FAWAD Khan will not suffer from ADHM

As India and Pakistan hit full throttle on the banning spree, India's Central Board of Film Certification chief Pahlaj Nihalani explains why the ban on Pakistani artistes is unjustifiable.

After the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association (IMPPA) passed a resolution banning Pakistani talent from working in India, Nihalani reportedly said, “To give a visa to any Pakistani is the sole decision of the government, and we as producers and actors, are saying they are not terrorists and that art and culture should never come in between."

Supporting Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan on their decision to work with Pakistani actors, he reasoned that the two had brought Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan on board their films while relations between both countries were good and to ban Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Raees at this point would be unjustifiable.

He added, "These artistes who have worked in these films should not be asked to leave. They have every right to work here."

CPEC an impetus for the SME sector

Increasing economic cooperation with China under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor could help boost growth of small and medium enterprises through joint ventures between businessmen of the two countries, and modernise existing SMEs through a transfer of technology.

Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda) officials believe that the development of the proposed industrial zones along the trade route will offer massive opportunities for investment. Both domestic and Chinese businessmen involved in joint small to medium sized ancillary businesses are expected to emerge after the completion of the corridor project.

A Chinese business delegation recently toured Lahore and met with Smeda officials for exploring the potential for joint ventures in SME-dominant sectors in Pakistan. The delegation comprised of entrepreneurs dealing in international logistics, building materials, high-end clothing production, supply-chain process, furniture, steel structure and the export-import business.

“Without developing the SME sector we cannot have equitable and inclusive economic growth. It is time that we took advantage of the opportunity being offered by CPEC for the development and modernisation of this sector”

“There is a wide scope for joint ventures between Pakistani and Chinese SMEs, especially in the fields of logistics, trucking, warehousing, fisheries, horticulture, minerals, food processing, construction, dairy and livestock, ICT and allied service, light engineering, apparel, and cold storage and supply chain business, etc.

“The corridor offers enormous opportunities for industry-led economic growth in Pakistan if we are able to take advantage of the emerging opportunities,” a senior Smeda official said.

“The cooperation between the two nations will also ensure a transfer of technology that shall help the country’s small to medium entrepreneurs modernise their existing technology to what is required for value addition.”

A manufacturer of surgical instruments from Sialkot believed that China could support the production-based structural transformation of Pakistan’s small and medium industry. “We must try and seek modern technology for the value addition of our products through joint ventures and technical cooperation with our Chinese counterparts.”

Smeda officials argue that Islamabad must develop an effective strategy to attract Chinese investment in joint ventures in the manufacturing industry, especially in the SME sector. “The focus of the strategy should be on creating partnerships and enhancing cooperation in order to develop joint ventures, rather than on competition between the entrepreneurs of the two countries,” the official insisted.

By establishing enterprises, contracting projects and technology transfer, China can support Pakistan in developing its comparatively advantageous industries in the mining, agriculture and manufacturing sectors, he further said.

Smeda has already prepared a long list of potential industrial cooperation projects in the SME sector for the government to formulate a policy on in order to attract Chinese investment. These projects can be initiated at the early harvest stage of the CPEC as “Pakistan’s regional endowments and existing clusters offer immense potential opportunities for Chinese businessmen.”

Government agencies estimate that SMEs constitute around 90pc of the 3.2m private enterprises in the industrial, services and trade sectors in the country, and employ around 70pc of the non-agriculture labour force. These enterprises also contribute over 30pc to GDP and 25pc to the country’s total export earnings. Their share in value-added manufacturing is estimated at 35pc.

In view of the critical importance of SMEs in low-cost job creation and poverty reduction, successive governments have tried in the past to focus on their development, but the sector remains uncompetitive in world markets owing to structural weakness, obsolete technology, lack of access to credit and marketing and management skills, unfriendly business and regulatory environment, and other factors, despite various initiatives both at the federal and provincial levels.

Smeda had formulated the first SME development policy in 2007 to address the issues facing small to medium sized enterprises to enable them to maximise their potential; but its implementation remained weak.

“A large number of our small and medium sized entrepreneurs involved in the manufacturing and production of surgical instruments, sports goods, leather products and apparel, textiles, etc, have long been a part of the global supply chain. But they have neither been able to go into value addition and grow big, nor develop their own brands because of a lack of government support.

Consequently, they continue to work for global brands and their products fetch a very low price in the international market compared with the same products exported by India and other regional countries,” a Surgical instruments manufacturer contended.

A recent conference on SMEs in Karachi called upon the government for preferential treatment and incentives to aid faster development in the SME sector. “Tariff protection, professional training and a technological support-base should be provided to raise the competitiveness of SMEs. Low value-addition and an undocumented economy are also big challenges,” it said in its recommendations for the development of the sector.

“Without developing the SME sector we cannot have equitable and inclusive economic growth. It is time that we took advantage of the opportunity being offered by CPEC for the development and modernisation of this sector,” the Smeda official concluded.

PAKISTAN Stock Exchange says Shangai bourse interested in buying stake

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has received interest from international companies including the Shanghai Stock Exchange to buy a stake, the head of the index said on Monday.

The index has been searching for a strategic investor and in July invited companies to show interest in buying a stake of up to 40 per cent.

The PSX index is a merger of the Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad stock exchanges and was inaugurated earlier this year.

The integration was expected to help reduce market fragmentation and create a strong case for attracting strategic partnerships necessary for providing technological expertise and assistance.

Pemra puts condition on airing Indian contents in pakistan in tit for tat move

ISLAMABAD: The amount of airtime for Indian content in Pakistan will mimic the format India has adopted for the airing of Pakistani content, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) announced Monday.

In the body’s 119th session in the federal capital, it was decided that Pemra will only allow airtime to Indian content if India allows airtime to Pakistani content.

A summary in this regard has been sent to the federal government, Pemra said, adding that the government has also been requested to make airing of the Indian content conditional with that of Pakistan’s content being aired in India.

Pemra said in the light of the recommendations it has sent to the government, policies made during the General (retd) Pervez Musharraf regime will have no legal standing, which will “benefit the Pakistan industry grow”.

The policies made during the Musharraf regime were put into effect by the then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz so only federal government has the powers to revoke them, Pemra said.

It further said that from October 15, the body will take action against airing of all unauthorised content and TV channels in the country.

Last month, Pemra said it would launch a crackdown on the illegal Indian DTH and airing of excessive foreign content by TV channels and cable operators.

“Around three million Indian DTH decoders are being sold in the country. We not only want this sale stopped but will also ask the relevant agencies to trace the money trail to determine the mode of payments made to Indian dealers selling these decoders to Pakistanis,” Pemra chairman Absar Alam had said.

All stakeholders, including cable operators and the Pakistan Broadcasters Association, had been forewarned that steps would be initiated in near future against the airing of excessive foreign content, he said.

Indian arrests six suspected of plotting islamic state attacks

NEW DELHI: Indian police have arrested six people inspired by the militant Islamic State (IS) group suspected of plotting attacks on key figures and public places during the Hindu festival of Diwali, the national counter-terrorism agency said on Monday.

IS has struggled to win over many recruits in India, which is home to the world's third-largest Muslim population.

But over the past year or so, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has found small groups of people in the southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu who have either travelled to Syria to join the militant group or planned attacks inside India.

On Sunday, the NIA picked up six men while they were in a meeting in a hilltop shrine in Kerala and said they were gathering explosives and other material to mount attacks in southern India during Diwali later this month.

“During the searches, incriminating material including electronic devices have been seized from their possession and search of their premises,” the agency said in a statement, calling them members of an “IS-inspired terror module”.

The men were between the ages of 24 and 30, an official at the agency said. Reuters was not in a position to independently confirm the police claims.

Earlier this year, investigators said 12 men, six women and three children went missing from Kerala and were later believed to have joined IS.

PM nawaz chair all parties Conference to discuss indian aggression, LoC

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is presiding over a meeting with the heads of all parliamentary parties here on Monday to discuss ongoing Indian aggression along the Line of Control (LoC) and Indian atrocities in held Kashmir.

The meeting has been convened with the one-point agenda to send a "clear message to the outside world" regarding what the government feels is continued Indian aggression along the LoC as well as Indian atrocities in held Kashmir.