25 January 2004 Sunday 02 Zilhaj 1424 EC gives 3-month relief on basmati KARACHI, Jan 24: The European Commission (EC) has given temporary relief on Pakistani super basmati and karnal rice for a period of three months once again including it in the abatement list. ... Incentives for European car makers sought LAHORE, Jan 24: European car manufacturers must be given incentives to set up their assembly plants in Pakistan as soon as the local industry crosses the production target of 100,000 units per year. ... Pakistan to assist Afghanistan: Drafting IT laws ISLAMABAD, Jan 24: Pakistan will provide technical assistance to Afghanistan in the drafting of income tax law, training of tax officials and development of software for issuance of tax identification number (TIN) to the taxpayers. ... Trade team to attend ECO moot ISLAMABAD, Jan 24: A three-member delegation led by Industries and Production Minister Liaquat Jatoi will leave on Sunday for Tehran to participate in an ECO-ministerial meeting being held specifically to promote bilateral ... Passco gets lowest bid of Rs411: Wheat handling LAHORE, Jan 24: The Pakistan Storage and Supply Corporation (Passco) on Saturday received the lowest bid of Rs411 per ton for handling of imported Australian wheat at Port Qasim. ... Low cost housing: a low priority KARACHI: Jan 24: Official statistics show that there has been a surge in consumer finance, which claimed the largest share in total private sector credit during July-September 2003. ... Unemployment: does anyone care? The State Bank has passed on the good news that the economy is set to grow at six per cent next year. The government is happy with the swelling forex reserves and the stock market is keeping up the bull run. ... Situation not so bleak, claims Ashfaq ISLAMABAD: The country does not have any statistics to ascertain the current unemployment rate as it was 8.3 per cent as per 2001 Labour Force Survey, but the common sense ... Farm sector absorbs 48 per cent rural force MULTAN: Agriculture is the mainstay of the country's economy and the fact is evident, among other factors, from the official statistics that about 67.69 per cent of the country's labour force belonged to the rural areas and of the employed labour ... State as an employer KARACHI: The strength of government employees varies from time to time and is determined by the framework of economic policies formulated in various stages of social evolution. ... Punjab: market fast shrinking LAHORE: The already undersized job market in the most populated province of the country, Punjab, is fast shrinking as is evident from its unemployment rate which, according to the Asian Development Bank ... Sindh offers little hope KARACHI: Sindh is home to the biggest army of unemployed men and women in the country. Reasons are not difficult to found. A process of de-industrialisation has set in more than 15 years ago. ... NWFP: Afghanistan to the rescue? PESHAWAR: With the provincial public and private sectors hardly capable on their own of absorbing the increasing number of unemployed youth, the emerging market in Afghanistan ... Few jobs as Balochistan faces crisis QUETTA: Several thousand engineers, doctors, graduates and post-graduates are regularly coming out of universities and colleges in Balochistan and flooding the province's job market. But few can hope for decent jobs compatible with their qualifications. ... BMR creates 0.3m textile jobs KARACHI, Jan 24: Though the textile sector offered many opportunities and openings for job seekers during the last four years (1999-2003), these were still far less than the demand. ... Army the second largest employer ISLAMABAD: Who is largest employer in Pakistan? Of course, the government. Between the federal and provincial governments, they perhaps employ the largest number of people in this country. ... Of lost jobs and fall in investors' income KARACHI: Individual as well as institutional investors in the country saw a huge fall of more than Rs200 billion in their combined income in 2003 compared with what they used to get five years ago. ... Karachi: haven for job seekers KARACHI: The migration of people from the interior to the big cities for better wages and employment, notably to Karachi, has been on the rise since the early 60s. ... Appliances, auto sectors hold a ray of hope KARACHI, Jan 25: At a time when joblessness looms large in the country, three main components of the large scale manufacturing sectors - automobiles, electronics and domestic appliances - have so far proved a big hope for job seekers. ... Manpower export needs attention KARACHI: The regional office of Overseas Employment Corporation (OEC) has arranged jobs for a paltry 1,103 workers/ professionals in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Malaysia, New Guinea ... 1.12m work in Karachi's 6,600 industries KARACHI: An estimated 1,120,000 people are now working in around 6,600 industries in Karachi's four main industrial areas - the Site Association of Industry, the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) ... Bourses: expanding market for professionals KARACHI: Pakistan's three bourses may not be as labour intensive as the local textile industry has been, but they have on their lists thousands of persons, both skilled and unskilled, in different areas of activity. ... 4,633 openings in December KARACHI: A total number of 4,633 jobs were advertised in the Sunday Advertiser of Dawn during the month of December 2003. The private sector offered 4,229 openings, while the public sector sought only 404 new recruits. ... Prospects improving for women KARACHI: The employment prospects for women in both public and private sector have improved over time. This shows that the gender bias against women in the job market is receding. ... SPI declines by 0.17pc ISLAMABAD, Jan 24: Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) declined by 0.17 per cent during the week ending Jan 22, 2004, as compared to the previous week. ... Banks' rates of return KARACHI, Jan 24: Faysal Bank Ltd did not pay any return on saving deposits up to Rs25,000 in six months to December 2003. The bank said in an announcement that it paid 0.9 per cent return on saving deposits of Rs25,000 to Rs100,000 and 2.25pc on more than Rs100,000. ...

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