Dec 04 - 10, 2000

Sukkur becomes 12th MCB ATM/ online city

Mr. Shoaib Qureshi, Head of Commercial Banking South while inaugurating MCB ATM at Clock Tower said that by adding Sukkur city to its ATM Online Network, MCB has fulfilled its promise made to Sukkur Chamber of Commerce & Industry a year ago. He added that Sukkur city is an integral trading hub and a very important centre for the MCB Network. This importance can be gauged by adding Sukkur, the third city in Sindh to its ATM/Online network. He later on thanked the Sukkur Chamber of Commerce & Industry in general for their cooperation and their key representatives present in particular for their support to MCB.

MCB has the largest ATM network with over 75 ATM locations in major cities and over 110 online branches where MCB ATM cards can be issued. This not only provides 24-hour cash convenience to its customers but also improves customer service and turnaround time. The latest addition to the network includes the city of Sukkur where MCB ATM is installed at Clock Tower branch and new online branches include Shahi Bazar, Marich Bazar and Bairaj Road Branch.

Besides providing the most modern banking facilities to its customers, MCB is playing an important role in fulfilling credit needs of Sindh, especially in Sukkur.

MCB has the pride of being the leading financier to ginners besides providing substantial financing to rice mills and growers finance to agro customers of Sindh.

MCB will continue playing its role more effectively for the national cause and people of the area - Inshallah.

MCB is the largest private bank in Pakistan with a network of over 1200 branches and 4.5 million account holders spread all over the country. It offers a full range of products and services catering to various segments of the market.

Gifts of Ramadan at the Karachi Sheraton

During the holy month of Ramadan, the Karachi Sheraton Hotel & Towers has planned a very special programme to accompany its traditional feast of Iftar and Dinner. Keeping in view the tastes of its guests the Sheraton Chefs have prepared an exclusive Iftar/Dinner menu comprising of a traditional Middle Eastern, Pakistani and Continental cuisine, which will be served at Al-Bustan. To satisfy the sweet tooth after the scrumptious Iftar/Dinner a wide selection of desserts is also a part of the meal. All for a very special price of Rs. 350 plus tax.

As an added attraction a raffle draw will be held every Monday throughout Ramadan where guests coming to the Iftar/Dinner during the week will be entitled to win airlines tickets to International destinations. With tickets sponsored by Kuwait Airways, Qatar Airways, Saudia Arabian Airlines, Turkish Airlines and Gulf Air, one gets the opportunity to visit places like London, Dubai, Istanbul, Bangkok and Rome, after enjoying a delightful Iftar/Dinner at the Sheraton.

For the first time this Ramadan, the Karachi Sheraton has organized Tarawih prayers in Darbar Hall from the 1st till 10th of Ramadan where separate prayer arrangements have been made for men and women. The hotel has invited Qari Hafiz Mumtaz Ahmed Saeedi and Qari Hafiz Mohammed Saifullah to lead the Tarawih prayers.

The Iftar/Dinner and the Tarawih prayers to be held at the Sheraton this year have been sponsored by Al-Meezan Investment Bank, Pak Kuwait Investment Corporation and Habib Bank Limited.

NIT's holds marketing conference at Quetta and Peshawar

NIT is following a strategy to mobilize savings for investment in NWFP and Balochistan by educating the potential investors on investment options through utilizing professional services of NIT. This was stated by the Chairman National Investment Trust (NIT) Mr. Istaqbal Mehdi while addressing NIT's Marketing Conference at Quetta and Peshawar.

The Chairman said that NIT being an interest free product has a huge market potential, which demands an aggressive marketing stance by NIT sales personnel. Praising the sales figure of around Rs. 1 billion during the last fiscal year he said that we should aim a higher target for this year relatives to last.

The conference discussed different issues pertaining to Sales and Sales Targets for 2000-2001. Individual branch and customer related issues were also deliberated during the conference. NIT customers, investors and officials from the region were invited, which provided them an opportunity to express their views and get answers to their queries.

The conference was also designed to provide a forum to the branch managers to discuss their branch related issues and develop marketing strategies in consultation with the senior management.

This was the first occasion that NIT's Senior Management held a Marketing Conference in these smaller provinces to listen to the issues faced by Unit Holders first hand. This was highly appreciated by the participants. Chairman NIT has decided to make this conference a bi-annual feature.

Intel at telecom Asia 2000

Intel Corporation officially announced its participation at Telecom Asia 2000, marking its first major telecommunications event in Asia Pacific. Telecom Asia 2000, which is slated as one of the most important telecommunications events in the region, will be hosted by the PRC and Hong Kong government. The event will take place at the Hong Kong Conventions and Exhibition Center (HKCEC) on December 4-9.

During the show, Intel will offer visitors a broad program of telecommunications seminars, proof-point demonstrations of its communications and networking solutions, and the opportunity to hear Intel CEO and President Craig R. Barrett's keynote address to the telecommunications forum.

"Asia Pacific is one of the greatest business opportunities for anyone in the telecommunications business," says Christian Morales, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Group, and General Manager of Asia Pacific Operations, Intel Corporation. "Being at the forefront of convergence technology and networking intelligence means Intel has a crucial role to play as a major building block supplier to the telecommunications business," he added.

Intel will demonstrate an array of solutions at its 300 square meter exhibition stand, including the Intel® Dialogic Voice Portal Platform, Enhanced Programmable Switch, Service Provider Unified Messaging, Intel® Optical Services Platform, Mail Hosting, Gigabit over Copper, Service Provider VPN, Intel® Dialogic SS7 Solutions, Enhanced Media Gateway and e-Business Contact Center.

Intel will also introduce its Intel® Communications Platform, a standards-based application-ready platform and set of open hardware and software designed to respond to the rapidly changing needs of e-Businesses. An adjunct to the product demonstrations at Telecom Asia 2000 will be a series of short seminars on December 6-7, where top Intel executives from Asia Pacific and the U.S. will give insightful presentations on Intel's growing telecommunications business. Highlights of Intel's "Intelligent Way to 'e"' seminars will include:

•Intel - Bringing Moore's Law to the Communications Industry

•The Optical Services Platform: Capturing New Revenue Opportunities in Optical Networks

•Business Opportunities for Asia Pacific Service Providers

Swissair

Swissair Pakistan is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Azhar Irshad Qureshi as the Station Manager at Swissair Karachi Airport effective November 2000.

Mr. Qureshi was born and brought up in Sialkot. He studied in Murray College Sialkot and left Pakistan in 1977.

Mr. Qureshi brings along with him vast experience in the aviation field having worked for the last 20 years as Station Manager at various foreign postings; his last one being at Abu Dhabi. He started his career with Attar Travel Jeddah in 1977 and then joined Alzouman Aviation, GSA of Swissair in Jeddah. In 1981 he joined Swissair as Duty Manager and was promoted to the post of Station Manager in 1984. In 1994 he was transferred to Riyadh as Station Manager and thereafter took over the same position at Abu Dhabi in the month of April 2000.

Mr. Qureshi has attended well over 50 courses and exams in various countries on subjects of Tariffs, Product Knowledge, Load Control, Passenger Handling, Cargo Sales and Handling, Local Instructor, Leadership, Management Workshops, Station Managers Seminars, etc.

Mr. Qureshi looks forward to returning back to Pakistan after being away for nearly 23 years.

The Brand Influence

Horizon Incorporated, a human resource consultancy, recently organized "The Brand Influence" seminar which focused on current branding and marketing strategies and needs. The seminar was sponsored by leading organizations, namely, National Foods Limited, Hilton Pharma (Pvt.) Ltd., The DAWN Group of Newspapers and SmithKline Beecham.

The one-day seminar, with a corporate audience of about 210 participants, was conducted by Dr. Nirmalya Kumar - a Ph.D. in Marketing from Kellogg Graduate School of Management who is currently the Professor of Marketing and Retailing at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) Switzerland.

"The Horizon team is proud to host an event of such quality and magnitude. The Brand Influence seminar served as a platform for the business community to further exploit the projection of their brands and determine customer value for better marketing," said Muneerah Tanya Shiraz, Managing Partner, Horizon Incorporated.

Dr. Kumar focused on today's branding trends, result-oriented strategies, needs and the role played by efficient Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the whole equation. Participants from various local and multinational organizations were present and learned more about brand leverage, consumer perception and product extensions whilst simultaneously establishing a strong presence in a highly competitive market.

During the course of the seminar, a local perspective was also shared by National Foods Limited and Hilton Pharma through their respective presentations which discussed the corporate transition through effective branding strategies.

Horizon Incorporated is a leading Human Resource Consultancy specializing in performance based HR consulting services and training excellence on a variety of management topics which help organizations become productive through employment investment.

Lucky cement achieves ISO 9002 certification;

Progressing aggressively towards becoming the number one cement manufacturer in Pakistan and striving hard for achieving best quality and greater customer satisfaction, Lucky Cement has been awarded ISO 9002 Certification by UKAS of United Kingdom and TGA/DAR of Germany for manufacturing and sales of Ordinary Portland Cement.

Lucky Cement is a 4,400 tons per day cement producing plant in Pezu distt. Lakki Marwat, N.W.F.P with offices in all the major cities of Pakistan. The plant is equipped with automatic computerized controls comprising of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), Distributed Control System (DCS) and X-Ray Analyzers for stringent quality control. These automatic controls help Lucky Cement in producing cement of very high quality for its consumers.