Omantel going ahead with
Pakistan WorldCall sale:
Oman Telecommunications Co
(Omantel) is going ahead with a plan to sell its controlling stake in
Pakistan’s WorldCall Telecom, the Omani operator’s chief executive Talal
al-Mamari told Reuters on Tuesday. Omantel took a 56.8 per cent stake in the
diversified operator in 2008. The $193 million deal was its biggest foreign
investment at the time. The Omani firm “has accepted the offer we received to
sell our shares in WorldCall. But the deal is still in the process of
fulfilling different requirements,” Mamari said without elaborating. In
September, WorldCall told the Pakistan Stock Exchange that it intends to buy
back its shares from Omantel. It did not disclose a price; its share price last
closed at Rs2.81 in the Pakistani market, down from around Rs17 in February
2008, when Omantel’s acquisition was announced.
Vitol Dubai increases stake in
Hascol to 25%:
Vitol Dubai Limited, a global
energy and commodity trading company, has increased its stake in Hascol
Petroleum Limited to 25% compared to 15% earlier this year, according to a
bourse filing on Wednesday. “Vitol Dubai Limited…has exercised its call option
to acquire an additional 10% shares in Hascol Petroleum pursuant to terms of
the shareholders’ agreement, increasing its shareholding from 15% to 25%,” said
Zeeshanul Haq, Company Secretary, in a notification to the Pakistan Stock
Exchange. The announcement helped Hascol’s stock surge to its upper limit of 5%
(Rs13.98) and close at Rs293.64 with a volume of 2.9 million shares at the
stock exchange. The announcement, however, did not reveal the price at which the
global energy company acquired the additional shares in Pakistan-based oil
marketing company. In February 2016, Vitol had acquired 15% shares (18.1
million shares) at Rs162 each. Hascol received around $28.1 million on the
share sale.
Chinese investors express
interest in KP mineral sector:
Chinese investors have expressed
keen interest to invest in mineral sector of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). In this
regard, an eighteen-member delegation, led by Chinese Overseas Investment Union
(COIU) President Chan, called on Minerals Development Department Secretary Syed
Abdul Jabbar Shah at Civil Secretariat here on Wednesday. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Board of Investment and Trade (KPBOIT) CEO Nazeer Awan, Minerals Development
Department Director Syed Bilal Khisro, Minerals DG Fazli Wahid and other
officials concerned also attended the meeting.
France offers technology,
expertise to Pakistan:
Jean Marc Fenet, head of the
France’s Regional Economic Department for India and South Asia, has said that
his country considered Pakistan as a huge market for business and wanted to
further improve bilateral trade and economic relations with it. While
addressing the business community at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(ICCI), he said that, in past, France had a focus on China due to which South
Asia was ignored, but now it was focusing on South Asia for business ties. He
said Pakistan, being a big market of the region, was gaining more attention of
France. Jean said that due to China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), France
was taking more interest in Pakistan as this project was poised to create many
new opportunities for business and investment. He said business was the best
way to promote bilateral relations between countries. He said France has latest
technology and expertise and Pakistan could achieve good results for its
economy by enhancing cooperation with it. “I would try to visit Pakistan twice
a year to identify new areas of mutual cooperation between the two countries,”
he said.
FDI declines 48pc to $316m:
Foreign direct investment (FDI)
fell 48 per cent year-on-year in the first four months of the fiscal year to
$316.1 million, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Tuesday.But an
increased foreign portfolio investment changed the overall position as total
foreign investment jumped by 48pc in this period.The foreign investment of $1
billion in sukuk was included as foreign public investment, which improved the
country’s foreign investment profile.However, the real investment or FDI
dropped $294m in July-Oct on an annual basis. FDI has been falling for the last
many years and the present government has not been able to bring any positive
change.
Latest bike model: ECC refuses
to grant ‘new entrant’ status with incentives:
The Economic Coordination
Committee (ECC) has turned down a proposal of the Ministry of Industries and
Production that recommended giving the status of “new entrant” to a new
motorcycle model of Atlas Honda.In its summary prepared for the ECC, the
Ministry of Industries, in a meeting on November 10, revealed that Atlas Honda
had pressed for application of the new entrant policy with incentives to the
motorcycle manufacturers bringing new technology.The ministry said a committee,
constituted by the ECC, reviewed the technological difference between the new
model of Atlas Honda and the models already being assembled in the country.It
arrived at the consensus that keeping in view the technological difference,
comments of members and technical input of the Engineering Development Board
(EDB), the new model of Atlas Honda – Honda SDH CBF-150 – should be granted the
new entrant status.
No further extension in date
for filing tax returns: FBR
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)
has said that there would be no further extension in filing of income tax returns
beyond due date of November 30,2016.In a statement issued here by the FBR said
that Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on November 15, 2016, extended the due
date for filing of income tax returns/statements by salaried persons,
individual, AOP, and companies till November 30, 2016. The FBR statement said
that the minister extended the date in view of the spirit of taxpayers'
facilitation.The statement said that the FBR wants to inform the taxpayers that
the portal for filing electronic returns is working smoothly as is obvious from
the fact that by 15th November, 2016, more than 467,778 returns have been filed
electronically. Whereas, the number of returns filed electronically by 15
November, 2015, was 341,810.
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