Briefs

Briefs

‘Pakistan, India key Saarc partners’

By our correspondent

LAHORE: Pakistan and India are major partners of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) and have great responsibility to maintain peace in the region.

These views were expressed by LCCI Senior Vice President Almas Hyder and Vice President Nasir Saeed, while talking to Indian Deputy High Commissioner of India JP Singh at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Friday.

The LCCI senior vice president said that there are many issues prevailing between the two countries, but “we believe that people –to-people contacts can play an effective role in dispelling wrong perceptions about each other”.

These issues sometimes hinder the trade and commercial relations, he said. Saeed emphasised on separating trade with politics and to encourage more people-to-people contacts to improve the deteriorating trade volume between the two countries.

The Pakistani businessmen are keen to strengthen business relations with the Indian counterparts and for that reason; they should be facilitated by the Indian High Commission in Pakistan in terms of provision of timely visas on relaxed terms and conditions.

It should be a matter of concern for the two countries that imports and exports between Pakistan and India are declining, he said. The LCCI vice president said that the private sectors of the two countries need to put in more efforts to further enhance bilateral trade and for that there is a need to innovate the existing ways of making business deals.

TDAP holds food festival in Qatar

By our correspondent

KARACHI: The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) has organised food festival to showcase Pakistani products in Qatari markets, a statement said on Friday.

The purpose of the event was to introduce three premium Pakistani product groups, rice, mangoes and red meat to the Qatari market.

During the festival, importers showed great interest in mangoes, rice and red meat, according to the statement.

The TDAP organised agro food trade delegation to Qatar from July 27-30. On the occasion, the Embassy of Pakistan, Doha arranged Pakistani food festival in Doha, Qatar on July 27, 2016.

The event was attended by diplomats from more than 60 countries, government officials concerned, officials of Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, local importers of food products and chief executives and other managements of big retail companies and outlets such as Lulu Hyper Markets, Al Meera Hyper Marts, Hassad Foods, Widam, Family Food centers etc.

Mohammed Bin Ahmed Tawar Al Kuwari, vice chairman of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce was the chief guest of the occasion, the statement said.

Further, from July 28-29, 2016, Pakistan-Qatar Business Forum (PQBF) organised Pakistan Food Festival in Ezdan Mall, Gharafa, Qatar.  The shopping mall is located in the center of Doha and attracted big crowd of people.

Infinix launches new phone

By our correspondent

KARACHI: Infinix Mobility has officially launched Hot S smartphone and noise cancelling earphones in Pakistan through an event held at a local hotel on Thursday evening.

With the launch of the new smartphone, Infinix has introduced many new features for the first time in the company’s history. The phone is equipped with an 8 MP front shooter, which is capable of taking wide 120 degree selfies as well as offering low light photography. 

The company also listened to the customer feedback and added a fingerprint scanner to protect the data and privacy of the consumers. This feature was the most sought after by the Infinix fans since its launch in Pakistan last year. The Phone offers a 5.2 inch HD display coupled with a 3000 mAH battery.

LG honoured

News Desk

KARACHI: LG Electronics received its third consecutive Intersolar Award for its new innovative NeON™ 2 BiFacial solar module at Intersolar Europe this week in Munich, Germany, a statement said on Friday.

LG first received the award with the Mono X NeON™ in 2014 and again in 2015 for the NeON™ 2. The NeON™ 2 BiFacial is the company’s most efficient premium solar module to-date, it said.

While conventional solar modules limit solar cells to the front panel, the NeON™ 2 BiFacial features transparent solar cells on both the sides. This allows the panel to collect light reflected from the ground and greatly boosts overall efficiency.

The panel’s front side alone is capable of generating 310W and under optimal conditions, the energy gathering capabilities of the rear panel increase power generation by an additional 30 percent.  The total power generated by each panel puts the NeON™ 2 BiFacial in the same range as 400W high generation modules, it added.

Automatic refund mechanism urged

By our correspondent

LAHORE: The All Pakistan Businessmen Forum (APBF) has asked the government to consider automatic refund mechanism which will reduce complaints, ensure transparency and boost exports.

Government should consider automating the refund system which would allay concerns of the business community, and reduce the load on the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), APBF President Ibrahim Qureshi said in his statement issued Friday.

He said that automatic refunds would end delay in payments and trigger exports which were going down for some years due to international recession. The government could install software to process the refund claims and transfer money in the account of the exporter within seven days of export.

Spanish output grows 0.7 percent

MADRID: Spain´s gross domestic product expanded by 0.7 percent between April and June from a quarter earlier, a slight slowdown from the 0.8 percent growth recorded in the first three months of the year, preliminary data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed on Friday.

The reading was in line with economists´ forecasts.

Though INE gave no details of what factors had propelled growth in the second quarter, strong consumer spending has so far helped Spain largely weather a period of political uncertainty.  While the pace of growth slowed, it is still one of the highest in the euro zone.  On an annual basis the economy grew by 3.2 percent, down from 3.4 percent in the previous quarter but slightly above a Reuters poll forecast of 3.1 percent.

Sharp posts smaller Q1 loss

TOKYO: Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp reported a smaller first-quarter loss helped by restructuring and cost cuts, although overall revenue suffered a steep decline.

Sharp said its April-June operating loss was 2.5 billion yen ($24 million) compared with a loss of 28.76 billion yen a year earlier. That was roughly in line with a Thomson Reuters Starmine SmartEstimate of a 2.1 billion yen loss drawn from four analysts.  Revenue fell 32 percent in the quarter. The company has not released an earning forecast for the current business year due to its impending acquisition by Taiwan's Foxconn, known formally as Hon Hai Precision Industry.