July 30 - Aug 05, 2001

Vince Harris Appointed New CEO of HUBCO

HUBCO, amongst the largest private power projects in the region, recently welcomed on board Vince Harris, its new Chief Executive Officer.

A graduate of the University of Aston, Birmingham, UK, with a First Class Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Vince possesses over 32 years of continuous work experience with International Power (previously National Power), and its predecessor state-owned CEGB in the UK.

He has held both engineering and senior management positions in the UK and has also been involved in many challenging and pioneering projects overseas, in Malaysia, China and other South East Asian Countries.

The milestones in his portfolio of experience include involvement in UK's electricity privatisation; heading National Power's re-organisation of operational engineering to power plants; and in 1993, being seconded to 'YTL Sdn. Bhd.', in Malaysia, where he led the country's first IPP and then a second IPP with 'Powertek Sdn. Bhd'.

In 1995, Vince led National Power's 'Cogen and Renewables' business in which he developed and successfully implemented strategies that resulted in more efficient customer-driven growth in the non-regulated part of the UK's electricity market.

Furthermore, in 1997, Vince had an appointment as Director in Beijing, China, where he led the recovery and re-organisation of crucial functions of International Power and developed a unique management relationship programme with local partners.

As of June 2001, Vince has taken over his new role as CEO of HUBCO. When asked about his new challenges in Pakistan, he said, "I am looking forward to creating a "Partner in Power" supplier/customer relationship with WAPDA, providing the GoP with a model for future foreign direct investment and attaining new milestones for HUBCO".

The Hub Power Company Limited is a 1292 Mega Watt oil-fired plant located in Balochistan and headquartered in Karachi. As Pakistan's largest private-sector power project, HUBCO provides a substantial volume of electricity to the national grid at WAPDA (Water & Power Development Authority), thus helping meet the country's energy requirements.

Fazal appointed Preston's Director Marketing & PR

Preston University, Pakistan has been appointed M. Fazal Elahi as its Director Marketing and Public Relations. He will head the newly established Marketing and Public Relations Division of the University.

Preston is Pakistan's oldest and largest private university. Established in 1984, in Rawalpindi, the university today has the largest network of campuses located in the major cities of the country including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Hyderabad, Multan, Faisalabad and Quetta. Since its establishment 17 years ago, Preston has produced several thousand graduates in business administration, computer sciences, and IT who have been favourably received by both the Public and the Private sectors within the country and abroad.

With his expertise and experience, Mr. Elahi will add to the strength of the management team at Preston University and bolster the marketing efforts and promotional campaigns of the university.

Muslim Commercial Bank Limited recovers Rs. 1.128 (M) in first half 2001

Muslim Commercial Bank Limited has made cash recoveries of Rs. 1,128.000 (M) in First Half of the year 2001 inspite of continuous depressed market conditions. Last year, during the same period, MCB had recovered Rs. 772.225 (M). Cash recoveries during the first half of 2001 project a 46% increase from last year.

MCB Limited had made cash recoveries of Rs. 1,968.501 (M) in 2000 against a target of Rs. 1,500.000 (M) which was a remarkable achievement despite depressed market conditions. Given the present run rate, MCB's cash recoveries are suggestive of breaking last year's record said Mr. M. Abbas Sheikh, EVP/Head of Special Assets Management Group (SAMG) in a press release.

MCB, the largest private Bank in Pakistan has a net work of over 1000 branches. The Bank is a leader in its ATM Services and Rupee Travellers Cheques products and strive to provide quality service to its Customers Country Wide.

Euromoney declares MCB — "Best Bank in Pakistan"

Muslim Commercial Bank was recently declared the "Best Bank in Pakistan" by the prestigious Euromoney Awards For Excellence 2001. This recognition comes in succession of MCB's previous year's award for "Best Domestic Bank in Pakistan" however, this year's award singles out MCB as the "Best Bank" amongst all, domestic and foreign banks in Pakistan.

"MCB's profits after tax in the previous financial year increased by 29 per cent while deposits and advances have also increased by healthy margins. Despite the uncertain economic conditions over the last few years, MCB has managed to achieve positive financial results. This year's award for the best bank is a testimony to MCB's progressive growth, new initiatives in technology based products / customer care and excellence in the banking industry. We are proud of our performance over the years and are committed to achieving highest goals in the future," said Mohammed Aftab Manzoor, President, Muslim Commercial Bank.

With the largest and rapidly growing electronic network of ATMs and on-line branches across the country, MCB is at the forefront of Information Technology. The recent launch of MNET (Muslim Commercial Bank Network for Electronic Transactions), an electronic platform for enhanced network accessibility and secure on-line transactions, provides customers of banks connected to MNET access to the largest combined network of ATMs conveniently located across the country and 465,000 ATMs globally through MasterCard - Cirrus.

Established over 50 years ago, Muslim Commercial Bank is the largest private commercial bank and currently has a network of over 1000 branches in the country, including 650 automated and 150 on-line branches. With products such as Rupee Travellers Cheques, ATMs, Mobile Banking, various asset / liability products and emphasis on customer service, MCB is striving to cater to the financial requirements of its growing and diversified customer base. For further information visit www.mcb.com.pak

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd.

Rates of return on pls deposits for the half year ended January-June, 2001.

.	Nature of deposits	Rate Per Annum
1)	Special notice deposits
	7 to 29 days notice	6.50%
	30 days and over notice	6.75%
2)	Saving accounts	8.00%
3)	Current deposit
	Profit Plus Account	9.15%
4)	Term deposits
	3 months	7.00%
	6 months	7.25%
	1 year	8.00%
5)	Corporate investment A/C.
a)	90 days
	From Rs. 50,000,000 to Rs. 400,000,000
	From 01-01-2001 to 11-03-2001	8.50%
	From 12-03-2001 to 30-06-2001	10.45%
	From Rs. 400,000,001 and above
	From 01-01-2001 to 30-06-2001	10.75%
b)	180 days
	From Rs. 50,000.000 and above
	From 01-01-2001 to 30-06-2001	6.65%

Coping with brain drain — seminar at PAF-KIET

A seminar "Coping with Brain Drain" was organized by the "Students Society for Seminars" at PAF-Karachi Institute of Economics and Technology Korangi Creek recently.

The seminar was mostly attended by the students community, from different Medical Colleges, Engineering University and Computer and Business Institutes. The keynote speakers were Mr. Muhammad Yahya Waliullah, Director Bureau of Statistics, Govt. of Sindh who presented the historical and factual perspective of this social ill. Other speakers included Ms. Tazeen Javed from Dawn, Mr. Ramiz Allawala, a Management Consultant, Mr. S. Sikander Mehdi, Head of Dept. International Relation Karachi University, Mr. S. Wajahat Hussain, an Economic Analyst, Mr. Ali Baqar and Mr. Azmat Ansari, a Journalist.

By large, the students community pointed that it was a reactive action by the young professionals, which has led to Brain Drain. This National asset due to the stagnation of society with no league of a quick turnabout resorted to exodus from the country.

The session was sponsored by a large number of National Organizations namely NBP, UBL, ALFALAH and Habib Bank, other sponsors included.

All the speakers stressed the importance of dealing with this human resource problem at the Govt. level and introduce incentives for these experts so that they willingly stay in the country and contribute to the alleviation of society. Other social problems linked to the main problem of brain drain, which went under discussion, were, deterioration of social services, educational standards, law and order situations.

The seminar was concluded by the Chancellor of PAF-KIET, Dr. Izhar-ul-Hasan who also disclosed the near future plans, including additional laboratory facilities, library extension and scholarship benefits.

Bea and intel announce alliance

Intel Corporation and BEA Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAS), one of the world's leading e-business infrastructure software companies, today announced that the two companies will work together to jointly optimize BEA WebLogic® software for the ItaniumTM Processor Family and IA-32 platforms. The global e-business alliance addresses customer demand for an increase in choice of platforms available for enterprise deployment by providing a high-performing and scalable Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) e-business software platform running on a choice of operating systems, including Microsoft Windows and Linux.

The companies will collaborate on joint engineering to optimize BEA products running on Intel Architecture and will pursue targeted marketing and sales activities with hardware manufacturers, independent software vendors (ISVs) and integrators. The alliance is designed to extend the capabilities of Intel-based servers used in the enterprise for running mission-critical e-business applications and Web services.

The e-business alliance comprises a number of programs slated for this year, including certification and optimization of the BEA WebLogic E-Business Platform for Intel-based servers, and the establishment of a technology lab to validate and document performance and scalability of the companies' joint products. Intel and BEA will also jointly train and provide support materials to their direct sales and channel sales organizations, and cooperate to develop service offerings.

A number of leading hardware OEMs worldwide have already pledged support for BEA WebLogic optimized for IA, including some existing BEA hardware OEM partners such as BULL, Compaq Computer Corporation Dell Computer Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, NCR Corporation, and Unisys. The two companies expect to work with numerous additional hardware OEMs, as well as software vendors and integrators.