News Update Times

Lahore (NUT DESK)

Prime Minister Imran Khan visited the ongoing development works site of Central Business District Punjab. On this occasion, the Prime Minister was briefed on the successful auction and the related development work of Lahore Prime along with the upcoming auction of 7 new mixed use commercial plots. It may be recalled that as a result of the auction of Lahore Prime, the government got revenue of up to Rs 24 billion and the construction of these buildings will also create innumerable employment and business opportunities.

The Prime Minister was further briefed on the new auction of ‘Lahore Downtown’ which is expected in late February, as a result of which, 7 mixed used commercial plots will be auctioned. Investors are already showing great interest in Lahore downtown. The government is expected to earn significant revenue from the said auction. For the first time in history, unused government land is being used positively which will create innumerable opportunities in terms of wealth generation as well increase in human resources.

On this occasion, Imran Amin – Chief Executive Officer for Lahore Central Business District Development Authority said, “Projects like the Central Business District in Pakistan are extremely vital for revival of dead capital, urban regeneration through sustainable vertical development and in creation of jobs & business opportunities. The CBD Punjab is making great progress in attracting investments which is reflected in the successful auction of Lahore Prime. Wealth generation worth PKR 1,500 Billion is expected from this project. We are looking forward for the success of 2nd phase, the Lahore Downtown”.

The Central Business District is being developed under the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan and under the guidance of Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Bazdar, with the aim of protecting the environment as well as promoting sustainable development. The PM delegation included Chief Minister Punjab – Sardar Usman Buzdar, Minister of Information & Broadcasting – Fawad Chaudhry, Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms & Special Initiatives – Asad Omer, Federal Minister for Education & Professional Training – Shafqat Mahmood, SAPM on Political Commutation – Dr. Shahbaz Gill, Minister of Estate for Information & Broadcasting – Farukh Habib, Advisor for Commerce & Investment – Razzaq Dawood, Chairman NAPHDA – Lt. Gen Anwar Ali Haider, Chief Secretary Punjab – Kamran Ali Afzal along with district & provisional administration.

Lahore (Nut Desk)

The Progressive Group comprising members of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has decided to fully promote Pakistani products and brands at Gulf Food 2022, the largest exhibition in the Middle East. Progressive Group with a large delegation of 25 members will not only participate in the exhibition but also set up stalls of various products so that the products made in Pakistan can be introduced to the international buyers.

The delegation will be led by Khalid Usman, President Progressive Group and Executive Committee Member, Lahore Chamber of Commerce. Group members Muhammad Ijaz Tanveer and Haji Riaz-ul-Hassan will set up stalls for their products made in Pakistan. The delegation will include Abdul Wadud Alvi, Mohammad Azam Cheema, Zeeshan Saleem Bakhshi, Faisal Arshad, Mohammad Nawaz Ilyas, Asim Shafiq Sheikh, Ali Imran, Mohsin Bashir, Bilal Riaz, Usman Riaz, Waqas Arshad Bhatti and Syed Hassan Raza.

The Progressive Group trade delegation will also attend seminars on Made in Pakistan and Branding and Value Addition programs to highlight Pakistani products as well as build capacity of members.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Pandamart, the country’s leading online groceries delivery platform has achieved a major milestone of establishing over 50 stores within just over a year since the first store was opened in Bahadurabad, Karachi in November 2020. The 50^th store was opened in DHA Phase 8, Karachi on the eve of the new year, on December 31, 2021. This exponential growth means that a new store was opened practically every week of the past 12 months or so.

Online groceries shopping through pandamart is accessible on the foodpanda app.

Today, pandamart stores are spread across Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Hyderabad, with this countrywide network of stores catering to about 85 to 90 percent of the population within the cities covered.  There are now aggressive plans in place to further increase the number of stores and also expand into several other cities during this year. The present stores cover more than 350,000 square feet of floor space, stock more than 10,000 products of over 200 suppliers and vendors, employ over      1,250 people directly and create economic opportunities for the freelance rider community.     .

Speaking about pandamart’s rapid growth, foodpanda’s CEO, Nauman Sikandar Mirza said, “Q-commerce is definitely the future and pandamart is pioneering this sector boldly as is obvious from the growth we have achieved in such a short time period. Our mission is to vigorously support the government’s goal of realizing a digital Pakistan and documenting the economy, while offering unprecedented convenience and benefits to the public through online groceries shopping that is available 20 hours out of 24 every single day.”

Benefits of online groceries shopping include convenience of ordering from home instead of physically visiting shops particularly important during the covid panedmic, extremely fast delivery, assured high quality of products, especially of perishables like fruits and vegetables, competitive prices, and particularly relevant during Covid times, the minimizing of human contact and avoidable movement of people.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) The Pakistan Footwear Manufacturers Association (PFMA) in collaboration with Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA), Pakistan Gloves Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PGMEA) and Pakistan Leather Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PLGMEA) has planned to organize PMLS 2022 at Lahore Expo Centre from 28 Jan to 30 January 2022 to promote the robust leather industry of Pakistan globally. The announcement came during a press conference held in local hotel in Lahore in which senior members from both sides are present to announced the scheduled of the exhibition to be held on 28^th till 30^th of January 2022 at Lahore International Expo Centre. The Press conference have addressed by Mr. Zahid Hussain- Chairman PFMA and Mr. Amanullah Aftab- Chairman PTA along with other members of partnered organization.

Mr. Abdul Razak Dawood, Advisor to the Prime Minister will Inaugurate PMLS 2022 as a Chief Guest at Lahore Expo Centre on 29 January 2022. The inauguration ceremony will also be attended by foreign diplomates and European union delegates.

Speaking on this occasion, PFMA Chairman Mr. Zahid Hussain stated “PFMA is committed towards development of Footwear industry of Pakistan by providing international platform for manufacturer and supplier to meet together to exploit each other strengths and workout on their weaknesses. The Exhibition will open door to international investors to explore Pakistan Footwear market and allow Local manufacturer to forge ties with foreign expert in producing finest products for local consumers. This event will create win-win situation for International and domestic Footwear industry stakeholders in transforming Pakistan footwear sector to bring it at par with International standards”.

Mr. Amanullah Aftab- Chairman PTA has shared his thoughts “Finished leather of cow, buffalo, sheep & goat skins being produced in Pakistan is the Most Highly Value-added product of Leather Sector of Pakistan, which is exporting abundantly to the world’s leading brands in general and catering to the domestic needs in particularly. The Exhibition will help to boost the industry by exposing domestic manufacturer to the international market”.

Same like exhibition of 2020, Pakistan Mega Leather Show 2022 will attract many international customers towards the tremendous potential that exists in the leather sector of Pakistan and help to provide a viable platform for nurturing stronger ties. The event also features a special exhibition of the high-quality products being produced by the leather Footwear-Manufacturing industry and leather goods of Pakistan. The PMLS 2022 will likely to attract many potential buyers and investors from Italy, Germany, Thailand, Spain, France, Turkey and Netherlands. The rapid growth of this industry reflects 5% increase in exports of Footwear Sector during 2021 and it continues this trend in 2022 with organization of these mega events which invite international buyers to invest in Pakistan. These investments will play vital role in bringing improvement in the technological skills, productivity and export of Footwear sector in Pakistan.

This exhibition also provides a great opportunity to supporting industry like cottage industry, SMEs and startups to meet the leading Leather, Tanners and Footwear Manufacturers and to get first-hand knowledge about the latest technology trend and raw materials supplier of the Footwear sector.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Constructors Association of Pakistan (CAP) has urged the government to provide relief from the impact of unbearable increase in the prices of construction material registered during the last one and half year due to which constructors are unable to meet their already signed agreements in public sector besides boycotting participation in any new tenders for the last two months. Prices of steel, cement, bricks and other construction material has registered an average increase of 75 per cent in the prices during the last one and half year while escalation in the public sector project either does not exist or ensure only a 10-15 per cent upward revision thus constructors have to bear the additional expense of 60 per cent at their own.

Escalation in the prices of construction material impact both the developers and contractors of government projects but developers can add the increased prices to their end cost for private buying but contractors in the public sector has to follow the agreed prices. Escalation is not given in the provincial contractors at all due to which industry is fast heading towards complete destruction. 80 per cent of the constructors in public sector development projects are small constructors are unable to continue the work or participate in new bidding but if immediate relief is not given work on gong-on projects worth trillion of rupees would also soon come to a halt, said CAP Chairman Engr. Kamal Nasir Khan while talking to a select group of journalists here on Wednesday. He said steel prices have reached to Rs 195,000 tonnes from 104,000 per tonnes in March 2020, cement prices touched Rs 730 per bag from Rs 480 per bag, Bitumen from Rs 64,700 per tonnes to Rs 130,600 per tons, Aluminum doors/windows from Rs 475 per square feet to Rs 825 per square feet and other materials also increased with the same ratio. He said 80 per cent of the small contractors do not even have working capital and they complete projects through payments made by the government. Big constructors do have the capacity to complete the projects even in loss by borrowing from the banks or selling their assets to save their reputation but small contractors involved in construction of streets, small roads and etc don not have that capacity, he added.

Engr. Kamal Nasir Khan said that they were running from the pillar to post for the last one and half years to have upward revision in the prices in correspondence with the existing rate of construction material. He claimed that a onetime escalation was given to the constructors in year 2004 by the then Musharraf regime vide SRO# 26/(183)Plan Cord-II/PC/2004 and earlier in year 1974. He said that planning commissioner, finance ministry and Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) representative should sit together to carve out some formula for one time escalation payment to constructors besides revising the existing escalation formula to reflect present market dynamics where already escalation is provided.

Constructors Association of Pakistan (CAP) Chairman Engr. Kamal Nasir Khan claimed that stoppage of ongoing construction projects and boycott of new tender would cause a direct impact of Rs 100-120 billion to the government while industries allied with construction would also face a slow down causing further dent on the national exchequer.