Apr 10 - 16, 2000

Agfa's Regional Sales Manager

Mr. Peter Haupt, Regional Sales Manager of Agfa for South-east Asia, arrived in Pakistan on April 3, 2000, on a week long visit to interact with the local dealers and mini-lab owners.

Upon Mr. Peter Haupt's arrival, he was welcomed by Mr. Sohail Carim, Executive Director, Agfa Gavaert Pakistan. During the course of the day, Mr. Haupt met with various Agfa Gavaert's personnel, and visited different mini-labs and local Agfa dealers, thereby gaining information on the current status of Agfa in Pakistan.

Later in the evening, a dinner was held by Agfa Gavaert Pakistan, at the Karachi Boat Club, where Mr. Peter Haupt personally met many of the local dealers and mini-lab owners. At the dinner, Mr. Haupt commented, "Agfa has been very successful in its operations in Pakistan and Agfa's solid standing and potential will lead it to stay at the forefront of the photo industry in Pakistan".

First Habib Bank Modaraba

Managed by Habib Bank Financial Services (Pvt) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Habib Bank Limited.

Board of Directors:

Zakir Mahmood Chairman

Mian Abdus Salam CEO

Khaliq Kayani Director

Sohail Malik Director

Mian Asif Said Director

Muhammad Samiullah Company Secretary

Company information:

First Habib Bank Modaraba is a perpetual, multipurpose and multi-dimensional Modaraba formed on March 16, 1991 under the Modaraba Companies and Modarabas (Floatation and Control) Ordinance, 1980, being managed by Habib Bank Financial Services (Pvt) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Habib Bank Limited. The Modaraba is currently engaged in various modes of Islamic financing and other related businesses. It is listed on the Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad Stock Exchanges.

Performance highlights — 1998-99

During the year under review, the Management of First Habib Bank Modaraba (FHBM) has maintained a steady growth in its business.

FHBM for the last few years, is consistently distributing dividends to its Certificate holders as cash dividend @ 15% for the year ended 30-06-1999 (This amounts to Rs.59.560 M)

Operational Income increased by Rs.37.70 M from Rs.191.51 M in 1998 to Rs.229.21 M in 1999 depicting an increase of 19.69%.

The Company has earned a Net Profit of Rs.74.86 M in the year 1999 as compared to Rs.69.70 M during the corresponding period and recorded an increase of 7.40%.

Leased Assets at Cost registered an increase of 27.08% over 1998 from Rs.386.30 M to Rs.490.92 M in 1999

The earning per certificate is Rs.1.89 as compared to Rs.1.76 in preceding year.

Administrative & operating expenses were 3.92% lower than the preceding year.

FHBM is exploring various avenues for arranging long term funds while laying emphasis on its core activity of leasing.

Diversifying lease portfolio to include companies with sound financials/track record and to sectors with growth potential and low risk profile.

First Women Bank Ltd

First Women Bank Ltd. Business Centre Karachi had its certificate distribution ceremony for participants of skill development training programme for the month of March in the areas of Fashion Designing, Silk Painting, Candle making Self Grooming. Certificate was also distributed among the participants of the short course Personality Grooming Development and Stress Management. For the first time this course was offered by the Business Centre on the demand of the women, as stress and tension is increasing day by day in the society and it is necessary to learn how to overcome this problem.

Addressing the participants, the Chief Guests of this programme renowned Beautician Ms. Ruhana Iqbal of Bhabis applauded the role of Women Bank by opening the new avenues for the women.

Ms.Akram Khatoon President First Women Bank while presiding over the function spelled out the promotional role of the Bank for main streaming the women for economic development through self employment. She urged the participants of the courses to make use of the skills thus acquired and set up home based small businesses by availing credit facilities from the Bank.

Earlier, Ms.Charmaine Hidayatullah Senior Vice President / Divisional Head Business Development & Marketing highlighted the performance of the centre.

NADRA and NCR Corporation sign contract

National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and NCR Corporation, a leading IT multinational, have signed National Data Warehouse Contract, recently. For the first time in the history of Pakistan such technology is being implemented in a critical infrastructure project. According to the details of the project, latest Information Technology tools will be used in making decisions for people, based on input provided by the people, which can give them basic infrastructure facilities and amenities as per their requirements.

The Habibians' Club

A Social Organiztion of Habib Bank Staff "The Habibians' Club", organized a get-to-gather in honour of its members at Gallery Sadiqain (Frere Hall) Bagh-e-Jinnah, in which a large number of the members participated.

Mr. Mohammad Saleem Jan New Managing Director BOP

Mr. Mohammad Saleem Jan, a senior banker, has taken over as Managing Director of the Bank of Punjab. He brings with him more than 31 years of rich and varied experience in general banking, advances, administration and recoveries, correspondent banking and human resource development. He has served as President/Chief Executive Union Bank Limited and as a senior executive in foreign banks including The Middle East Bank Dubai UAE, ANZ Grindlays Bank in Pakistan, Bahrain, New York, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and London.

The Software Society of Business and Information Technology Students' Club (BITS) at Institute of Business Administration arranged a seminar on March 24, 2000 at IBA City Campus Auditorium. The topic of the seminar was:

"Venture Capital Investment in E-Businesses".

The seminar was attended by over 100 eminent guests from IT Industry as well as from Corporate world. The seminar proved to be very informative and successful. The seminar was started with the recitation of Holy Quran followed by the welcome speech given by Sanam Kohati, Vice President of Software Society. The guest speakers who spoke on the topic, were Mr. Nadeem Naqvi who is the head of Research International Asset Management Mr. Faisal Khan who is MD at NetAccess, Mr. Shahzad Mahmood, CEO at Future Management Information Systems, Dr. Tahir Andrabi, Director at Active Learning Initiative Facility (ALIF) Mr. Saleem Ghauri, CEO at NetSol, and Dr. Syed Irfan Hyder who is a Deputy Director of CCS at IBA.

Dr. Syed Irfan Hyder discussed role of business schools in spawning new ventures. He explained that the purpose of venture capital investment is to provide human resources as well as financial resources to the people associated with E-Businesses. Dr. Tahir Andrabi who talked about the role of mentoring, networking and contests in getting the IT industry moving, discussed that in order to enhance venture capital investment in Pakistan, there is a need to put a great deal of emphasis on its fundamental idea and the ability to compete. He said that we need to create a pool of all those resources that are not being utilized fully so that investors can be persuaded towards it. Mr. Nadeem Naqvi provided some significant details while talking about some really successful companies and explained the possible reasons behind their extraordinary success. He stressed upon the evaluation of E-Businesses ventures for funding. Managing Director at NetAccess, Mr. Faisal Khan discussed critical success factors for running a professional IT Venture. Mr. Shahzad Mahmood provided some insights relating risk analysis of E-Businesses. Mr. Saleem Ghauri talked with reference to his experiences relating to his company which got registered in New York's Stock Exchange in December of l999. He said that his company is among one of the very few in this World who made up to 500 million US dollars in such a short time.

The seminar got even more interactive when the open question and answer session started. After the Open question and answers session Armughan-e-Muhammad, General Secretary of Software Society, delivered closing address and thanked all the guests. The ceremony was concluded with the plaques distribution by Dr. Syed Irfan Hyder and Qurrat-ul-Aien Badsha, Treasurer of Software Society. The organizers of this seminar include Zubair Naseer, Zainab Dadabhoy, Raheel Pasha, Imran Yousuf, Adeel Zaman, and Adeel Ali Esbhani.

Allianz and EFU group sign joint venture agreement

Allianz Aktiengesellschaft (Allianz AG), a global leader in the insurance industry with an active presence in 70 markets across 5 continents and EFU Group signed a joint venture in Karachi to form a new company that will provide health insurance to the people of Pakistan.

The agreement was signed by Mr. Michael Diekmann, Member of the Board of Management and Mr. Heinz Dollberg, Executive Vice President, both of Allianz AG and Mr. Rafique Bhimjee, Mr. Jahangir Siddiqui and Mr. Saifuddin N. Zoomkawala.

Allianz EFU Health Insurance Company, approved by the Government of Pakistan, will be the first specialised health insurance provider in the country and will play a pivotal role in developing the health insurance market in Pakistan.

ADP- OPEN DAY an event at AMI

On 25th March 2000, AMI held an open day and welcomed all its visitors who wanted information about the Associate Degree Programme. The programme is offered to the students who have completed their Matric or O level and are looking for an institute of high repute. The Associate Degree Programme is dream come true for every serious minded and ambitious student who want to get a head in life.

On the open day, principals and teachers of different institutions, parents and students visited the various stalls set up to inform them about every aspect of the facilities and opportunities for the graduates of the ADP. The crowd who came were inquisitive but went away awed by the majestic structure of the building, the highly qualified and cooperative staffand above all by the high quality ofthe education being offered.

HIGHLIGHTS OF ADP

• The program provides focused growth and intellectual stability to the youth, which usually is lacking in most college systems.

• ADP provides early entrance and better chances of career growth.

• Courses are delivered at a level equivalent to A-level studies.

• The time lost in entering and recentering different institutions in pursuit of a professional career along with the cost of admission is minimized through a systematic progressive plan.

• Through ADP, students find themselves better groomed, polished and well equipped to settle in the degree program compared to others.

• Students are provided with appropriate career counseling by experienced and highly professional faculty, an asset of AMI.

• Students enjoy the recognition of AMI not only nationally but also internationally.

• Students who opted to go abroad in order to continue their studies have been able to get the maximum number of credits transferred.

• The special highlight of the ADP programme at AMI is that at the completion of the program, students don't have to wait for admissions. They can easily join the highly prestigious BBA (Bachelors in Business Administration), BCS (Bachelors in Computer Science) or BFD (Bachelors in Fashion Design) programme being offered at AMI, and be on their way to a prosperous career.

The existing popularity of this programme is such that although it was initiated in the fall of 1999, already a sizeable amount of students are enrolled in it. The aim of this programme is to give budding professionals, their first taste of the corporate world and prepare them for its challenges. Special care is taken to enable them reach the level of international graduates, so as to ensure their success, whether their chosen field is Business, Information Technology or Fashion Design.

The visitors of the open day were given information and complimentary gifts and taken on a guided tour of the whole campus. The faculty and students of ADP volunteered for the whole day for counseling the visitors. Thus the high quality of education, an ideal academic environment, the multitude of recreational activities it offers, combined with easy accessibility make AMI the ideal choice for those who want a head start in the world of business.

Enterprise Resource Planning to Spur Growth in Textile Industry

A seminar, "Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Solution for Textile Industry of Pakistan" was organized today by Ideal Solutions in collaboration with IBM Pakistan Ltd.

Leading textile manufacturers from all over the country participated in this event. The speakers discussed the relevance and the need for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Textile Integrated Manufacturing (TIM) in the local textile industry. The speakers' presentations were followed by a TIM demonstration, delivered by a Datatex expert from Italy, Roberto Crovetto.

In view of the Pakistani textile industry's growing IT needs, Ideal Solutions (Pvt.) Ltd. Datatex's authorized representative in Pakistan, has introduced a special offer. This offer includes Textile Integrated Manufacturing (TIM) software from lDatatex, hardware (AS400 computer) from IBM and implementation services from Ideal Solutions. Special discounts from all three companies' makes this high tech solution a very affordable proposition for local buyers.

Speaking at the occasion, Sheikh Nisar Ahmed, Managing Director, Ideal Solutions, said, " The purpose of this seminar was to introduce Textile Integrated Manufacturing to the local textile industry, whose IT needs have grown exponentially over the past few years, and TIM is just the product to cater to them".

Earlier on in the day, an international sub-licensee agreement was signed between Ideal Solutions and Datatex. Key executives of Ideal Solutions, Datatex and IBM Pakistan attended the signing ceremony. According to this agreement, Ideal Solutions has been appointed as the sole representative of Datatex in Pakistan.

TIM is a Datatex product, made specifically to cater to the information technology (IT) needs of the textile industry. Datatex is a leading global IT solutions provider for the textile industry worldwide. It is renowned for its wide range of customer-oriented IT products, which are suitable for both, small-scale as well as large-scale textile units.

Ideal Solutions (Pvt) Limited is a leading IT solutions provider, established to provide Information Technology solutions to the international market as well as the national business and financial sectors. It is dedicated towards providing high quality and cost effective solutions to organizations wanting to outsource their IT operations.