September 25, 2003	Thursday	Rajab 27, 1424

KARACHI, Sept 24: Finance Minister, Shaukat Aziz has said that Pakistan had potential of offering much higher returns on investment, than most other destinations. He was speaking as a keynote speaker at the Euromoney Breakfast panel, hosted by the Karachi Stock Exchange at Dubai, on Sept 22.

A press release issued by the KSE on Wednesday said the Finance Minister had emphasised that with compliance of fair practices and corporate governance in place, investors had reposed their trust in Pakistan, placing their funds in high yielding securities and other avenues.

Other panelists included Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, Dr.Ishrat Husain, chairman SECP, Dr. Tariq Hassan, chairman, KSE, Mr. Firozuddin A. Cassim, MD KSE Mr. Moin Fudda, President Habib Bank, Mr. Zakir Mahmood, President National Bank of Pakistan, Mr. S.Ali Raza and CEO, Hub Power Company, Mr. Vince Harris.

The governor, SBP, while answering a question said that the banking sector was geared up to offer newer products for their customers and the banks were coming forward in providing their services to larger section of the population.

President, HBL observed that serious buyers were coming forward, who were interested in privatization of the bank, while President, NBP stated that the disinvestment of his bank through the capital market had evidenced investors’ confidence and the bank was gearing up for the next phase of the stock issue.

The chairman, SECP, said that out of the 42 international Accounting Standards (IAS), 36 were already in force and that the Regulator was working closely with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) to introduce the international standards and was in process of establishment of an institute for corporate governance.

The chairman, KSE, said that privatization process through the capital market would further increase the market depth and would result in inflow of funds from across the world. He said that to provide more opportunities to investors, the KSE was planning to introduce derivatives including Index Futures and Options.

Managing Director, KSE, stated that the Karachi bourse had remained the best performing stock market of the world for over a year and a half. He observed that the KSE Board had taken steps to regulate the carryover trade (COT) and that the SECP and the SBP were deliberating to introduce margin financing, which would eventually phase-out COT.

The chief executive of Hubco, was stated to have said that Pakistan was a comfortable and welcoming destination for investment. “He said that the principal investors of Hubco view Pakistan as an investors-friendly country and they have interest in further investments,” the KSE press release stated.