With the signing of the PTA, Pakistan-RI trade relation can reach volume of $2 billion from the current $800 million

Backed by solid political and historical ties, Pakistan and Indonesia will enjoy stronger economic relations in the coming years, with bilateral trade growing to US$2 billion from the current $800 million per year, the Pakistani envoy says, as reported by the Indonesian media, the Jakarta Post.

In an interview Monday with The Jakarta Post, Pakistani Ambassador to Indonesia Sanaullah, who took up his post in January, said current bilateral investment and trade relations did not reflect the long-standing “excellent political relations” between his country and Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

“We don’t have any tension at all in our political relations,” he said.

“In fact, we have strong historical ties stretching from the Sukarno era back in the 50s and 60s. We have so much in common, such as a shared religion, culture and even cuisine that can be used as foundation for our relations.”

A number of Pakistani soldiers even fought in Indonesia’s struggle for independence, Sanaullah added.

He said the shared values were reflected in both countries’ similar stance on international problems, including the Middle East conflict, climate change and terrorism, with solid cooperation exhibited at the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Conference over many issues.

Like Indonesia, Pakistan is a staunch supporter for a two-state solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict, Ambassador Sanaullah said.

“We would like to translate all those commonalities into stronger investment and trade ties,” he said.

“We hope to sign the preferential trade agreement [PTA] within the next three or four months.”

The deal, he went on, would allow both countries to boost their own exports, with Indonesia especially being able to increase its export of crude palm oil (CPO) to Pakistan, while the latter maximized its exports of textiles, carpets, chemicals and leather goods.

“With the signing of the PTA, we can reach bilateral trade volume of $2 billion from the current $800 million,” Sanaullah predicted.

“The agreement is also a first step toward negotiating a broader free trade agreement [FTA].”

The ambassador added some pending issues, including a disagreement on tariffs for certain products, needed to be ironed out to before any such agreement could be signed.

The Indonesian government said late last year it would seek to expedite negotiations on the PTA with Pakistan, with Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu adding the two governments had only a few issues left to sort out.

The ministry has identified these as the tariffs on CPO and kino.

Sanaullah said the urgency for the PTA was evident in the decline in the overall bilateral trade value of Pakistan and Indonesia, from $1 billion in 2007 to $800 million in 2008, because tariff disagreements had discouraged the export of CPO from Indonesia to Pakistan.

The Trade Ministry says Indonesia’s share of the Pakistani CPO market dropped from 50 percent in 2007 to 28 percent in 2008.

The Indonesian Agriculture Ministry says Pakistan has imposed import duties of Rp 9,100 a ton on CPO and its derivatives from Indonesia, and 10 percent less on identical products from Malaysia because of a
trade agreement between the two countries.

Indonesia’s CPO and CPO-based products contribute between $400 million and $450 million to Indonesia’s total exports to Pakistan, the Trade Ministry says.

Pakistan, for its part, says Indonesia’s higher tariffs have disrupted its exports of oranges to the country.

Elsewhere, Sanaullah said more Pakistani businesses were investing in Indonesia.

“Although we don’t have the exact figure, many will be surprised at the level of investment of Pakistani firms here once we come out with the data,” he said.

Sanaullah said he planned to bring together Indonesian and Pakistani businesspeople more frequently to nurture business opportunities.

“I believe that only through more contacts between businesspeople can we expect a higher level of trade and investment,” he said.

Photosource: The Telegraph, UK.

Based on DEİK’s health report, Turkey will be among countries to lead the global health tourism market, eventually by offering affordable prices in health care services.

A recent report presented to Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek by the Foreign Economic Relations Board, or DEİK, says Turkey has a great potential to grow in the health care tourism sector. To actualize that, however, the industry is in need of incentives from the government, mainly concerning a Value Added Tax reduction. If the necessary Value Added Tax, or VAT, incentive is passed for Turkey’s health tourism, then the country could begin earning $8 billion from the industry beginning in 2015, according to a report released by the Foreign Economic Relations Board, or DEİK.

Turkey’s tourism industry, which is not just about the sea, beaches and sun anymore, has started to compete with Far East, said the report.

Based on DEİK’s health report, Turkey, India, Israel and Singapore will start leading the global health tourism market eventually by offering affordable prices in health care services. Turkey currently lures in about 30,000 to 40,000 international patients and slowly but surely is eliminating its competitors. If the industry is offered a VAT reduction, then starting in 2015, some 1 million patients could be lured into the country, bringing in an income of $8 billion.

According to the report, India, Turkey, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan lead the current global health tourism industry. The cheapest country to provide health services depends on the illness. According to the report, the most expensive country is the United States. In the U.S. a by-pass surgery costs about $129,000. The same surgery costs about $11,000 to $15,000 in Turkey. The country that attaches the lowest price tag to the aforementioned surgery is India with $8,666. Liposuction costs about $3,333 in Turkey while the same surgery costs only $1,200 in Thailand, $2,500 in India and $3,000 in Singapore.

Surgery with the gamma knife, a device used to treat brain tumors with a high dose of radiation therapy and the most accepted and widely used radiosurgery treatment, costs $8,676 in Turkey. The price tag for gamma knife treatment is $40,000 in the U.S. while it costs $25,000 in the United Kingdom and $20,000 in Germany. Spine surgery costs $7,125 in Turkey while it costs $12,000 in India, $9,000 in Singapore, $7,000 in Thailand and $5,900 in Taiwan.

The report was presented to Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek by DEİK and highlighted the importance of providing incentives for the industry in order to help Turkey grab a valuable spot in the international health tourism market. Healthcare services help lure in an influx of foreign currency to the country. Therefore, tax returns should be distributed for the purchase of tools used within the industry as well as for all health services, according to the report. If health tourism is exempt from taxes, that would help eliminate short term losses, and in the long run it would help the country gain.

There is a revival in health tourism activities in Turkey’s southeastern cities, according to Dr. Azmi Ofluoğlu, board chairman of the Universal Hospitals Group. Wealthy Middle Easterners, who might face trouble getting visas for Western countries, began choosing Turkey as a health care services destination, he said. Investors need to look at the action in the southeast and figure out ways to benefit from the situation, Ofluoğlu added.

News and photosource: Hurriyet Daily News/Referans

The private sector credit growth rose to 15.42 percent in October from 13.65 per cent in September 2009

The upward trend in the disbursement of private sector credit continued in January 2010, indicating a gradual improvement in the overall business activities, as reported by AHN Media on Monday.

The rise in private sector credit was 19.25 percent in January this year from 19.15 percent in December 2009, according to the central bank statistics.

“The credit flow to private sector increased following rise in financing small and medium enterprises (SME), agriculture and trade sectors,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, told AHN in Dhaka.

Credit flowing to the private sector continued to trend up in October last year after a month of declining growth. The private sector credit growth rose to 15.42 percent in October from 13.65 per cent in September 2009, the lowest in nearly last two years.

Officials also said trade financing for the import of food grains particularly wheat and milk powder increased because of prices of the items in the global market.

“The major economics in the world have been recovering from the global financial criers with rising trend of prices of commodities in the international market that would also be pushed in private sector credit flow in the country,” the official added.

Private sector credit growth rose to 16.73 percent in November from 15.42 percent in October 2009, the BB’s data showed.

The credit flow to the private sector rose to US$5.75 billion (BDT 398.01 billion) in January from $5.16 billion (BDT 357.74 billion) in the same period of the previous calendar year.

“We expect that the upward trend of private sector credit flow will continue in the near future if the power and gas supply situation improves,” a senior official of a leading private commercial bank told AHN in the capital, Dhaka.

News Source: AHN http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7018178474#ixzz0j03zzR2m

D-8 has a strong potential in fishery sector. However, fish farming is facing technical and technological challenges, and that could be surmounted via mutual cooperation among the member countries.

Malaysia’s marine industry is projected to continue registering significant growth in the coming years, despite a challenging market environment following the emergence of new competitors, both regionally and globally.

Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said to tackle these challenges,all parties need to work closely together for its betterment and development.

“It is important for Malaysian companies to be fully aware of the challenges and maximise opportunities, financial facilities, and incentives offered by the government.

“They need to also be more aggresive and proactive to ensure competitiveness,” added Mukhriz. He said this in his speech at the National Marine Industries Forum 2010 here today.

Mukhriz highlighted that industry players also need to keep abreast of global developments, characterised by the adopton of best practices in manufacturing and technological advancements.

At a press conference later, he said the private sector should play a major role in the development of the industry, by focusing on a few niche markets that they can do extremely well in.

“It’s a heavy industry and very wide. You could actually pick up a few niche markets to focus on as the pie is big enough for everyone to share.

“Perhaps, we could do it by looking at certain niche markets to excel it, rather than compete with other countries, already strong in their respective areas,” he explained.

With 10 major ports having been established in the country, Mukhriz said there is room for industry players to grow, by optimising usage.

In 2008, he said container traffic at these major ports recorded 15.17 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

“Based on the port capacity, we still have under-utilised or unutilised space. It’s good, as there is a room for us to grow the industry,” he noted.

The industry, he said also need to address human capital issues by providing more graduates, qualified and skilled, in the required disciplines within it.

“Other than technology problems, we also have issues with skilled labour, including a lack of engineers. There are still a lot of areas to be addressed within the industry and this forum is being held to re-visit where we are,” he said.

The one-day forum was organised jointly by the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology, Association of Marine Industries of Malaysia, Maritime Institute of Malaysia, Malaysian Joint Branch of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects and The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology to discuss issues and challenges faced by the industry.

It atracted more than 200 foreign and local participants, who gave their opinions and input into moving forward the industry.

Malaysia is currrently ranked 18th among the 35 most important maritime countries and territories.

D-8 has a strong potential in fishery sector. However, fish farming is facing technical and technological challenges that could be surmounted via mutual cooperation among the member countries. The D8 countries have the technical and technological potentials that are required for the development of this sector. Cooperation could include exchange of experience in freshwater or marine fish farming.

The data of fish production of D-8 countries can be summarized in the following table:

D-8 is scheduled to hold the D-8 Working Group on Marine Affairs and Fisheries in Cairo, Egypt, on 6-8 April 2010. Related documents concerning the administrative arrangements, agenda programs, and other files can be downloaded in the Member Download Area of this website. Please kindly contact your respective member country’s D-8 Representative if you need the credentials to log in.

News source: BERNAMA, D-8 Media.

D-8 Secretariat extends its highest congratulations for Pakistan on its 70th Pakistan Day, and believes that the country will continue to flourish within D-8 Organization

Pakistan is celebrating its 70th ‘Pakistan Day’ with national fervor today (Tuesday) to commemorate the Lahore Resolution that was passed on March 23, 1940 in Lahore by the Muslim League under the leadership of the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

People across the country offered special prayers for the prosperity, integrity and unity of the country.

The government has announced a public holiday on Tuesday and all government offices, educational institutions are closed.

A 31-guns salute at sunrise at the garrison city of Rawalpindi and 21-guns salute at all the Provincial Capitals were held to mark the day.

Pakistani Flag was hoisted on principal public and private buildings throughout the country.

Round table talks, cultural shows, symposia were held in major cities and towns to highlight the importance of the day.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in his message to the nation on the Pakistan Day stressed the resolve not to permit any dictator to usurp the basic rights of the people and also not to allow them to trample on the democratic aspirations of the nation.

Strict security measures have been taken to maintain law and order across the country as police have been directed to provide security to rallies and activities organized to mark the Pakistan Day.

Every year the day is celebrated with great national enthusiasm to mark the passing of historic resolution by the Muslim League under the chairmanship of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, to create separate homeland Pakistan for the Muslim on March 23, 1940.

Seven years after the adoption of the resolution, Pakistan came into being on Aug. 14, 1947.

D-8 Secretariat extends its highest congratulations for Pakistan on this special occasion, and believes that the country will flourish as its cooperation within the framework of D-8 Organization developed to higher ground with the supports of all member states.

The first meeting of industry ministers of D-8 had been successfully concluded in Tehran on March 2, 2010. The event is aimed to utilize capacities in order to increase the influence of D8 countries in global industry.

The first meeting of industry ministers of developing eight countries (D-8) had been successfully concluded in Tehran on March 2, 2010.

The series of meetings, which was attended by industry minister, relevant high-level authorities, as well as hundreds of private sector participants from the eight member countries, marked the rise of D-8 collaboration in industrial cooperation. In total there were 11 specialized panels including car manufacturing, textiles, small industries, steel, cement, petrochemicals, energy, IT, foodstuff, transfer of technology and standards that was held during the entire session.

“The event is aimed to utilize capacities in order to increase the influence of D8 countries in global industry,” the Iranian Mines Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian said during the opening ceremony.

In his opening speech, the D-8 Secretary General, who is also the cabinet secretary of the Government of Indonesia, Dipo Alam, said that the D-8’s 4.17% rate of the export share from total world export undoubtedly shows that D-8 countries can go rapidly move toward development cooperating with each other and have the potential to expect a minimum share of 10% of the world economy.

“In 2006 trade between our member states stood at USD 35 billion, but it is currently around USD 68 billion,” said Alam. He further revealed that transactions between the D-8 countries account for 3.3 per cent of world trade, adding that the figure is projected to reach 10-15 per cent in the next few years.

Meanwhile Iran has proposed creating an atlas of D-8 capacities. In line with this proposal, Iranian industry minister Ali-Akhbar Mehrabian urged the organisation to create a workgroup to identify and prepare the atlas to show the capabilities and needs of D-8 members.

He also recommended establishing common brands among the members, building a joint car for use in all Islamic countries, introducing the countries’ private sectors to one another and making working towards easing monetary and banking relations between the states.

Dipo Alam said that Iran has vowed to allocate 15 million euros to create an investment fund for the organisation. Alam said in Tehran on Sunday that Iran is the first country to make such a commitment.

After the meeting, the Turkish Industry & Trade Minister Nihat Ergun and Iranian Minister of Industries & Mining Ali Akbar Mehrabian vowed to boost their industrial cooperation by signing the memorandum of understanding that aimed to increase industrial and commercial relations between the two countries.

“With this memorandum, we will have a better and more cooperation between small and medium scale enterprises and standards agencies; and we will also cooperate in transfer of technology,” Ergun said during the signature ceremony. Ergun said Turkey and Iran also agreed to establish a joint free industrial zone at the border.

Turkish and Iranian governments were determined to strengthen and diversify their relations, Ergun said.

Also speaking during the ceremony, Mehrabian said he believed that Turkish and Iranian businessmen would invest in the region, and the competitive power of Turkey and Iran would increase thanks to their potential. The trade volume between Turkey and Iran was over 10 billion USD in 2009.

Alongside with the meeting, Dipo Alam was also welcomed by the Iranian Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, and the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who called on D-8 to strive to bring the level of the group up to other global groups.

The President expressed his gratitude for the efforts made during the term of Alam, describing them as fruitful and constructive. “I hope the D8 makes rapid progress and achieves higher levels more than ever.”

Ahmadinejad also underscored that Iran is determined to boost its bilateral and multilateral ties and cooperation with other member states.

“Iran and Indonesia are two important counties at the two ends of Asia, whose cooperation is not only in the best interest of the two nations, but it will be in favor of the D8, Asia and the whole humanity,” Ahmadinejad said.

Dipo Alam, for his part, regarded Iran’s role in the D8 as crucial and said, ‘Iran is an important member state of the group I hope to see the progress of the D8 through more cooperation among its members.”

During the meeting Alam submitted Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s message to his Iranian counterpart. He expressed his country’s readiness for enhancing economic ties between the two countries as well as increasing joint ventures.

Participants of the D-8 Industry Ministers’ Meeting released a Tehran Declaration at the end of their meeting.

The declaration expresses the determination of the member countries to achieve common goals, and to take necessary steps to increase industrial and market opportunities and financial resources and boost technological cooperation.

The second D-8 Ministerial Meeting on Industry will take place in Turkey in 2011.