05 December 2004 Sunday 22 Shawwal 1425 Prime minister for developing infrastructure KARACHI, Dec 4: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Saturday said that to become a regional economic power, Pakistan needed to develop outstanding networks of communication infrastructure. ... Farm tax falls as income increases KARACHI, Dec 4: By and large, the recovery of all the agricultural related taxes in Sindh (and these include the agricultural income tax and land tax) are on decline in the last four years ... Bumper cotton crop expected this year KARACHI, Dec 4: The fortnightly arrival of phutti (seed cotton), twice the quantity of last year, shows that the country is poised to harvest bumper cotton crop this season (2004-05) ... 194 companies registered with SECP in Nov ISLAMABAD, Dec 4: The companies' incorporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan witnessed an increase of 51 per cent in November this year. ... Govt keeps domestic debt in check KARACHI, Dec 4: The government managed to keep its domestic debt from growing in the first quarter of this fiscal year. ... Sliding returns on mutual funds KARACHI, Dec 4: In an exceptional stock market boom witnessed in the last two fiscals, the number of mutual funds grew fast and posted outstanding financial performance. ... Committees to resolve tax disputes ISLAMABAD, Dec 4: The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has directed the tax officials to convince the taxpayers to resolve arrears of tax through the forum of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) committees. ... Linking cane price with sugar discussed ISLAMABAD, Dec 4: A meeting held here on Saturday with Secretary Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Ismail Qureshi in the chair discussed in detail a mechanism of linking the price of sugarcane with the price of sugar. ... 3 new EU states eager to promote trade ISLAMABAD, Dec 4: The newly acceding member states of the European Union -Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary - have agreed to undertake efforts to structure and improve the existing framework, which should allow freer flow of trade with Pakistan. ... Riyadh may be asked to remove trade barriers ISLAMABAD, Dec 4: Pakistan is likely to ask the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for removal of non-tariff trade barriers. Well-placed sources told Dawn on Saturday that Islamabad would request Riyadh ... PHMA warns EPB of moving court: Quota mismanagement KARACHI, Dec 4: Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (PHMA) has asked the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) to immediately correct the situation of mismanaged quotas by giving priority to those exporters ... ATT set to open gates for smuggling PESHAWAR, Dec 4: Growing volume of Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) has given rise to apprehension among the trade and import business circles here as they feel that the unchecked import of foreign goods for Afghanistan ... EPB clarifies quota policy KARACHI, Dec 4: The Export Promotion Bureau has clarified that allegations levelled by Anis Marfani, Chairman of the All Pakistan Knitwear Sweaters Exporters Association (Paksea) ... Badla rates fall KARACHI, Dec 4: Carryover rates on the Karachi Stock Exchange last week fell from the recent highs into a single-digit - from 12.8 per cent to 9.2 per cent, showing a decline of 360 basis points. ... Cotton market absorbs negative fall-out KARACHI, Dec 4: The cotton market on Saturday confidently absorbed a possible negative fall-out of larger than analysts' prediction arrivals of phutti into ginneries for the fortnight ended Nov 30 as prices stayed unchanged amid light business. ... European firms eying Libyan energy sector RIYADH, Dec 4: When French President Jacques Chirac went to Libya last week on his first visit to the erstwhile 'rogue state' there was a crude connection to it. ...

© The DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2004