United States Consul General in Lahore William Makaneole visited the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI).
President SCCI Mian Imran Akbar, Senior Vice President (SVP) Sheikh Zohaib Rafique Sethi and Vice President (VP) Qasim Malik warmly welcomed the US consul general.
Speaking on the occasion, the SCCI President said the US was the top trading partner of Pakistan and the business community of Sialkot remained committed to strengthening the existing bilateral trade relations which in trading figures had a major share in the total external trade of the country.
He proposed that effective coordination should be established between SCCI and US Consulate’s economic team to work on the prospects of exchanging trade delegations, exhibitions and finding common grounds for collaboration.
US Consul General Lahore William Makaneole expressed gratitude over the warm welcome and assured his full support and assistance in creating business-to-business linkages to promote bilateral trade between the US and Pakistan. Makaneole said that joint efforts would be made to enhance the role of women entrepreneurs in the economic development of Pakistan. — ERMD

Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved Rs747.539 million Technical Supplementary Grant (TSG) for undertaking the supply of gas to 85 villages/localities in the current fiscal year.
Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin presided over the moot called on a proposal of the Ministry of Energy.
The effort is aimed at supplying gas to localities and villages located within a radius of 5 kilometers of gas-producing fields.
The committee accorded approval of TSG in favor of the Petroleum Division for further releasing of funds to the SSGCL to undertake gas supply in localities during the ongoing fiscal year.
In 2020, ECC had approved a Supplementary Grant of Rs1 billion in favor of the SSGCL to undertake the Phase-I of the project during the financial year 2020-21.
The Finance Division had released Rs515.255 million to the SSGCL which undertook gasification of 75 villages during the fiscal year 2021.
The committee was informed of the requirement of Rs747 539 million for SSGCL during the current fiscal year.
The Petroleum Division had been advised to approach Cabinet Division to seek funds from the portfolio of the Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Program (SAP).
Sindh High Court (SHC) had again taken up the case of gasification of villages and localities within the radius of 5km of gas fields in Sindh province.
The court had also asked Secretary Petroleum and Secretary Finance for appearing physically in the court as they had failed to respond to the show-cause notices serving upon them in 2020.
The ECC was informed about the directives of the Supreme Court of 2013 as well as the CCI decision of 2017. — ERMD

Prof. Tahir Mahmood Chaudhry, President and CEO Pakistan Institute of Entrepreneurship and CEO Falcon Engineering inaugurated, The student chapter of American Chemical Society at Quaid e Awam University of Engineering, Science & Technology, Nawabshah.
Connecting with the event, the University organized a two-day event, themed, Sindh Chemical/Chemistry Festival 21, on 8 & 9 March 2022. Prof. Tahir emphasized the importance of STEM education, research in Basic Sciences, and its impact on society, Industry, and Governance. Dean Engineering, Prof. Dr. Noor Ahmed, Presented the traditional Sindhi souvenir AJRAK to the chief guest Prof. Tahir Mahmood Chaudhry.
In the event students and faculty members from 10 different universities from across Sindh participated with their posters and projects and also, school pupils from 10 different schools attended the event and observed the science experiments.
The purpose of the event was to grow the interest of school pupils in science, particularly, chemistry and chemical engineering by live demonstrations of unique and fun chemistry experiments.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the event, the vice chancellor of Quaid e Awam University of Engineering Science & Technology, Prof. Dr. Saleem Raza Samoo viewed that the event was a healthy activity not only for school pupils but for our university students as well because it helps in polishing their skills and showcasing their talent. The vice chancellor appreciated the participants and winners and distribution awards to the winners of the poster and project competition. The vice chancellor further commented that he holds student cause closely and the university is making all efforts for the betterment of its students and in this direction, supports all co-curricular activities. — PR

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on CPEC Affairs Khalid Mansoor has said that most of the Chinese firms expressed their deep interest in investing in Pakistan during Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent two-day historic visit to Beijing.
Khalid Mansoor said in a press conference that the second phase of CPEC involved multi-billion dollar investments in the country.
“PM Imran Khan held around 20 back-to-back meetings with representatives of around 500 companies to help bring investment into the country,” he said.
He said that 65% population of Pakistan was under 40 years of age and Pakistan had a skilled labour force.
The SAPM said the CPEC Authority provided the one-window facility to the Chinese investors adding that if their issues still remain unresolved, then PM house was there to address the issues.
He said that under Phase-2, Chinese companies would support in setting up Steel and Metal Recycling Plant in Gwadar within three years, which would produce metals worth $4.5 billion for exports besides creating 40000 jobs.
He said that Chinese companies would also help develop agriculture of the country on modern lines to enhance per acre yield and seed quality.
He said a Chinese company would invest in building LNG storage at Karachi port whereas a factory for value-added products would be set up on Lahore-Kasur road in the textile sector.
Mansoor said that another Chinese company Royal Guru was interested to invest $50 million in the auto sector of the country.
Chinese companies want to invest $200 million in making medical devices whereas an investment of $2 billion by the Chinese companies would be made for laying optical fibre.
He said both the countries China and Pakistan had agreed to move forward with the second phase of CPEC.
“During the Phase-I of CPEC, out of $53 billion investments of $25 billion were materialised whereas $28 billion were under consideration, he said, adding that “fresh steps were being taken for the rehabilitation of industries and industrial development in Pakistan.”
The SAPM informed journalists that ECC had approved refunds worth Rs100 billion to CPEC IPPs, out of which Rs50 billion had already been paid while the remaining Rs50 billion would be paid soon. – Courtesy APP

Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has approved the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project worth Rs273.071 billion and referred it to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for further consideration.
CDWP moot that was chaired by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Jahanzeb was attended by the officials of Railways, representatives of the provincial government and other stakeholders.
As per briefing given by Secretary Railway to the committee, the 43-kilometer dual track for Urban Rail Mass Transit System would be constructed in three years on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis.
The objective of the project is to provide reliable, safe, and eco-friendly public transport to the metropolitan city of Karachi.
Secretary Railway said: the project is expected to serve a daily ridership of 4,57,000, projected to soar to one million a day by the end of the 33-years concession period.
“KCR will deploy the use of an electric train that will be operational round the week,” the secretary said. Under the plan, 30 stations would be constructed along the corridor covering the most densely populated areas of Karachi.
KCR commences from Karachi city station and moves along the mainline on Drigh Road Station, goes across Shahrah-e- Faisal, and enters into Gulistan-e-Johar, and Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
The alignment passes through the older residential areas of North Nazimabad, Nazimabad leading to the SITE area and further to the Port, and then reaches back to Karachi City Station.
The development of KCR as a modern urban mass transit system will greatly improve the existing public transport facilities in Karachi, fallen short to meet the incremental demand over the last few decades due to the non-availability of modern mass transit facilities and decline in the supply of large buses, while the city continues to expand. ERMD