmental’ vision of the PML-N now also includes provision of mass transit to low-income commuters.
The socio-economic benefit of enhancing transportation options for the working classes is beyond any empirical contestation. It increases labour force participation, links underemployed households with employers, and generally contributes towards upwards socio-economic mobility.
This is why low-income users consider the Metrobus – for all its implementation flaws, and the rent-seeking nexus it facilitated between political agents and private construction actors – a desirable good.
Increasingly, the PML-N’s vision for Lahore, its desire to make it look ‘modern’, is driven by material messaging. More prosperity for those already prosperous, and (finally) a little something for those languishing on the urban margins. Its economic basis may be flawed, and it will probably end up damaging the city in the long run, but at this point in time, it resonates with a thoroughly aspirational electorate.


The manufactured or organic appeal of concrete stands in stark contrast to the aesthetic vision put forth by those holding environmental concerns.


The link between environmental degradation and long-term economic stagnation is clear, yet it is rarely expanded upon.
Those concerned about such projects – mostly hailing from affluent backgrounds – are more likely to talk about the Lahore of the past, of a green city teeming with ‘culture’ and ‘tradition’, before it was taken over by ‘dukaandar’ upstarts (the PML-N).
Nostalgia about a city that was as socially unequal in the past as it is now (if not more) ends up serving as the driving emotion for casual observers and participants, rather than the more pressing question of social justice.
Most serious environmental activists in Lahore, however, acknowledge that aesthetics cannot work as the mass premise for reform in what is still an overwhelmingly poor city.
While post-material concerns may be able to generate a critical degree of support in advanced industrial settings, they cannot carry similar weightage here.
Questions of livelihood, upward mobility, consumption, and growth should remain important, and frankly, it would be unfair for affluent individuals to expect the bulk of the citizenry to sideline such concerns in the political choices they make.
The central problem then becomes of creating a developmental vision – distant from the PML-N’s mangled urban thinking – that couches aesthetical and environmental concerns for Lahore in a larger agenda of socio-economic uplift.
For all the elite networks that activists may tap into, in the bureaucracy or with the courts, political expediency, (whether it’s vote-gathering or corruption) will always win out.
This should be apparent from the fact that even political operators from the main opposition party, who otherwise jump at the chance to take on the government, hold largely the same ideas about urban development.
Expecting a party to give up a winning formula (i.e. their developmental vision) under pressure from a small group of activists is akin to hoping for a miracle.
The real test for all of us opposing Lahore’s death-by-concrete is to create an alternative vision of environmentally conscious urban growth that resonates with real material concerns of the citizenry, and goes well beyond lamenting the demise of a historically unequal, privilege-preserving city.



 Umair Javed teaches politics at L
Curtsey:DAWN.COM,October 29,2015


Rs165bn Lahore metro train project approved

The project envisages construction of 27.1km long dedicated signal-free corridor for train mass transit system in Lahore.   — Photo courtesy of Rapid Metro

The project envisages construction of 27.1km long dedicated signal-free corridor for train mass transit system in Lahore. — Photo courtesy of Rapid Metro
ISLAMABAD: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Tuesday cleared the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train project costing Rs165.20 billion, and referred it to Ecnec for final approval.
The project envisages construction of 27.1km long dedicated signal-free corridor for train mass transit system in Lahore.
Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who chaired the CDWP meeting, asked the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) which will execute the
project to ensure completion of the mega project in 27 months.
The corridor will be capable of accommodating two trains running on both ways with design capacity of the system at 30,000 passengers per hour.
The orange line metro train is being financed by the Punjab from its own resources with a concessional loan from the Chinese government.
Iqbal laid emphasis on transfer of technology for building the indigenous capacity to construct such mass transit system by signing a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese company.
He said that it will be a landmark mass transit project for the poor and the middle class to commute with world class facilities at an affordable fare.
Commercial spaces should be conceived at the metro stations architecture to help overcome the big difference in the operational cost and revenue of the mass transit, he said.
The proposed alignment of the project starts from Ali Town, passing through Niaz Baig, Bund Road, Chauburji, Anarkali, Lakshmi, Railway Station, University of Engineering and Technology, Shalamar Garden, Islam Park, and terminates at Dera Gujran.
In total, the CDWP cleared seven projects worth Rs180bn, including the orange line metro project. Four projects worth Rs2.362bn were approved; three projects worth Rs177.7bn were recommended to Ecnec.
Another project recommended to Ecnec was the construction of a four-lane bridge across Indus River, linking Layyah with Taunsa worth Rs6.976bn. However, it was cleared with the financing condition of two-third from Sindh government. The Larkana development package of infrastructure projects worth Rs8.113bn was also approved subject to cost rationalisation.
The feasibility study of an energy project of Balochistan government for environmental impact assessment worth Rs209.70m was also approved by the CDWP.
Curtsey:DAWN.COM, May 6th, 2015


City to lose 620 trees for Orange Line train

KHALID HASNAIN 

—Arslan/File


.—Dawn/File

.—Dawn/File
LAHORE: Construction of Lahore Orange Line Metro Train Project will cause cutting down of 620 grown-up trees on its 27.1km long route from Dera Gujran to Ali Town.
The trees and herbs planned to be cut are of various kinds, including Arjun, Dhak, Mahwa, Bahara, Alstonia, Ashoke, Sheesham, Alata, Kenair, Weeping Willow, Peepal, Simbal, Berri, Sukh Chain and Poplar.
The project executing agency, Lahore Development Authority, has pledged planting 6,200 new saplings in place of the felled ones at various spots of the route and its surroundings, according to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report made by the LDA in association with the National Engineering Services Pakistan (Nespak).
The EIA report is to be discussed and shared under the environment laws with the people from various walks of life in a public hearing scheduled to be held by the LDA on June 30 at Alhamra Cultural Complex, Qadhafi Stadium.


The project to consume 74MW electricity as well


The report says the entire operation of metro trains, which will start at 7am and conclude at 10pm daily, will consume 74MW electricity that will be supplied by the Lahore Electricity Supply Company (Lesco). In this regard, the report mentions, two power substations, one at the UET (GT Road) and the other at Shahnoor (Multan Road) will be constructed to ensure uninterrupted operation of the trains—each having capacity of 1,000 passengers. The operation includes running of trains, signaling control, automated fare collection machines, offices, etc.
“At the starting and ending points, Dera Gujran and Ali Town, two depots have been planned to be established where various facilities, such as maintenance of trains, will be available. The design speed of the proposed train is 70km/hr but the scheduled speed will remain between 30-70 on the 27.1km long route that include 1.72km portion to be built underground and the rest as elevated.”
Among 26 total train stations of the Rs160.395bn project, two will be constructed underground (one will single storey and another two-storey with concourse on the ground).
The report terms the project area as falling in Seismic Zone 2A which represents peak ground acceleration from 0.08 to 0.16g that is a low to moderate damage zone. Land use of the project area is mainly commercial and residential with some educational, medical and recreational facilities. The report estimates Rs5.6m to be incurred on environment related costs, including Rs576,000 for environmental monitoring, Rs4m for tree plantation and Rs100,000 for environmental training.
The report indicates the project will require acquisition of land which will result in loss of infrastructure; commercial activities, disturbance to people and change in the land use.
“However, the compensation for the structures, plots, private and public properties, etc. would be done by the government as per law,” the report assures.
Curtsey:DAWN.COM, June 26th, 2015


‘Clandestine’ marking of GPO sidewalk for train project

INTIKHAB HANIF 


A portion of the GPO building has been marked for the metro train project. — White Star / Tariq Mahmood

A portion of the GPO building has been marked for the metro train project. — White Star / Tariq Mahmood
LAHORE: To the utter shock of the postal authorities and citizens, the internal sidewalk of the ‘protected’ GPO (General Post Office) building on The Mall on its Nabha Road side has been quietly red-marked to snatch its 750ft space for the Orange Line Metro Train.
Postal authorities say they were not informed about the move and they were alarmed to see the red marks inside the boundary wall of the GPO. When inquired, it was revealed that the marking had been made by the train project officials to devour its 19ft land across the length of the road, leaving just 6ft to be used as its sidewalk.
The building is protected under the Antiquities Act 1975 and the Punjab Special Premises (Preservation) Ordinance 1985, says a former Punjab information secretary Dr Aajaz Anwar, vice chairman of the Dilkash Lahore Committee. “It cannot be touched.”
“This is shocking for me. The committee does not know anything about the move. It is required to get an approval of the committee for touching any protected building especially on The Mall under the law. The move is simply disastrous, a crime against Lahore,” Dr Anwar says.


Citizens say it is a monumental folly


GPO was built in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee and to replace the telegraph office of Anarkali Bazaar. The first building by the British Raj in Lahore, it was designed and built by Sir Ganga Ram.
It was occupied by Postmaster General Punjab in 1904. It represents the historical continuity, cultural heritage and is a masterpiece of Indo Saracenic architecture which has compulsory feature of special premises. Now, it proudly represents the city of Lahore as a historical and cultural landmark.
As a symbol of pride for Pakistan Post and identification of Lahore, authorities had the entire building, particularly its exterior, restored to its pristine beauty in 1984 under the guidance of renowned architect Yasmeen Lari.
Postal authorities who are preparing to confront the move at all fora say any alteration in its premises will compromise the restoration and conservation efforts and will be viewed antagonistically in future history.
It may cause unquantifiable damage to the structure of the building and spirit of Indo Saracenic architecture. It is contradictory to the spirit of The Punjab Special Premises Act 1985 which is aimed to preserve historical, cultural and architectural value in Punjab and to control and regulate such alterations in the premises of such sites.
Building of Lahore GPO is an “antiquity” under the Clause -2 of the Subsection (C-I) and Clause-2 (G-III) of the Antiquity Act, 1975 and grabbing of its land is a clear violation of the law.
Construction activity, especially excavation, machine induced vibrations, drilling, piling and resultant changes in environment just 6ft away will induce deterioration in ancient material forming structure of the building and may cause irreparable damage.
The original plan of the GPO building is based on a triangle with its base kept open and two arms of building have been so constructed that they run parallel to The Mall and Nabha Road. It signifies by a façade of 130 feet backed by a doom. There is 25.6ft wide 775ft long “special premises” to demarcate the main building from the road.
Dr Anwar says the attempt to grab the GPO land is a cultural crime and a disaster bigger than the metro bus that has blocked the view of the city landmarks like the Government College and the shrine of Data Sahib. “It should never be allowed,” he says.
Curtsey: DAWN.COM, October 19th , 2015


Solar Park project: Cholistan’s precious trees being illegally sold

MAJEED GILL 


It is learnt that these contractors have sold these ‘keekar’ trees in the open market during the last one month or so.  — Photo Courtesy: Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power (Pvt) Ltd

It is learnt that these contractors have sold these ‘keekar’ trees in the open market during the last one month or so. — Photo Courtesy: Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power (Pvt) Ltd
BAHAWALPUR: Contractors hired by a foreign company for the Quaid-i-Azam Solar Park (QASP) project are allegedly making a fast buck by disposing of trees worth millions of rupees from the vast area.
It is learnt that these contractors have sold these ‘keekar’ trees in the open market during the last one month or so.
Cholistan’s thousands of acre land having countless trees had been transferred under Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s directive by the Cholistan Development Authority (CDA) Bahawalpur to the Punjab Energy Department at the launch of the 1,000 megawatt QASP in 2013.
In the first phase, a 100MW unit of the project was commissioned in an area of 500 acres of reserved land this past May by the prime minister.
The Cholistan land had to be added to the project and the energy department entrusted this task to a foreign company which further gave a contract to some persons to clear the desert area off the existing hundreds of thousands of trees for installation of solar panels.
Sources said the contractors had started removing trees from the park area more than a month ago and already sold many of these in the market rather than their auction by the energy department. They loaded trees onto tractor-trolleys at night and after seeking gate passes from the exit points managed to dispose of these, earning millions.
Bahawalpur District Coordination Officer Imran Sikandar told Dawn that the district revenue department had nothing to do with the land where trees were illegally being removed. The Cholistan Development Authority or the Punjab Energy Department could better tell about it, he said.
CDA Managing Director Naeem Bokhari could not be contacted as he is abroad these days, while CDA Director Rana Shahid Nadeem was busy in a meeting in Lahore and did not respond.
Conservator Forests Bahawalpur Division Faisal Haroon and DFO Qazi Khalid of Lal Sohanra National Park, from where the said land of solar park had been slashed, told this correspondent that it was not within their purview to check the alleged sale of trees from the solar park.
Bahawalpur District Police Officer Sarfraz Ahmad Falki said he would check it from the SP posted in the solar park.
Punjab Energy Department Secretary Asad Gilani said the issue was not in his knowledge but he would probe the complaint.
Curtsey:DAWN.COM, October 10th, 2015


Movement of goods comes to a halt

AAMIR SHAFAAT KHAN 


Industrialists in Punjab are concerned over detention of their containers loaded with goods, both for export and also local supplies to various cities. — Photo by Reuters

 

Industrialists in Punjab are concerned over detention of their containers loaded with goods, both for export and also local supplies to various cities. — Photo by Reuters
KARACHI: Movement of essential goods, industrial products, edible items, vegetables and fruits between Punjab and Karachi has come to a halt for the last two to three days following blocking of roads by the government in a move to handle the protest plans of PTI and PAT on Independence Day.
Industrialists in Punjab are concerned over detention of their containers loaded with goods, both for export and also local supplies to various cities.
The business community and fruit and vegetable exporters are worried over the deteriorating supply situation as they are facing problems in getting transporters to lift the cargo. Exporters also find it difficult to meet deadlines of shipments to foreign destinations.
Site Association of Industry’s Chairman Yunus Bashir said exporters of up-country, mainly in Punjab, are in stress as their supplies to Karachi for export have been blocked for a few days. Zubair Motiwalla, former chairman of the association, said the arrival of raw material for local industries of Karachi from Punjab and goods movement from Karachi to Punjab have also stopped.
However, exports by industries located in Karachi industrial areas through ports have been normal so far. Many industrial units, which regularly send their products to upcountry, have curtailed their production by 25-30 per cent due to no movement of goods, they said.
Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) chairman Farukh Mazhar said exports from industries located in Korangi area was normal so far but industrialists dependent on their supplies to Punjab are facing problems.
Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Association (KWGA) Chairman Anis Majeed said the supply chain of goods is dysfunctional.
He added that shipment of imported pulses from Karachi’s Jodia Bazar to Punjab has been suspended while there was no arrival of locally produced rice and pulses from Punjab.
Sugar’s wholesale price, he said, has inched up by Re1 per kg to Rs54.50 but it has nothing to do with the problem of free flow of goods between Karachi and Punjab.
He said that so far the impact has not been felt on price of essentials in the wholesale market but a prolonged suspension will eventually start reflecting in price levels.
“In case, supplies remain disrupted for another two to three days, Karachi’s wholesale market will feel the pinch,” Majeed said.
Waheed Ahmed, co-chairman of All Pakistan Fruits and Vegetables Exporters, Impor­ters and Merchants Association, said that supply of fruits, especially mango, from Punjab has plunged in the last two days by 60-70pc in the wholesale market at Super Highway.
Supply of fruits and vegetables destined for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab from Sindh has also been disrupted, he said.
He said growers of mango in Sindh have stocks piling up at orchards due to unavailability of transport.
Even trucks which had left for Karachi from mango growing areas of Punjab are stuck up on the way.
He added that vegetable and fruit exports being carried out by air from Lahore to the Middle East were also affected due to disruption in goods movement and blockade of main roads in Punjab areas.
Falahi Anjuman Wholesale Vegetables Market President Haji Shahjehan said arrival of locally produced potato lying in cold storages of Punjab and shipments of Chinese potato from port to Punjab have been halted in the last two days.
He said mango arrivals from Punjab producing areas and some other fruits have been paralysed. Onion and tomato from Balochistan crop are not finding way into Punjab. Besides, movement of imported ginger and garlic from Karachi to Punjab has also stopped.
Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2014

Campus violence: Private varsity students
thrashed for ‘speaking Balochi’

By Waqas Naeem

“One of them smashed my head with a knuckleduster.” says a student. PHOTO: FILE

  • “One of them smashed my head with a knuckleduster.” says a student. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: Three Baloch students of Preston University were allegedly targeted on the basis of ethnicity by fellow students and severely beaten up on the university campus in Sector H-8 on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Industrial Area police have not registered a case on the complaint filed by the Baloch students due to a pending medical report. The police also claimed that the students are exaggerating the incident.
Civil society representatives and youth activists staged a protest demanding justice for the injured students on Sunday evening, claiming the university administration appeared to be trying to settle the issue without police involvement.
Students Fakharuz Zaman, Khalid and Mehran were having lunch at the private university’s cafeteria around 2:30pm on Saturday when they claimed four students, whom they did not know personally, attacked them.
“They walked up to us and said ‘what are you saying to each other in Balochi?’” said Khalid, who was spending his first day on campus on Saturday after getting enrolled earlier in the day. “One of them smashed my head with a knuckleduster.”
The students alleged they were beaten with a knuckleduster, bottles and knives but no one in the busy cafeteria came to help them. The Baloch students also claimed the attackers abused them in Punjabi and Pashtu, alleging that the attack might have been ethnically-motivated.
However, police officials dismissed these claims and said the incident was a college brawl.
Police confirmed a fight occurred inside the Preston University’s cafeteria, but an Industrial Area duty officer who had gone to the scene after the incident was reported to Rescue 15 said it was a small fight in which one student received “minor injuries.”
The officer claimed the Baloch students were making a mountain out of a molehill.
On the other hand, sources said that a medico-legal officer at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences who examined the injured students suggested the injuries could amount to an attempted murder charge.
The Industrial Area Police Station, which is also responsible for Sector H-8, confirmed that the students filed a complaint, but no First Information Report (FIR) was registered.
Industrial Area Station House Officer Hakim Khan said police did not go through with the FIR because they had not received the medical report yet.
“Every citizen has a right to get a case registered and we will facilitate the students if they have a valid claim,” Khan said. “We do not move ahead instantly with a case when students are involved because it might ruin their careers.”
He said the medical report is expected on Monday and further action can only be taken after police gets the report.
The university’s campus has CCTV cameras installed in the cafeteria and body scanners at its entrance, but the police could not confirm how the attacking students were able to get dangerous metal objects inside. University staff apparently intervened only after the students had been thrashed.
The Baloch students also said they were treated rudely by the university’s security in-charge, after the incident. But later on Saturday, after the duty officer had also allegedly requested the students to settle the matter with the other party, the students said the administration reached out to them.
“The administration requested that we visit the university on Monday and said they will listen to our concerns about the incident,” said Zaman, who has been enrolled in Preston University’s graduate programme for a month.
Khalid and Fakharuz Zaman both got stitches on their foreheads and were visibly shaken as they stood outside the National Press Club on Sunday, where around two dozen activists from the Pakistan Youth Alliance staged a protest against the university administration.
The demonstrators shouted slogans demanding that Baloch students be treated with respect and the university administration be held accountable for the incident.                                                                                                               University officials were not available for comment.
    Published in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2014.

Foreign investment — Punjab at the forefront

By Aisha Sarwari


 


The writer is a freelance writer based in Islamabad. She blogs at www.aishasarwari.wordpress.com. She can be followed on Twitter @AishaFsarwari
All inroads of investment into Pakistan start from Punjab. A fact that is being underscored at the International Seminar for Investment in Lahore on November 6-7. The Punjab government is sharpening its pitch towards a gathering of some most trusted business partners — chiefly the Chinese and the Turks. The pitch is three-pronged: Punjab is investment-ready because a policy framework supports it; the project ducks are standing in a row and more importantly there has been a considerable focus on setting up the infrastructural backbone the province needs to attract FDI.
At the seminar, which is predominantly focused on infrastructure, the Punjab government aims to secure the low-hanging fruit first and for good reason too. Research points to the fact that the marginal productivity of investments on infrastructure rises with scale, and the spread of the network exceeds the average productivity of investment until the market is saturated. For a province that makes up more than half of Pakistan’s 190 million people, it will crumble under its demographic dividend if it does not provide access to opportunities for its populace whether it is in the form of employment, newer markets, educational facilities and better healthcare.
With around 500 international investors in Lahore, the good news is that Punjab is honing its investment promotional skills. According to the apex investment promotion body, World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA), this is the single-most important determinant in attracting investment — the sanctity of the information and facilitation investors need to make up their minds when entering a new emerging market. These and more best practices are critical for Punjab to learn from. It should also be noted that the Punjab Board of Investment and Trade holds the directorship for WAIPA in South Asia since 2010.
When the Punjab government says it is investment-ready, it means that it has projects worth $6,556 million ready to be invested in across 48 key sectors. Led by the provincial Planning and Development Department, these projects have the capacity and bite to accept investors as early as today, proving that not only the infrastructure projects, but all others that offer a competitive advantage have been diligently worked on and made feasible.
There is something to be said about the magnetism of an emerging economic region’s political will to be integrated into rising Asia. One undisputed credit that Punjab is given is for the passionate and hands-on approach to investment that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has. His message to investors: “I personally guarantee your investments will be safe in Punjab and will grow multi-fold.” Pakistan needs more of this approach, not less. Sadly, many leaders don’t look at FDI with the respect it deserves. It has effectively changed the trajectory of many developing nations, with many in Africa being examples of this.
If Pakistan wants to move beyond its $5,060 GDP per head (in PPP terms), it will have to be more proactive in opening its doors to willing investors, of which there is no shortage. Given that Pakistan ranks 18th in the world for having the largest middle class according to Credit Suisse’s recent report, anyone with a buck would want a piece of this growth in potential and opportunity.
Sometimes opening doors is just what it takes to lure in investor friends. Or even foes for that matter. Investment flows where there is something to be gained. Pakistan’s policy framework allows no discrimination against foreign investors and they are treated like any local investor. This open and welcoming structure was established back when many Asian economies were extremely conservative in their economic outlook. While it should have been Pakistan in the lead based on its policy prerogative, it is sadly not. Still, the aggressiveness with which Punjab reigns the investment industry on behalf of Pakistan, after this area became a provincial subject, confirms the claims of economic pundits that the rise is around the corner — all things being equal, of course, in terms of geopolitics and disasters. FDI actually provides buffers to such shocks to the system. Hopefully, the conference not only helps the Punjab government’s pitching, it will also facilitate investors in pointing out their expectations and highlighting possible gaps. This is why international seminars such as this one lays the foundation of progressive work governments ought to be doing more of.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2015.

‘Wrong policies’ affect tractor industry


http://nation.com.pk/print_images/large/2015-11-07/wrong-policies-affect-tractor-industry-1446849978-4824.jpg


LAHORE - The sales of tractors have declined sharply, indicating that the tractor industry has succumbed to the wrong policies of the government, as tractor sales in 1st quarter of FY2015-16 stood at 6745 units, down 28 percent from 9363 units during the same period last year.

‘The negative growth is not a good omen for the tractor industry that just came out of GST fiasco.
This means it has to go through another crisis just because the policies of the government are not supportive to this industry,’ said Abdul Waheed Khan, Director General Pakistan Automotive Manufacturer’s Association (PAMA).

‘The main reason of the current sharp decline in tractor sales is that the provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab did not initiate their tractor schemes they announced in July.
This shows their lack of interest towards the wellbeing of both the farmer and the local tractor industry,’ added Waheed.

‘It is quite unfortunate that this industry, that has achieved more than 90 percent localisation, is getting severely hurt by the policies of the government,’ said Waheed.

He added that there are more than six assemblers in the industry including two major players, who are producing standard tractors with cheapest prices in the world, and no regional country including China and India can compete with them.

‘First the government imposed heavy GST which knocked down this industry, and now they are mulling over allowing import of used tractors in the country.
They are not realising that this strategic industry in our agricultural country cannot survive this kind of adventures,’ reasoned Waheed.

He further stated that the government could have adopted a rational approach to help this industry fully exploit its export potential.
‘One locally produced tractor is available in $7,000 and the tractor with same quality is available in $13,000 in international market,’ added Waheed.

One example, he added, about the inconsistent policies of the government would suffice in this regard as the government changed the GST regime for the industry five times in last five years.
Resultantly, the industry went into tailspin in the year 2011 when and its production volume reduced to almost half and full revival is still not in sight.

Waheed was of the view that tractor business is cyclic, dependent on two main crops.
‘Now the situation is that farmers have held back their buying of tractors anticipating the initiation of provincial subsidised tractor schemes.
And both farmers and the industry are suffering due to the indifference of the provincial governments in this regard,’ he mentioned.
Curtsey:The Nation, November 07, 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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