Is Pakistan ready for a take-off?

By Ahsan Iqbal

Published: January 19, 2016

The latter half of the 20^th century has seen many countries successfully emerge as regional powerhouses. Unfortunately, Pakistan has been struggling to make this happen despite being endowed with rich resources. In the 1960s, Pakistan was touted as a rising economic power like Japan but its progress was derailed due to the 1965 war. In the early 1990s, Pakistan again captured the attention of the world when it took the lead in pioneering economic reforms in South Asia. However, this dream once again proved to be short-lived as the country plunged into a decade of political instability. Governments lasted no more than two years, and eventually the country was caught in the talons of martial law. In 2013, the Western media was calling Pakistan the most dangerous country in the world. Just two years later, due to economic reforms and security-related measures taken by the government, Pakistan is being projected as an emerging economic success story by the same media. Today, we are again poised for an economic take-off. The improving security situation, improving economic indicators and the establishment of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) offer many opportunities for the country. The million-dollar question is whether we will seize this moment for an economic take-off or will once again squander it.

China-Pak investment: PML-Q refuses to support changes in CPEC

There cannnot be a better analogy to understand Pakistan’s trajectory than learning from the concept of ‘take-off’ in aviation. In order for a plane to successfully take off, besides having a clear runway and favourable weather conditions, in the tug of war between opposing vertical and horizontal forces of lift versus weight, and thrust versus drag, the forces of lift must prevail over weight and the power of thrust must prevail over drag. During a take-off, all the weight on the aircraft must also be stable, otherwise the take-off can turn into an accident. The aircraft cannot take off if its engines are not working in sync to provide the required thrust. An aircraft can land with one of its engines shut down, but it can never take off without all engines working together. If all these conditions are not met, the plane can’t take off successfully.

This example is instructive in understanding Pakistan’s potential for a take-off. Firstly, we are a nation of 200 million people, of which almost two-thirds consists of the youth, with heightened aspirations and expectations. Our institutions are weak due to a fractured political history featuring long shadows of various martial laws. Moreover, due to the lack of investment in human capital over a prolonged period means that we still have high levels of illiteracy, disease and poverty. This translates into a heavy weight of social underdevelopment that has to be lifted. We need an extraordinary force of lift to overcome the drag and downward pull and achieve a successful take-off. We possess a rich endowment base. However, this can only be harnessed effectively by adopting the right strategies and implementation mechanisms with a clear focus on the economic agenda. Additionally, just as an aircraft can’t take off if the runway isn’t clear and is not of the desired length, countries also need to ensure that their policies are sound and provide a consistent and stable span for take-off. Finally, equally important is the favourability of the socio-political weather, as political thunderstorms and social jolts are capable of subverting take-offs.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: Lines of development – not lines of divide

The nation’s institutions must work harmoniously to produce the positive synergy required for an economic take-off. It is absolutely critical that all national institutions align themselves with a national vision and function with harmony to overcome the inertia of forces of the status quo to ensure a national take-off. Pakistan is an evolving society in which new power centres are emerging alongside traditional structures of power. After the Eighteenth Amendment, provinces have assumed added responsibilities and roles. Coordination between the federal government and provinces for realising the national development agenda has become critical. The media, the private sector and civil society are new and powerful players in national affairs. The judiciary has assumed a new role in the wake of Judges Restoration Movement. The role of parliament and the legislatures has become critical for effective democratic governance. The civil and military bureaucracy play a key role in our context.

Based on these fundamentals and lessons from our history, in order to ensure Pakistan’s take-off, it is critically important that all stakeholders, institutions and players join hands for a team effort. Political differences must not come in the way of the pursuit of national goals. Vision 2025 has been developed through elaborate and extensive consultation of all stakeholders. It has been approved with the consensus of all political parties represented in the governments of our federation, with the PML-N at the Centre and Punjab, the PTI and the Jamaat-e-Islami in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the PPP in Sindh and the nationalist parties in Balochistan. The nation has declared its aspirations and intent to join the league of newly emerging economies with the goal to be among the top 25 economies of the world by 2025. In order to reach this goal, we will need to achieve an annual growth rate of over seven per cent. Though this may seem daunting, with the great dividend of the CPEC in our grasp, this goal is achievable. However, to realise this dream we need to follow the rules of a successful take-off — maintaining favourable political weather, ensuring a smooth platform of consistent policies, and working together as a united, determined and focused nation.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2016.

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A good year for the PML-N

LAHORE: 

The start of 2015 was a time for reflection for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). The ruling party assessing the financial and political losses caused by the 126-day-long sit-in by the Pakistan Thereek-e-Insaf (PTI) in front of the parliament. The PTI ended its sit-in after the December 16 massacre in Peshawar. It then appeared that the PML-N was struggling to keep things under control.

By the end of the year, the PML-N appears more comfortable with the political situation. Analysts say it is a rare moment in the country’s history; all three tiers of a democratic government (federal, provincial and local government) are in place.

Politically speaking, it was a good year for the PML-N. The party swept local government and Cantonment Board elections. It also won four out of five National Assembly seats in the by-polls this year.

In the NA-137 by-election in Nankana Sahib, PML-N’s candidate Shazra Mansab won comfortably by polling 77,890 votes. His opponent Ijaz Shah got 39,363 votes.

In NA-108 Mandi Bahauddin, PML-N’s candidate Mumtaz Ahmad Tarar defeated the candidate fielded by the PTI by over 28,000 votes. Tarar took 70,638 votes. His opponent, Muhammad Tariq, obtained 42,029 votes.

Riazul Haq, an independent candidate, won the NA-144 Okara by-polls and later joined the PML-N.

The by-election in NA-122 Lahore was arguably the most anticipated event of the year. Sardar Ayaz Sadiq of PML-N defeated Abdul Aleem Khan of the PTI in a close contest. Sadiq was once again elected speaker of the National Assembly.

The PML-N also won four out of six Provincial Assembly seats where by-election was held. Mumtaz Quraish won the by-election in PP-24 DG Khan, Mahmoodul Hasan in PP-196 Multan and Chaudhary Akhtar in PP-100 Gujranwala. In PP-16 Attock, Jehangir Khanzada, son of slain home minister Shuja Khanzada, secured victory in the by-poll. The PML-N candidates were defeated by the PTI’s Nasir Cheema in PP-97 Gujranwala and Shoaib Siddiqi in PP-147 Lahore.

What’s next?

PML-N central leader Hamza Shehbaz said the party had shown that it wanted to resolve people’s problems. He said those who did staged sit-ins had wasted time and resources. He said by 2017, the PML-N government will have overcome the load shedding crisis.

All’s well for democracy in Pakistan

Analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi said while all three tiers of democracy were formally place in Pakistan, the country was being governed in a very personalised manner.

“The question is that is National Assembly being strengthened as an institution? Does the prime minister or the chief minister go to the assembly? Are decisions made inside the assembly or outside? We have seen that the prime minister rarely goes to the parliament and same is the case with the Punjab chief minister.”

He said it remained to be seen how things would change with the elected local governments. “Democracy has definitely strengthened in 2015. However institutions need to be strengthened and we hope this happens in the future,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2015.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1018521/a-good-year-for-the-pml-n/

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Better Economy | FDI 7.7% higher

KARACHI: Pakistan received foreign direct investment (FDI) of $216.2 million in the first quarter of 2015-16, 7.7% higher than the FDI received in the same three-month period of the preceding fiscal year.

According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday, FDI increased $15.6 million year on year in July-September, as it amounted to $200.7 million in the corresponding months of 2014-15.

Pakistan has faced low levels of foreign investment in recent years. The SBP has called an increase in FDI “imperative” for the sustainability of the economy’s external sector.

Largest contributor to the FDI in Jul-September was China ($190.2million), followed by the United Arab Emirates ($48.9 million), United Kingdom ($33.4 million), Switzerland ($27.9 million) and Italy ($26.9 million).

Net FDI in September alone clocked up at $96.9 million, up 8% from the net inflow of $89.7 million recorded in the same month of the preceding fiscal year.

The largest net outflow of FDI in July-September was recorded in the petro chemicals ($135.8 million) followed by metal products ($14 million).

The largest increase in FDI in July-September was in the category of power, which attracted $142.5 million. Other sectors that attracted substantial FDI in the first three months of 2015-16 were tobacco and cigarettes ($28.9 million) and oil and gas exploration ($41.4 million). However, the FDI in the oil and gas exploration category dropped 47.5% on a year-on-year basis.

Pakistan received FDI of $709.3 million in 2014-15, which was 58.2% less than the FDI received in the preceding fiscal year. Largest contributor to the FDI during 2014-15 was the United States ($238.7 million), followed by China ($229.5 million) and United Arab Emirates ($222.4 million).

However, the US has pulled out $103.4 million from Pakistan so far in 2015-16 although net inflows from the world’s largest economy amounted to $54.8 million in the same three-month period of the last fiscal year.

DESIGN: NABEEL AHMED

Many foreign investors have left Pakistan for good in recent years because of the energy crisis and bad governance. At least four multinational pharmaceutical companies have left Pakistan for good in the last six years. The category of pharmaceutical and over-the-counter products lost FDI of $47.2 million in the last fiscal year.

However, FDI from China is expected to rise further in view of the recently announced China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), according to the SBP. “The implementation of infrastructure development and energy projects under the CPEC will further enhance the improving investment environment,” it said in a recent statement.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2015.

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Oil output expected to rise to 40m barrels next year

 Oil output expected to rise to 40m barrels next year

 

The government has set the production target for crude oil at 40 million barrels for the next financial year, an increase of 12% over the goal for the outgoing year.

This year, the target is 35.62 million barrels and actual production is likely to be 35 million barrels by the end of the year on June 30, which is 98% of the output the government expected to achieve.

In 2014-15, maximum crude oil production per day is 100,000 barrels per day and the government plans to increase it to 110,000 barrels per day in the next financial year, beginning July.

For gas production, the target has been set at 1.5 trillion cubic feet for the next financial year, which is only 2% higher than the target of 1.470 trillion cubic feet for the outgoing year. Actual output this year is expected to be 1.460 trillion cubic feet, hitting 99.32% of the goal.

Oil and gas exploration companies are planning to drill 126 wells to meet the target for the next year.

According to the Annual Plan 2015-16, next year the demand is projected to stand at 23 million tons of oil (473,000 barrels per day) and 2.1 trillion cubic feet of gas (six billion cubic feet per day).

Keeping in view the expected supply of domestically produced oil at only 110,000 barrels per day and 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas, the gap between supply and demand is required to be met through imports.

About 18 to 19 million tons of crude oil and petroleum products will be imported while domestic gas supply will be supported through import of 400 million cubic feet of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per day. This will result in bridging to some extent the gap of over two billion cubic feet of gas per day.

A positive feature for the energy sector in the past one year had been a sharp decline in international crude prices, which triggered a 29% fall in domestic petroleum product prices. With this, costs of transport and electricity generation have also gone down.

In an effort to enhance the exploration and production of oil and gas, a study on shale oil and gas deposits is being conducted with financial assistance of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and it is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

The study will give an assessment and allied aspects of shale oil and gas resources in the country, paving the way for development of a comprehensive and investment-friendly shale oil and gas policy.

In order to extend their network in 2014-15, gas utilities – Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) – laid 6,799 km of new transmission and distribution pipelines to provide gas to 418,410 new consumers.

Next year, they plan to add a further 419,430 consumers by laying 7,332 km of new transmission and distribution pipelines.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2015.

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CPI hits 11 years low

Consumer Price Index: With sharp fall in oil prices, inflation hits 11-year low

 

Falling prices of oil and commodities in the global market led to the reduction in rates of petroleum products at home. CREATIVE COMMONS

ISLAMABAD:  For the first time in the last 11 years, inflation dropped to 3.96% in November on the back of a steep fall in prices of petroleum and food groups, beating even expectations of the government that estimated the figure at around 5.5%.

The slowdown in the pace of increase in prices measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) compared to November last year was reported by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) in its monthly inflation bulletin on Monday. It was the lowest level since November 2003 when the index stood at 4.2%.
The CPI covers price movements in 481 commodities every month.
Falling prices of oil and commodities in the global market led to the reduction in rates of petroleum products at home.
Though the government has passed on the impact of oil price dip to domestic consumers, they are yet to enjoy the benefits of falling global prices of palm oil, wheat and rice.

Last month, prices of kerosene oil were reduced by 12.25% and motor spirit (petrol) by almost 10%, said the PBS. However again, it did not include the two surcharges imposed on electricity consumers into the calculations, raising doubts about the credibility of numbers.
The electricity bills for November include the Universal Obligation Fund surcharge at Rs1 per unit on people consuming between 301 and 700 units and 50 paisa for consumption of over 700 units.
Similarly, a debt servicing surcharge of 30 paisa per unit has also been included in the bills. Both the surcharges are above the 30 paisa per unit revision in power tariff under the monthly fuel price adjustment for August and another 51 paisa per unit for September, according to media reports, which the government did not deny.
According to the PBS, food inflation in November stood at 2.1% year-on-year – the index had been recorded at 5.2% in October. It showed a decline of 3.1 percentage points in a single month.
On a monthly basis, overall prices decreased in November against October as the index was negative 0.4%.
The pace of increase in non-perishable food items was recorded at 3.6% in the month compared to November last year. Prices of perishable food items, however, decreased 10.6% year-on-year.
Fuel and food-adjusted inflation, called core inflation, also slowed down to 6.9% year-on-year with a reduction of 0.9% in a single month.
With the slowdown in both core inflation and the headline inflation, the SBP may have to further cut its discount rate. In the last announcement, the SBP lowered the discount rate by 50 basis points to 9.5%.
Average inflation during first five months of the current fiscal year (July-November) was registered at 6.45% compared to the corresponding period of previous year, according to the PBS. For this year, the government has set the inflation target at 8%.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2014.

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Pakistan Railways: China to inject $3.5b into infrastructure development

Pakistan Railways: China to inject $3.5b into infrastructure development

 

Lahore : A 23-member delegation of Chinese technical experts, led by Meng Wenli, Chief Engineer Alignment, will come on a trip to Pakistan at the weekend to pick the areas for an investment of $3.5 billion and complete the rehabilitation and replacement of tracks from Karachi to Peshawar.

The delegation, comprising representatives of China Railway Eeyuan Engineering Group Company, would arrive on October 25 and undertake a comprehensive study of a 1,400-km rail track with the technical support of the National Engineering Services of Pakistan (Nespak) and the Pakistan Railways Consultancy and Advisory Service, said an official.

The survey will also cover 2,340 bridges and 11 tunnels from Karachi to Peshawar via Hyderabad, Bahawalpur, Multan, Sahiwal, Lahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Jhelum, Rawalpindi and Attock.

Initially, the visit was scheduled for May this year, but was delayed and rescheduled for the last week of October. The team will prepare a report and submit it in February next year to the governments of China and Pakistan for further deliberation and reaching agreements.

China has expressed interest in pouring about $3.5 billion into infrastructure development for the railways. The areas where the money will be injected include replacement of rail tracks over 375 km, deep screening of ballast over 1,260 km, conversion of un-manned level-crossing into underpasses at 50 places, conversion of manned level-crossing into flyovers at 250 places, realignment of 40 big curves, strengthening of 500 bridges and doubling a 438km track at various places between Shahdara and Peshawar.

“This investment is, in fact, a loan being given by China at a concessionary interest rate of 1.5% under the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor,” the official said. “It will be released by the Export-Import Bank of China after receiving sovereign guarantees from the Pakistan government.”

The average speed passenger trains could run on this rail track is in the range of 85 to 105 km per hour, but they do not accelerate above 95 km per hour.

“After the replacement of tracks, the trains will run at the maximum speed of 120 km per hour for the next 15 to 20 years,” the official said.

According to the official, the Pakistan Railways complies with the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules, but in this particular case it will not be necessary to follow the rules as an agreement is being signed between the governments of Pakistan and China.

Only Chinese companies would participate in the bidding for contracts for all civil and engineering work. They would earn a profit of up to 20% to 25% on their investments and the Pakistan government would return the loan with interest payments to the financing bank, the official added.

“The management of Pakistan Railways was also asking China to undertake a project of electric traction over 1,400 km between Karachi and Lahore, but it refused,” said another official.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2014.

 

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New discoveries | PPL on the roll

 New findings: PPL on a roll, makes fourth discovery

The expected output from the (Kinza X-1) well will translate into approximately 2,100 barrels per day in oil equivalent and foreign exchange savings of $200,000 per day. PHOTO: KASHIF HUSSAIN/EXPRESS

KARACHI: 

Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) has announced that it hit another petroleum reserve in the Gambat South Block, its fourth discovery in the particular lease, which is located in Sanghar district, Sindh.

The exploration well, Kinza X-1 was spud on July 28 this year and reached the final depth of 3,695 metres on September 13.

“Initial testing flowed 12 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas along with condensate, thereby confirming presence of commercial quantities,” the company said in a statement.

PPL is the operator of Gambat South block with 65% working interest along with its joint venture partners Government Holdings and Asia Resources Oil Limited, which holds 25% and 10% interest, respectively.

In the same block, it has already found three producing wells – Wafiq, Shahdad and Sharf.

“Based on wire line logs, potential hydrocarbon bearing zones were identified in the Massive Sand of Lower Goru Formation, which are under testing,” PPL said.

The expected output from the (Kinza X-1) well will translate into approximately 2,100 barrels per day in oil equivalent and foreign exchange savings of $200,000 per day, it said.

The well is being flowed at different choke sizes to measure gas flow rates and the actual flow potential will be determined after the completion of the test.

In August, the company announced discovering 42 mmcfd of gas in Gambat South, its third and biggest discovery in the block. At the time, PPL said it was expecting the production to go up to 60 mmcfd.

It made the first two discoveries in Gambat last year.

Last month, another producing well was discovered in the Hala block, located in Sanghar and Matiari districts, Sindh.

The company said the well could produce 18.6 mmcfd of gas and 31 bpd of condensate from exploratory well Adam West X-1.

Hala is a joint venture between PPL and Mari Petroleum Company Limited, with 65% and 35% working interest, respectively. It covers as area of about 395 square kilometres.

PPL currently produces 10 mmcfd of gas and 150 bpd of condensate from another well in the Hala block.

PPL, which has a portfolio of 47 exploration blocks, has been aggressively searching for new hydrocarbon finds since last year to compensate for the decrease in production from its established fields like Sui.

State-run PPL had earmarked Rs10 billion to be spent on exploration activities during the last fiscal year with most of the focus on Gambat South.

The company accounts for 22% of the country’s gas production. In the fiscal year 2013-14, PPL posted a profit of Rs51.41 billion, up 23% over the previous year.

It has been trying to cut the depletion rate of its fields by installing compressor plants and drilling more wells.

PPL’s six producing fields include Sui, Kandhkot, Adhi, Mazrani, Chachar and Hala, while it has working interest in eight partner-operated fields.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2014.

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Civil disobedience failed | Remittances hit $ 4.69 B

 Remittances grow 19.5%, hit $4.69b

Pakistanis based in foreign countries sent home $1.71 billion in September, which translates into an increase of 33.7% on a yearly basis. STOCK IMAGE

KARACHI: Paying little heed to passionate appeals by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, overseas Pakistanis seem to be in no mood to observe civil disobedience for now.

Despite Khan’s call to abandon formal banking channels for transferring money to their home country, overseas Pakistanis sent remittances amounting to $4.69 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. This reflects growth of 19.52% as the remittances totalled $3.92 billion during the same three-month period of the previous fiscal year.

As part of his ongoing protest in Islamabad that began in the first half of August, Khan had urged overseas Pakistanis to send money home via hundi, which is the illegal way of transferring currency across international borders.

But the year-on-year comparison of data shows the public has turned a deaf ear to Khan’s appeal to dodge official money transfer channels.

According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday, Pakistanis based in foreign countries sent home $1.71 billion in September, which translates into an increase of 33.7% on a yearly basis.

Inflows from Saudi Arabia have been the largest source of remittances so far in 2014-15. They amounted to $1.34 billion in the first three months of the current fiscal year. They are up 21.77% from the corresponding period of 2013-14.

Remittances received during the last three months from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) increased 31.54% to $1.03 billion on a year-on-year basis. Inflows from the UAE registered the largest increase from any country during the last three months.

Remittances from the United States and the United Kingdom were $235.99 million and $218.38 million, respectively. The year-on-year increase in remittances from the US and the UK has been 10.77% and 4.67%, respectively.

Remittances from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, excluding Saudi Arabia and the UAE, clocked up at $545.04 million from July to September, which is 21.89% higher than the remittances received in the same period of the preceding fiscal year.

Remittances from Kuwait reached $200.6 million while those from Oman, Bahrain and Qatar amounted to $165.61 million, $90.5 million and $88.33 million, respectively.

Remittances received from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries during the last month amounted to $125.33 million, up 47.8% from $84.75 million in the same month of the preceding fiscal year.

In the last fiscal year, overseas Pakistanis sent home $15.8 billion, which was 13.7% higher than the remittances of $13.9 billion received in 2012-13.

People associated with money-remitting businesses had predicted that a majority of overseas Pakistanis would refrain from remitting money illegally in response to Khan’s appeal to boycott legal banking channels. Their expectation was because of the convenience and cost-effectiveness that legal money transfer channels offer to overseas Pakistanis.

The SBP offers banks a rebate facility through the Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI). Under the rebate scheme, neither the remitter nor the beneficiary is supposed to pay any remittance fee to the money transfer company.

The SBP reimburses the Pakistan rupee equivalent of 25 Saudi riyals to banks upon each remittance of $100 or more, provided that senders and receivers of remittances do not have to pay any fee. The bank, in turn, shares the rebate with its respective money transfer company as per their mutual understanding.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2014.

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#RoshanPakistan | 46 solar power projects planned in the Punjab

Let there be light: 46 solar power projects planned in the Punjab

By Our Correspondent

Published: October 13, 2014

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Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. PHOTO: APP

LAHORE: 

The government has selected 46 sites in the province where small-scale solar power projects will be set up to reduce the power shortage, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Sunday. He said there was vast scope for generating electricity from solar energy in the Punjab.

He was presiding over a high-level meeting to review prospects of setting up solar energy projects in the province.

Dr Gerwin Greesman, a German expert on solar energy, and Energy Additional Chief Secretary Jehanzeb Khan gave a briefing on small-scale solar power projects. The chief minister said it was essential to resolve the energy crisis to eliminate poverty and unemployment and boost trade and economic activities.

He said the government was taking all possible measures to deal with the energy crisis. He said ill-timed protests and sit-ins had wasted precious time. There was no room for further delay. “We must work together to banish darkness from the country… relevant departments and institutions will have to perform their duties with a renewed spirit.”

Sharif said the energy crisis had badly affected education, health and agriculture. It was absolutely necessary to solve the crisis in order for the government to promote industries. The chief minister said the prime minister was making sincere efforts to deal with the energy crisis.

He said there was vast potential to generate electricity through solar panels. Erecting 150MW solar power projects in the province would go a long way in decreasing the shortage of electricity. He said relevant departments will have to work on the projects on war footing.

Sharif said a team will be formed soon to ensure speedy and transparent execution of these projects. He said the provincial government would initially set up a 100MW solar project in the Quaid-i-Azam Solar Park in Bahawalpur using its own resources. He said the park will start producing electricity by the end of the current year.

The chief minister said that the provincial government was also working on coal, hydel, biogas and biomass.

He said there was vast scope for producing electricity using biomass. He said the government was working round-the-clock to solve the energy problem.

“It should not be long before we put the country on the road to progress and prosperity.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2014.

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