Apply for the loan if feeling lucky

Marvi expressed hope that the loan scheme will boost the country’s economy and also help reduce the level of unemployment in the country. PHOTO: NNI

HYDERABAD: As many as 15,000 applicants for the ‘Youth Business Loan Scheme’ will be lent monthly credit through a lucky draw, said Member National Assembly (MNA) Marvi Memon, as she explained the mechanism of the government’s initiative to help budding entrepreneurs in running their ventures.

Memon, who is also a coordinator for the loan scheme, said that monitoring committees are being formed to oversee the project.

The initiative is the government’s delivery of a promise made during the election campaign. The Youth Business Loan, which is part of the larger ‘Prime Minister’s Youth Programme’, is designed to provide subsidised financing at 8% mark-up per annum for 100,000 beneficiaries through the National Bank of Pakistan and First Women Bank..

Memon said one representative from the PML-N and four from the business community and the banking sector will comprise the district level committees.

The scheme will provide credit of Rs100,000 to Rs2 million to new and old entrepreneurs.

“The committee will monitor the whole range of activity from submission of forms to release of loan, its utilisation and repay,” said Memon.

Marvi expressed hope that the loan scheme will boost the country’s economy and also help reduce the level of unemployment in the country.

The MNA said that the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) has prepared at least 50 business plans which will be shared with the loan recipients.

“Smeda is being involved to develop the youth’s skills and will also help to develop the business plan in more than 50 areas of business.”

FCCI hails initiative

Meanwhile, Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) President Engineer Suhail Bin Rashid welcomed the development, saying the initiative will help the country in overcoming issues of employment and, to an extent, drive the economy forward as well.

He said that developed countries promote entrepreneurship and pointed out this as a reason for their prosperity.

Rashid urged the youth to apply for loans and utilise their abilities.

Buy-out: Interested Chinese group tries to acquire Masood Textile Mills

Shandong Ruyi Technology Group has formally expressed its intention to acquire up to 31.2 million ordinary shares of Masood Textile Mills through AKD Securities. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

KARACHI: 

A Chinese business group has shown interest in acquiring 52% shares in one of Pakistan’s leading textile manufacturing companies, according to a recent notice sent to the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE).

As per the KSE regulations about substantial acquisition in a listed company, Shandong Ruyi Technology Group has formally expressed its intention to acquire up to 31.2 million ordinary shares of Masood Textile Mills through AKD Securities, which is acting as a manager to the offer.

Based in Faisalabad, Masood Textile Mills is one of the few vertically integrated textile mills in Pakistan with in-house yarn, knitting, fabric dyeing, processing, laundry and apparel manufacturing facilities. For the fiscal year 2012-13, its profit after tax amounted to Rs906.3 million, up by 8.5% on an annual basis. Its revenues grew at an annualised rate of 25% between 2008 and 2012.

A little over 10 million shares constitute the free float of the company, whose total issued shares are 60 million. The Chinese group aims to buy the majority stake through a share price agreement as well public offering, the notice said. This means that the potential acquirer will try to accumulate maximum number of shares in the company through the stock market before trying to strike a share purchase agreement with its sponsors.

Hence, it is not surprising that the share price of Masood Textile Mills, which has traditionally been an illiquid stock, has seen an unusual appreciation over the last many weeks. For instance, it increased from Rs58.26 on December 2 to Rs74.34 on December 9, which shows an increase of 27.6% in only six trading sessions. Notably, its share price has increased by 134.3% in the last one month.

“There has already been a significant increase in the company’s share price during the past few weeks,” Waqar Ali of Elixir Securities, a Karachi-based brokerage house, told The Express Tribune. “This is because of the Chinese company already trying to acquire the Masood Textile’s shares as well as other investors wanting to profit off the transaction.

“Any shortfalls in the number of shares the Chinese company faces will be most likely covered by buying shares at a premium to the market price.”

As opposed to the current price, which is at Rs74.34 a share (at the end of Monday’s trading session), the company should be able to fetch a price between Rs75-Rs100 per share, Ali noted. Assuming that the transaction takes place at the per-share price of Rs85, the deal will lead to an inflow of approximately $25 million.

Unprecedented investment

There has been no precedent of a huge Chinese group acquiring a stake in a Pakistani textile company. “A Pakistani textile company offers a lot to Chinese companies, largely because of lower costs. Cotton prices and labour costs in China are much higher than they are in Pakistan,” Ali noted.

Masood Textiles Mills is a composite manufacturing concern that produces value-added textile products. Value-added exports to the European Union (EU) are expected to increase due to the GSP Plus status that Pakistan is likely to receive in January 2014.

“Acquiring the company will enable the Chinese group to make duty-free, value-added textile exports to its customers in the EU. Moreover, China’s transit to higher value-added segments might be a trigger for the acquisition,” he added.

Despite challenges, multinationals will continue to invest’

FDI in Pakistan was $1.44 billion in fiscal year 2012-13, almost one-fourth of the $5.4 billion it received in fiscal year 2007-08. ILLUSTRATION: JAMAL KHURSHID

KARACHI: Despite the prevailing power crisis and security challenges, investments being made by multinationals operating in Pakistan have been growing and the trend is expected to continue in the future.

This was stated by Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) General Secretary M Abdul Aleem, who added that member companies have continued to invest despite the ‘negative business climate of the country’.

With its head office in Karachi, OICCI represents 190 multinationals operating in Pakistan.

The country has been experiencing a low inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) for the last five years, but the interest by multinationals is a positive for the economy.

“The OICCI member companies have continued to invest in Pakistan despite various negative geo-political and security factors that have impacted the country,” said Aleem. “They will continue to invest in the coming years.”

The official added that this can be judged from the fact that, in an ongoing survey of OICCI members, about 80 respondents have informed that their capital expenditure was Rs92 billion in 2011, Rs94 billion in 2012 and an average of similar amounts to be incurred on capital expenditure in 2013 and in the next 2-5 years.

Senior executives of multinationals in the country are of the view that the present government can easily increase the FDI in Pakistan by ‘just effectively’ implementing its current policies.

FDI in Pakistan was $1.44 billion in fiscal year 2012-13, almost one-fourth of the $5.4 billion it received in fiscal year 2007-08.

With such a low FDI base, experts say Pakistan should be able to bounce back strongly especially with a pro-business government being in power.

However, FDI in the first four months (Jul-Oct) of the current fiscal year in different sectors remained at $283.7 million, up 12.5% compared to $252.1 million recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Though FDI in first four months grew slowly, leading investors, including OICCI members, are hopeful that the present government would better handle issues of governance and energy crisis.

Sectors in the limelight

Aleem also pointed out fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) and financial services as sectors that could attract FDI. Investments are also expected to happen in oil and gas, telecommunication, tobacco, chemicals, pharmaceutical and IT sectors.

“Although these investments are lower than the potential of Pakistan, nevertheless these are a statement of confidence in the Pakistan market.”

According to analysts, one of the most attractive features for foreign investors is the growing middle class of Pakistan.

“Pakistan’s position as the sixth largest nation in terms of population and its 70 million middle class, which is increaseing, is a big factor for all business sectors and specially FMCGs.”

When asked what continues to draw foreign investors’ attention to Pakistani market, he said a lower cost of running business relative to most other countries, good supply of skilled and semi-skilled workforce, fewer regulatory controls, a freer economy than most third-world countries and effective banking regulations are a few strong points that make the country a good place to invest.

Fake Google employee's fight with protesters we wish was true

(Credit: Screenshot by Nick Statt/CNET)

His name is Max Alper and this morning he decided to hop onto Google's Wi-Fi-equipped shuttle bus at 24th Street and Valencia in San Francisco's Mission district, knowing full well that it would be stormed by community activists protesting Silicon Valley's influence on rental prices and the city's pre-tech boom diversity and culture.

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He knew that because the Berkeley resident and union organizer does not live around the corner from the shuttle stop, as he claimed. He doesn't work at Google. Yet he conveniently exited the bus and began deriding the protesters, hitting high notes with "You can't afford it? Then leave" and, "I can pay my rent. Can you pay your rent?"

Naturally, the story went viral after the San Francisco Bay Guardian filmed Alper. It was picked up by Gawker blog Valleywag. There were of course red flags. Neither the Bay Guardian nor Al Jazeera America -- teams from both of which nipped at Alper's heels as he stormed off in apparent nerd rage -- were able to confirm his identity. Former Googlers also noted on Twitter that speaking out in such a manner would have been widely condemned by the company and an easy way to get fired. But he was wearing a pea coat and had nice glasses and so he probably maybe worked at Google, the logic went.

The snark came out in full force and from all angles, myself included. Not only did the story reek of potential Upworthy or BuzzFeed treatment -- "You Won't Believe What This Google Employee Said To Someone Wearing A Reflective Vest" -- but on a deeper level it was emblematic of the backlash against the technology industry. The epicenter is here in San Francisco and the most vocal of voices in the city's Mission district, where rental prices have skyrocketed and a deluge of polished coffee shops and restaurants with patio heaters for their outdoor seating have displaced much of the streets' Hispanic roots and oddity culture that many long-term residents feel is decaying with the influx of wealth.

And when the hoax was discovered, people were more or less unfazed by yet another campaign that successful preyed on our tendency to share before we think. Still, people couldn't whitewash the backlash, and it exists as a testament to rising tensions between the tech industry and its apparent god complex and those feeling its real-world effects reverberate through communities, cities, and even state regions. Here in the other end, we as users -- and the likely more than just a few community activists -- enjoy a company's products and services daily while questioning their pervasiveness and scoffing at the high rises, a stance that retains undeniable hints of envy in our accusations over tech company coddling and its free meals and transportation and limitless Froyo.

Most importantly, that Alper fooled the media and ballooned the protesters' cause is now less important than the fact that we desperately wanted it to be true. That Alper could create a condescending persona with less than a minute and a half of scripted exasperation, and have that immediately resonate with hundreds of people, means that the problems the Google bus protesters were trying to illuminate are not exaggerated. The episode, an act of performance art, merely underlined them.

These days, you can't go far on Valencia either without seeing a display of this community rage. From the "social media is stupid" stickers and the "yuppie go home" graffiti to the funeral-themed murals emblazoned on the walls of once-affordable apartment units, what may have once been snark now seethes with the energy of a class struggle. Don't call them "techies" as that term -- like hipster and yuppie -- is now considered derogatory, flung at Google employees and cafe entrepreneurs alike and even employed by local drag performers in a singing, satirical takedown. Not helping are supposedly, but not really, satirical blog posts from startup CEOs mocking SF women and deriding the city's homeless.

While those blaming San Francisco's rent crisis on tech workers are waging a local war, a larger mission has emerged in online conversation with its sights set on keeping Silicon Valley grounded and levelheaded. Gone are the days when "change the world" meant something more than a go-to source of ridicule over industry hyperbole, and each new startup is now evaluated by the greater public not by how it stacks up against Dropbox or Instagram, but by the silliness of the Uber-like excessive convenience it aims to deliver. The tech industry is so fed up with our thanklessness that some of its more audacious proponents want to up and "exit," or in other words live out the dream of techno-utopias.

These issues are clearly not going away anytime soon, neither will a protest outside of Big Mouth Burgers do anything more than shine a spotlight. However, what Alper did was something special. He lied to us, and in doing so, got us all to start throwing rocks and then look only at each other when the mirror shattered. Mission accomplished

Ronaldo raves Bale..

JOSÉ LUIS CALDERÓN 12/10/2013

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Gareth Bale arrived in Spain and made it very clear that Cristiano Ronaldo was the main man at Real Madrid. Well, the main man is very pleased with him. The Portuguese praised the Welshman’s performances during his first 100 days at the club and says that his arrival has greatly strengthened Real Madrid as it goes in search of silverware.

Ronaldo acknowledges what everyone can see: that Gareth Bale is showing exactly why Real Madrid dropped a small fortune to sign him.

"Gareth is doing an incredible job. He had a tough start, amongst other things because he suffered a small injury which ruled him out of several games. Plus, the pressure at Real Madrid is huge. He's on the right track now and we’re helping him," the Real star said in a statement to Bein Sport.

Cristiano Ronaldo is thrilled with the new partner they have teamed him up with in attack and with whom he appears to link up with perfectly. In addition, whenever the Portuguese has been out injured, the Welsh international has stepped up to the plate and performed admirably.

"The fans love him and he's a fantastic player who will help us win trophies," said the Portuguese. Gareth Bale, with his playing style, his goals and his assists, has earned Cristiano Ronaldo's respect, as well as that of his teammates and the Bernabéu faithful.

The mouse that roared, and launched a PC revolution

A look at the world's first mouse, which Douglas Engelbart and William English invented and which Engelbart introduced to the world 45 years ago today. Click on the image above to see a slideshow about the demonstration.

(Credit: Stanford Research Institute)

Forty-five years ago today, a group of techies sat in a room in San Francisco, eagerly awaiting what would become known to some as "the mother of all demos."

The occasion was the demonstration by Douglas Engelbart, director of Stanford Research Institute's Augmentation Research Center, of, among other things, the world's first computer mouse. Many have since credited that December 9, 1968, presentation with helping to launch the personal-computing revolution.

The demo was actually of a number of projects that Engelbart and his colleagues at SRI were working on. But it's the mouse that won the day, and has resonated in Silicon Valley ever since. Yet, he also showed off game-changing innovations like the first hyperlinks, and the first navigable windows. (To see a slideshow about the demonstration, click on the image above.) Forty-five years later, it's easy to see why the demo's reputation was well-earned.

APTMA to unveil 5-year plan to double exports

The textile industry contributes $13 billion annually to the national exchequer in exports. PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE: Taking the expected Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus as a source of respite for Pakistan’s textile sector, the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) is hoping to convert Pakistan’s current account deficit into a surplus during the next five years.

The textile industry contributes $13 billion annually to the national exchequer in exports and is confident that Pakistan will get the status. To avail maximum benefit, the textile lobby has chalked out a five-year plan, dubbed the “Vision”.

APTMA management will unfold the plan to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is expected to attend the APTMA annual dinner at the Governor House Lahore on December 14.

APTMA central chairman Yasin Siddik, while briefing the media, said that the first focus of the vision would be to double textile exports to $26 billion per annum. The next aim would be tripling cotton production, which currently is at 13.5 million bales, and defeating the energy crisis, and finally to take Pakistan’s trade balance from a deficit to a surplus.

Pakistan textile sector is working at 23% duty differential in Europe due to which the exports numbers remain stagnant in some sections. The clothing and apparel sector is stagnant at $8 billion, however, some growth was witnessed in spinning and weaving segment which are now at $5 billion, Ejaz said.

After the GSP Plus status, Pakistan can enhance exports up to another $13 billion in five years, he added.

This is not the first time that the textile lobby is presenting a ‘vision’. In 2001, it had presented a vision to the then government to double the exports by investing $5 billion in expansion.

From 1947 to 2001, Pakistan’s textile exports reached a mark of only $5 billion, but after the vision was presented, the exports doubled to $10 billion by 2005. After 2005, Pakistani exports were stagnant due to a duty structure of 23% in Europe, whereas other countries, granted GSP Plus status, managed to boost their export revenues, — major example being Bangladesh where current textile exports are around $25 billion.