June 10 - 16, 2002

PSO TO INTRODUCE LOW SULPHUR CONTENT USD IN PAKISTAN

Pakistan State Oil (PSO), the largest oil marketing company in the country, will soon cross another milestone by introducing low sulphur content High Speed Diesel (HSD) in Pakistan for the first time.

The high sulphur content in diesel causes serious environmental problems such as acid rain, pollution of drinking water and damage to ozone layer. The combustion products of High Sulphur Diesel are toxic and carcinogenic and produce air borne particulate matter, which leads to asthma and lung diseases.

PSO is importing 1.6 million metric tonnes of .5 percent sulphur HSD from July 1st to December 2002 through the Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC).

Approximately, 4.8 million metric tonnes of HSD is imported by Pakistan every year. Of this, PSO imports 3.3 million metric tonnes from KPC through term arrangement.

PSO is the first OMC in Pakistan that is improving low sulphur HSD under term contact.

PSO SAVES $2.72 MILLION ON FO IMPORTS

Pakistan State Oil (PSO), the largest oil marketing company in the country, will save around $2.72 million towards the import of Fuel Oil during the second half of this calendar year (July- December 2002).

The savings were achieved through effective price negotiations with the existing suppliers of the term contract for the supply of Fuel Oil over the first half of the year.

The suppliers selected for the second half of the year are Glencore (70,250 MT), Fal Oil Company (315,500 MT), Bakri International (603,000 MT) and Hascombe (267,000 MT).

The impact of these savings will be two-fold. The lower cost of imports will be passed on to consumer in terms of lower price while precious foreign exchange of the country will be saved.

PSO has saved a huge amount of Rs 2.3 billion in foreign exchange towards the cost of HSD imports in the country during the last year.

TEXTILE INDUSTRY PROTESTS INCREASE IN LOCAL POLYESTER PRICES

Mr. Nadeem Maqbool, Chairman APTMA has strong protested against the continuous increase in the price of locally produced polyester staple fibre which is a key input for the domestic textile industry. The domestic manufacturers have been continuously increasing the prices for the Industry for the last two months resulting in exorbitant increase in the operating costs for the industry and serving to make it uncompetitive. Since the end users of yarn and fabric are not accepting this incessant rate increase, the domestic textile industry has started to suffer losses and some units are on the brink of closure.

The price trend chart given below shows that in the last two months the polyester manufacturers have increased the price by almost 25%.

15 Mar Rs. 51.09 per kg
15 Mar Rs. 53.09 per kg
01 Apr Rs. 57.09 per kg
15 Apr Rs. 59.09 per kg
15 May Rs. 61.09 per kg
31 May Rs. 64.09 per kg

Polyester fibre is a critical raw material for the Spinning Industry and these increases will only serve to further reduce Pakistan's exports of synthetic textiles.

Mr. Nadeem Maqbool urged the Government of Pakistan to take stock of this monopolistic attitude and urgently ask the PSF industry to desist from holding the textile industry hostage. Chairman APTMA also proposed to the government to eliminate the import duty on polyester staple fibre and bring it under the free import/export regime as is the case with all other raw materials such as cotton, leather, etc. According to him, the operation of a free market mechanism would ensure that the local industry is allowed to operate under internationally competitive conditions which is very essential given the imminent New World Order.

GOVERNOR SINDH INAUGURATED NEW CHALLI BRANCH OF PICIC COMMERCIAL BANK

PICIC Commercial Bank as a part of its expansion plan of opening another 22 branches during 2002 opened its first branch at New Challi Karachi which was formally inaugurated by Governor of Sindh Mr. Mohammadmian Soomro. Another 9 branches are ready which will be operational before June 30, 2002 thus increasing the existing network of 20 branches to 30 branches before end of June 2002. The remaining 12 branches will also be in place for offering their personalised services to the public by October 31, 2002.

Not ignoring its economic responsibilities towards country PICIC Commercial Bank has extended credit to small & medium enterprises and deserving farmers/growers, so as to enable them to achieve self-sufficiency. Another unique feature of the bank is to extend Talimi Loans to students of various universities and institutes which is receiving overwhelming response. By virtue of this product PICIC Commercial Bank is meeting its social responsibility of improving quality education which is the need of hour.

PAK-LIBYA'S BOARD APPROVES INVESTMENTS OF RS. 395 MILLION

The 62nd meeting of the Board of Directors of Pak-Libya Holding Company (Private) Limited was held on Thursday May 30, 2002 at the Company's Registered Offices at Karachi under the Chairmanship of Mr. Nagmeddin Hemali Mokhtar and attended by Mr. Khalid Sharwani (Managing Director), Mr. Ramadan A. Haggiagi (Deputy Managing Director) and Dr. Ashfaque Ahmed Khan (the nominee Director Government of Pakistan).

The Board was informed that Pak-Libya is repositioning itself to improve performance by way of building a cheaper resource base and targeting quality investment opportunities. In this context a joint mandate to National Bank of Pakistan and Pak-Oman Investment Company (Pvt) Limited had been awarded for arranging and floating underwritten listed Term Finance Certificates (TFCs) of Rs. 600 million.

The Board discussed the performance of the Company and expressed satisfaction on its overall activities and also appreciated the efforts of the management towards business development, consolidation of strategic investments and tapping new resources for fund mobilization.

The Board also approved total financing of Rs. 395 million in seven (7) projects from fertilizer, financial, textile, energy and services sector. Inclusive of these seven projects, Pak Libya has recently sanctioned a sum of Rs. 616 million to eighteen (18) projects of textile, chemical, cement, fertilizer, financial and energy sector since January 2002. The Company also arranged a syndicate of a lease of Rs. 100 million and more syndications are in process of finalization.

The Board appreciated the efforts made by the Company in diversifying its operational activities and income base in line with changing market scenario. The Board was particularly appreciative of Pak Libya's efforts towards building the synergy among the Pak-Libya's subsidiaries, taping new resources and developing new business.

MAYA, THE ULTIMATE TECHNOLOGY NOW IN PAKISTAN, LAUNCHED BY ARENA MULTIMEDIA

Arena Multimedia has included Maya, 3D software, in the curriculum.

A seminar was organized on May 31, 2002 at FTC to launch the new curriculum ADIM with Maya. Maya is very powerful and productive software used for character animation and visual effects. From feature film to interactive video games Maya lets you play the role of director, actor, set designer and cinematographer at the same. The world-class famous movies like Shrek, Final Fantasy, Mummy's Return etc, are made in Maya. Key persons from the industry were invited to speak on the scope of Maya in Pakistan and abroad.

The industry and the students appreciated this launch as there is a great demand in the international market for people who can work on this and most of the work is done in Maya. Previously we did not have the people with the expertise in Maya, but after the introduction of this software in Arena curriculum we will be self sufficient in this latest technology. This would bring tremendous improvement in the Multimedia industry and would reduce the cost of production since all animations and production work would be possible in the country, which used to be done in India and other advanced countries.

More than 400 people including the Arena students, Arena management, corporate guest from the Advertising agencies, Production houses and press and electronic media attended the seminar. Speakers included Mr. Shariq Mushir, Pyramid Productions, and Mr. Suqlain Zaidi, Post Amazers, Mr. Arshad Khalil, Master Franchisee Arena Pakistan, Mr. Salman Zeni, Business Manager Arena Pakistan, Mr. Kashif Usman, Allianz EFU, Mr. Yassir Abbas, Orix Leasing, Ms. Saima Manzoor, President AMSA.

SAFETY, SECURITY, HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT AT ICI PAKISTAN

ICI Pakistan endeavours to provide a safe and healthy work place for both its employees and contractors and strives to act responsibly towards the communities and the environment in which it operates. This is achieved by the improvement of its first class Safety, Security, Health & Environment, SSHE performance through corporate leadership, the dedication of its staff and the application of the highest professional standards in its work. For ICI, the safety of its stakeholder is of utmost importance. It is this challenge that drives the stringent rules that safeguard its stakeholders and protects the environment, in which we all live and work.

ICI Pakistan has maintained its strong commitment to good Safety, Security, Health and Environmental (SSHE) performance in all its operations. This is achieved through dedicated efforts to maintain standards and performance objectives agreed on an international basis within the ICI Group of Companies worldwide. The Company has progressed further in its continuous improvement strategy by defining demanding performance targets under a new phased programme called SHE Challenge 2005, which covers all aspects of Safety, Occupational Health, Environment, Product Stewardship and Distribution.

ICI Pakistan manufactures and sells a range of industrial and consumer products, including, Polyester Staple Fibre, Soda Ash, Sodium Bicarbonate, Paints, Specialty Chemicals, Agrochemicals, and arranges manufacture on a toll basis of Pharmaceutical products as well as trading in various specialised chemicals including Polyurethanes, Acrylics and Titanium Dioxide for use in industries in Pakistan. In 2001 the Company's PTA Business was demerged to be housed in Pakistan PTA Limited, which is also an ICI Plc subsidiary. This business was set up in 1995 and a USD 490 m PTA Manufacturing facility at Port Qasim was commissioned in 1998. ICI Pakistan has a 25% shareholding in Pakistan PTA Limited, which is a public quoted company.

Turnover of ICI Pakistan Limited for the year ended 31 December 2001 was Rs 12.8 bn and gross assets employed amounted to Rs 14.98 bn. It is one of the largest quoted companies in the Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad Stock Exchanges with a paid-up share capital of Rs 1.4 bn. The Company has 1421 direct employees and over 1400 people provide services through contractual arrangements. ICI Pakistan has a proud history of sustained investments in the Pakistan economy in basic manufacture.

With annual sales of Rs 12.8 bn in Pakistan and progressive profit improvement, ICI Pakistan creates value for over 21,000 shareholders.

ICI SHE BELIEFS AND PRINCIPLES

Our goal is for ICI to be the industry leader in the production and sale of products, which benefit society. We will provide a safe and healthy work place for both staff and contractors, and will act responsibly towards the communities and environment in which we operate.

This will be achieved by the continuous improvement of our first class SHE performance through corporate leadership, the dedication of our staff and the application of the highest professional standards in our work.

The principles, by which we operate, within the limits of current knowledge, are:

•All work related injuries and illnesses are preventable. Our goal is zero harm.

•All escapes of hazardous materials can be prevented and emissions in the course of operation will progressively be reduced towards zero.

•We will adhere to the highest standards for the safe disposal of waste materials.

•Energy, water and other resources, both natural and man made, will be utilized efficiently. We will minimise waste.

New products can be developed which have increasing margins of safety for users and the environment throughout their life cycle.

•Line management are accountable for leading the continuous improvement in SHE performance to defined goals.

•Everyone has a personal responsibility for their own safety and health, for others in the workplace and for the environment in which they work. Safety and good health are equally important away from work and will be encouraged.

•Everyone should be involved in the SHE improvement process.

•ICI contractor SHE performance will be managed by them to the same standards.

•Information on SHE performance will be made available to those around us.

We are individually and collectively committed to these principles and expect all who work in ICI to behave in accordance with them. We will actively promote these principles through the ICI Group.

The Security function in ICI Pakistan has been amalgamated with that of Safety, Health and Environment, under the new Responsible Care Management System, and overall Corporate Security across the Company has been reviewed by consultants. Their recommendations, which are under implementation, are expected to produce significant improvements.

ICI Pakistan's manufacturing sites, all equipped with excellent effluent treatment facilities, have continued to meet with all applicable National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS). The Company also continues to provide support and assistance to the further development of national environment programmes through various industry and trade organisations.

As a good corporate citizen, ICI Pakistan is committed to the development of the country and is sensitive to the needs for social development and community services. Social initiatives include educational assistance; medical care facilities and support to community developmental projects.

MICROSOFT AND SONERI BANK LIMITED SIGN ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT

Microsoft Pakistan and Soneri Bank Limited signed an Enterprise Agreement, embarking on a relationship that will help one of the leading banks to introduce new and innovative technology concepts and introduce effective systems in the organization.

Mr. Mohammed Kateeb, Managing Director, Microsoft Middle East and Mr. M. Karun Naseeruddin, SEVP & GM of Soneri Bank Limited signed the agreement. Also present on the occasion were Mr. M. Haider Devjianie, SVP & IT Head, Soneri Bank, Mr. Abdullatif Al Mulla, Regional Manager, South Gulf, Microsoft, Mr. Jawwad Rehman, Country Manager, and Mr. Asim Haque, Enterprise Account Manager, Microsoft Pakistan.

The Enterprise Agreement will enable Soneri Bank to deploy the latest technology introduced by Microsoft over the 3 year term of the Agreement. The latest products can be used in the Bank to improve productivity and to provide better services to its customers.

"Microsoft is happy with this decision of Soneri Bank Limited, a leading private bank in Pakistan, to enhance its technological capacity and thereby improve its services. I am sure it will be of immense value to the organization," said, Mohammed Kateeb, after the signing of the agreement.

Mr. M. Karim Naseeruddin of Soneri Bank Limited commented, "The bank is committed to the advancement and introduction of technology related services to our customers, I am sure the signing of this agreement will help us a great deal in achieving this objective".

ABN AMRO RAISES OVER PKR 7 BILLION ACQUISITION FINANCE FOR FAUJI FERTILISER

Fauji Fertiliser Company Limited made the full and final payment to the Privatisation Commission for the purchase of 54 million shares (representing 90% of the outstanding share capital) of Pak Saudi Fertiliser Limited.

AMRO N.V., FFC deposited a total of PKR 7,185.90 million on May 30 and May 31.

ABN AMRO was the Lead Arranger in this transaction for raising the acquisition financing and the syndication led by it was completed in a record time of less than 5 weeks. To date, this financing represents the largest private sector syndicated dept arrangement in Pakistan.

The syndicate included: 1)AlBaraka Islamic Bank; 2) Askari Commercial Bank Limited; 3) Atlas Investment Bank Limited; 4) Bank Alfalah Limited; 5) Bank of Khyber; 6) Bank of Punjab; 7) Bolan Bank Limited; 8) Citibank NA; 9) Faysal Bank Limited; 10)First Women Bank Limited; 11) Habib Bank AG Zurich; 12) Jahangir Siddiqui Investment Bank Limited; 13) Meezan Bank Limited; 14) Metropolitan Bank Limited; 15) Muslim Commercial Bank Limited, 16) Pak-Libya Holding Company (Private) Limited; 17) Pak-Oman Investment Co. (Private) Limited; 18) PICIC Commercial Bank Limited, 19) Saudi Pak Commercial Bank Limited: 20) Saudi Pak Industrial & Agriculture Investment Company (Private) Limited; 21) Soneri Bank Limited; and 22) Union Bank Limited.

Under the GoP's Privatisation programme, PSFL was offered for sale at a sealed bid auction on March 09, 2002. FFC was declared the successful bidder with its bid price of PKR 135.85 per share. The CCoP approved this bid price and issued the LoA on March 11, 2002. As per the terms of the LoA, payment towards 54 million shares was to be made within 90 days of the issuance of LoA. However, actual payment was made 10 days before the deadline set by the Privatisation Commission. The total acquisition value for 54 million shares amounts to PKR 7,335.9 million, of which PKR 150 million was paid by FFC at the time of bidding as Earnest Money. With full and final payment, FFC has assumed management control of PSFL as of May 31, 2002.

The successful completion of the acquisition of PSFL represents a milestone transaction for FFC and the Privatisation Commission and will provide impetus to the GoP's Privatisation programme in the future. It also manifests ABN AMRO's commitment to Pakistan and the Bank's distinction of being the top syndicated debt arranger in the country.