Trilateral summit to be held next week in Islamabad
The third trilateral will discuss the regional security situation.
President Asif Ali Zardari‚ Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Iranian President Mahmood Ahmadinejad will attend the summit and discuss the host of issues pertaining to regional peace‚ security and stability.
At the weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday‚ Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit said it is important for the three sides to get together and discuss the important issues faced by the region including the transnational organized crimes.
Responding to a question about the US pressure on Islamabad for pulling out of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project‚ the foreign office spokesman said there is no change and shift in our policy on the gas pipeline project. He said Pakistan is committed to the completion of the gas pipeline project by 2014. This project‚ he said‚ is important for our economy and meets the energy deficit.
Abdul Basit said during the visit of Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to Moscow‚ Russia has expressed its interest in financing different energy related projects including CASA 1000 and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India TAPI gas pipeline project. He said Pakistan would also welcome Russia s or any other country s investment in important Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project.
When asked about the US-Taliban talks in Qatar‚ Abdul Basit said Pakistan has been kept informed of these talks through the diplomatic channels. He said as far as the visit of Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani to Qatar is concerned‚ it was purely a bilateral visit aimed at further strengthening relationship in different fields.
There was no meeting of the Prime Minister and the Taliban in Qatar. He said during talks with the Qatari leadership‚ Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani discussed the regional situation including the Afghan issue.
Chinas inflation rate hits 4.5 percent in January
China s annual inflation rate hit 4.5 percent in January, the highest level in three months, data showed Thursday, after consumers splashed out on food and gifts over the Lunar New Year holiday.
The country s consumer price index, a key gauge of inflation, was higher than the 4.1 percent in December and ended five straight months of easing price pressures caused by government restrictions on lending and property purchases.
Analysts said the holiday, also known as the Spring Festival, was unusually early this year and had distorted the monthly data.
Retail spending typically soars during the week-long festival, the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar, as consumers ramp up spending on food, wine and gifts for family and friends.
Before January, inflation had eased for five months in a row after hitting a more than three-year high of 6.5 percent in July and analysts said the downward trend would likely resume in February as the economy continued to slow.
“It was inevitable that we would see some impact of the Lunar New Year holidays, which were in January this year but February last year, but it seems that this impact was bigger than expected,” said Brian Jackson, a senior analyst at Royal Bank of Canada in Hong Kong.
Analysts had expected inflation to rise 4.1 percent, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey.
The market barely reacted to the data, with the Shanghai Composite Index up 0.37 points, or 0.02 percent, at 2,347.90 in late morning trade.
The rebound in inflation was driven by food prices, which soared 10.5 percent year-on-year in January compared with 9.1 percent in December, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.
The producer price index, which measures the cost of goods at the farm and factory gate, rose an anaemic 0.7 percent in January compared with 1.7 percent in December, the statement said.
Bank of America-Merrill Lynch economist Lu Ting said the data was “significantly distorted” by the holiday “so investors definitely should not read too much into the inflation”.
There is mounting evidence that China s growth is slowing as the ongoing debt crisis in Europe and weakness in the United States hurts demand for Chinese exports, a key driver of the world s second-largest economy.
The International Monetary Fund this week warned that an escalation of Europe s fiscal woes could slash China s economic growth by half this year, and it urged Beijing to prepare stimulus measures in response.
But Chinese leaders have been very cautious about opening the credit valves for fear of reigniting inflation, which has the historic potential to trigger social unrest in the country of more than 1.3 billion people.
Late last year the central bank eased lending restrictions on banks and analysts expect similar moves in the coming months as authorities try to spur economic activity and prevent a damaging collapse in the property market.
Policymakers are also easing taxes and improving funding channels for small and medium-sized businesses which are huge employers but are often shunned by the major banks.
“There remains plenty of downward momentum in China, despite a moderation in the slowdown,” said Alistair Thornton, a Beijing-based analyst for IHS Global Insight.
“The property market remains in the throes of a correction, which is dragging down investment spending and spreading deflationary pressure (and) the eurozone will act as a drag on export growth this year.”
Pakistan eyes political solution to Afghan problem: Hina
Addressing a joint news conference in Moscow after a meeting with her Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said that Pakistan wants to foster strong relations with Russia in different fields.
She said there is an intensive collaborative road map for cooperation and inter actions between the two countries. She said we are looking forward for the energy group to be meeting within the first half of this year.
The Foreign Minister described her meeting as very good and said it would give way to have clarity in the inter actions and institutional framework that we have been able to develop. Hina said that Pakistan takes pride in developing good relations with Russian.
She said Pakistan has been working to find solution to Afghanistan s problems having Afghan owned‚ Afghan led dialogue and what the Afghan people decide.
The Foreign Minister said Pakistan will welcome Russian investment in the Pakistan Steel Mills.
Yahoo chairman stepping down
Bostock, in a letter to shareholders, also said Yahoo was in “active discussions” with its partners in Asia on restructuring its holdings in the Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan.
Bostock said he had decided not to stand for re-election at Yahoo s next shareholders meeting, along with board members Vyomesh Joshi, Arthur Kern and Gary Wilson.
He said the board elected two independent directors on Tuesday: Alfred Amoroso, former president and chief executive of Rovi Corp., and Maynard Webb, a former chief operating officer at eBay.
Bostock said a strategic review of Yahoo has made “significant progress” and has included “a wide range of discussions with potential partners.
“We have engaged with potential investors and reviewed proposals concerning an equity investment in the company, although at this time there have not been any proposals which have been deemed by the committee to be attractive to our shareholders,” he said.
“We are also in active discussions with our partners in Asia regarding the possibility of restructuring our holdings in Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan,” Bostock said.
“While we continue to devote significant resources to these discussions, we are not in a position at this time to provide further detail or to provide assurance that any transaction will be achieved,” he said.
SC issues interim order in Reko Diq case
Three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard the Reko Diq case.
The petitioner, Raza Kazim, informed the court that one party has taken the case to International Court of Arbitration (ICA) and “we want apex court to resolve this matter”.
Chief Justice, in his remarks, said whether it would be acceptable for all parties if the SC issues interim order against taking the matter to the ICA.
On this, counsel for Tethyan Company, Khalid Anwar said that TCCP would resist such order as Pakistan was bound to abide by international laws.
Anwar said that international court had fined a country when its one court issued stay order against the ICA.
Why the other parties of the case want to push Pakistan into this litigation, Anwar asked. Who does not know who is funding the petitioners of the case against issuance of mining license to Tethyan Company, he asked.
The Supreme Court, while issuing the interim order, directed the federal and the Balochistan governments to submit request to International Court of Arbitration for deferring appointment of the mediator.
It is said in the order that the Balochistan government will submit this application in International Centre for Investment Disputes and it would be requested that mediator’s appointment may remain deferred till such time the SC could decide the case.
The hearing of the case has been adjourned for two weeks.
Indian revises growth down to below 7pc
India s government on Tuesday revised down its economic growth forecast for the current fiscal year to below 7.0 percent, reflecting weakness in Asia s third-largest economy.
The Indian economy is seen expanding by 6.9 percent in the year to March, below the 7.25-7.75 percent range given by the government in its December forecast, new data from the statistics ministry showed.
Indian companies, particularly in the manufacturing sector, have suffered from 13 interest rate rises since March 2010 designed to tame inflation that was running at near double-digits.
The government expects manufacturing output to grow 3.9 percent this fiscal year compared with a 7.6-percent increase a year earlier. Farm output is expected to rise 2.5 percent, compared with 7.0 percent.
As well as high borrowing costs, policy paralysis in the government and uncertainty caused by the eurozone debt crisis have also dampened investment in the country of 1.2 billion people.
Ratings agency Standard & Poor s warned on Monday that India s prized investment-grade credit rating was under pressure due to weak government action, slower economic growth, stubborn inflation and growing public debt.
Qatar to give 500mcf gas per day to Pakistan
Pakistan and Qatar on Monday have signed agreements to collaborate in multiple areas mainly import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the Gulf state and cooperation between the two governments on security.
Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani witnessed the signing ceremony of two Agreements and four Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) as the representatives of Pakistan and Qatar s respective ministries inked the documents, at the Amiri Diwan here.
Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain and Qatar s minister for energy Dr Muhammad bin Saleh Al Saada signed the MoU on import of LNG.
Pakistan is interested in importing 500 million cubic feet per day of LNG from Qatar that produces 77 million tonnes per annum of LNG. The imported LNG will be initially provided to the power houses in the country to generate 2,500 mega watt of electricity.
The Qatar s minister for energy is visiting Pakistan this month to hold talks with the respective ministers to evolve the mechanism of undertaking investment in various sectors which according to the Qatari Prime Minister could go upto five billion dollars.
The MoU on security cooperation between the Interior ministries of Pakistan and Qatar was signed by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Qatar s minister of state for Interior. Both also inked an agreement on cooperation in legal field between the two governments.
The agreement in the field of Auqaf and Islamic Affairs was signed by Minister for Professional and Technical Training Riaz Pirzada.
The two countries signed an MoU between Pakistan s Ministry of Water and Power and Qatar s Ministry of Energy for cooperation in hydropower development.
Chairman Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Shakil Durrani and Qatar s energy minister Muhammad Al Saleh Al Saada signed the document.
A bilateral agreement was signed on Mutual Administrative Assistance for the Proper Application of Customs Law and Repression, Investigation and Enforcement of Customs Offenses between the governments of Pakistan and Qatar.
Pakistan s ambassador to Qatar Muhammad Sarfraz Ahmed Khanzada signed the document. Both also signed an MoUto cooperate in the field of organizing exhibitions between the two countries. –APP
Panasonic reports record $10 billion annual loss
Japan s Panasonic Corp forecast a record annual net loss of $10.2 billion on Friday, joining beleaguered rivals Sony and Sharp in a sea of red ink as they struggle to fix their broken TV businesses and overcome criticism that they have lost their way.
Panasonic said it was headed for a loss of 780 billion yen ($10.24 billion) for the year to March, dwarfing expectations for a loss of around $6.2 billion. The loss was almost entirely due to big restructuring charges and writedowns, including to its Sanyo Electric unit.
Its grim outlook follows loss forecasts at Sony and Sharp Corp – almost $17 billion combined for the three Japanese electronics firms – highlighting the impact of fierce competition from foreign rivals such as South Korea s Samsung Electronics, weak demand and a strong yen.
Panasonic, which is in the process of shedding 17,000 jobs by end-March, also missed third-quarter market forecasts, diving to a loss of 197.6 billion yen from a profit a year earlier.
With TVs becoming smart – linked to other devices like tablets and smartphones – an inability to win in the TV market risks hobbling sales across their consumer electronics line-up.
“They don t seem like a company that s progressing towards a particular goal,” said Yuuki Sakurai, CEO and president of Fukoku Capital, which managed assets worth $7.6 billion as of last March. “What exactly is this company good at? What does it want to do? They don t have answers to these questions.”
Makoto Kikuchi, CEO of Myojo Asset Management in Tokyo, noted Panasonic, Sharp and Sony all have structural issues, and need to come to grips with problems in their TV businesses.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Panasonic President Fumio Ohtsubo gave no indication he planned to ditch the TV business.
“I don t think it s a business that has lost its growth potential,” he said, adding Panasonic wanted to “develop TV in a different manner” by exploring growth in sales to businesses rather than direct to consumers.
The near-term outlook for better TV sales is grim.
By 2015, flat panel industry research company DisplaySearch expects annual global sales of liquid crystal TVs to contract by 8 percent to $92 billion. Even worse, plasma sets, a market that Panasonic dominates, will shrink 38 percent to $7 billion.
If Panasonic s market share “keeps shrinking by 10 percent or so they may need to prepare some more restructuring,” said Shiro Mikoshiba, analyst at Nomura Holdings in Tokyo.
Moody s Investors Service downgraded the debt ratings of Panasonic and Sony last month and retained a negative outlook for both, citing their continued losses on TVs.
It s not only the TV unit, however, that poses a risk to profits and is keeping investors away from Panasonic shares, say analysts.
Panasonic shares initially fell on Friday, extending a slide to their lowest in more than 30 years, but later rallied to close 1.2 percent higher ahead of the quarterly results.
“One silver lining is that there is investment being made for the future,” said Hiroyuki Fukunaga, CEO of Investrust.
“You could take the added restructuring costs as a serious move by the company to reform and improve its business. You could look at this as the bottom, to show all the losses and then move aggressively towards the next quarter,” he said.
Sony on Thursday pressed its reset button by announcing that Kazuo Hirai will succeed Howard Stringer as CEO in April, sparking an 8 percent surge in its share price on Friday, its biggest one-day percentage gain in almost a year.
Ohtsubo, who like Stringer at Sony, has called the shots at Panasonic for the past six years, has so far shown no intent to step aside.
“Its last record net loss in 2001/02 was because of the impact of a sudden slump in PCs after the IT bubble burst, but there was hope then for growth in flat-screen TVs,” said Hideyuki Suzuki, general manager investment research at SBI Securities.
“This time, and not just for Panasonic, it doesn t feel like they ve got rid of all the rot.”
SANYO DRAG
Buying Sanyo was part of a strategy to focus Panasonic more on business-to-business markets such as car parts and green technologies, rather than selling to more fickle retail consumers.
Panasonic makes everything from refrigerators and bicycle pumps to fax machines, light bulbs and nose hair trimmers. Its most profitable business currently is white goods, including fridges and washing machines.
“We decided to purchase (Sanyo) in the summer of 2008 and … the competition (environment) has changed since then and the yen has strengthened very much,” said Panasonic Managing Director Makoto Uenoyama.
Sanyo had a quarterly operating loss of more than 20 billion yen.
Panasonic, which trimmed its forecast for the number of flat-screen TVs it will sell, does expect to make an operating profit for the year, though this is now seen at just 30 billion yen, down from a previous 130 billion yen.
Last year, Panasonic had an operating profit, which excludes one off items, of 305 billion yen.
UN fails to record Syria toll
The UN said it cannot keep track of the death toll in Syria s months-long unrest that has already cost more than 5,400 lives, as government forces targeted the protest hub of Hama with a major assault.
The admission came as European and Arab nations worked on a UN Security Council resolution condemning President Bashar al-Assad s government for its continuing deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay gave a toll of more than 5,000 dead when she spoke to the UN Security Council in early December, but has not updated it.
Under secretary general B. Lynn Pascoe told the council on January 10 that at least 400 people had been killed since Arab League monitors arrived in Syria on December 26.
After meeting Security Council ambassadors again, Pillay said the toll had risen but added: “We are experiencing difficulties because of the fragmentation on the ground.”
“Some areas are totally closed such as parts of Homs, so we are unable to update that figure but in my view 5,000 and more is a huge figure and should really shock the international community into taking action,” she told reporters.
Russia said on Wednesday it would consider “constructive proposals” to end the bloodshed in Syria but opposed the use of force or sanctions.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said any UN Security Council resolution backed by Moscow “must firmly record that it cannot be used or interpreted to justify anyone s outside military intervention in the Syria crisis.”
Russia and China both blocked a previous Western attempt to have the Security Council formally condemn Assad s crackdown and impose stiff sanctions if he refuses to enter direct talks.
According to diplomats at the United Nations, European and Arab nations are currently hammering out a Security Council draft resolution condemning the crackdown.
They are said to want a vote early next week on a resolution that also hints at sanctions.
A first draft of the new resolution, obtained by AFP, notes Arab League sanctions ordered against Syria and “encourages all states to adopt similar steps and fully to cooperate with the League of Arab States in the implementation of its measures.”
On the ground, Syrian security forces continued their campaign against the central city of Hama, long a hotbed of resistance against Assad s rule.
“The Syrian army is bombarding Hama with heavy weapons, using rocket-propelled grenades,” said a statement on Wednesday from the Local Coordination Committees, which organises anti-regime protests on the ground.
Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the authorities, said the military had launched an offensive aimed at retaking several districts in Hama that were controlled by insurgents.
“The competent authorities have decided to resolve the matter in a definitive manner in order to relieve the city of armed militias,” it said.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross has demanded a probe into Wednesday s murder of top aid worker Abdelrazak Jbeiro in the northwestern province of Idlib.
It said Jbeiro, the Syrian Red Crescent s secretary general and president for Idlib, was shot dead near Khan Sheikun on the Halab-Damascus highway.
The Red Cross said the Syrian Arab Red Crescent president, AbdulRahman al-Attar, had “officially requested the Syrian authorities to launch an investigation into the death of Dr Jbeiro.”
On the economic front, Canada on Wednesday announced new sanctions against four banks, three oil companies and 22 people linked with the Assad regime — Ottawa s fifth round of sanctions against Syria since May.
“We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to isolate this reprehensible regime,” Foreign Minister John Baird said in a statement.
“Assad and those supporting him must get the message that peace-loving nations of the world are working together to end the regime s oppressive rule,” he added.
Canada has already banned imports from Syria and new investment there, and imposed an assets freeze prohibiting economic dealings with individuals and entities associated with the Assad regime.
Nawaz demands ban on political parties militant wings
He said there were great hopes after the 2008 elections which could not be realized. The government did not fulfill any of its promises.
The institutions should be made healthy before their privatization, he added. He vowed that he will take into consideration the proposals of Karachi business community. He informed he has formed a very competent team of economists. He reminded his government restored peace in Karachi.
