1 (11Th Session) NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SECRETARIAT
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1 (11th Session) NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SECRETARIAT ————— “QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWERS AND THEIR REPLIES” to be asked at a sitting of the National Assembly to be held on Monday, the 12th May, 2014 136. *Ms. Shaista Pervaiz: (Deferred during 9th Session) Will the Minister for Textile Industry be pleased to state: (a) the time by which the additional energy requirements of the textile sector will be met in order to take benefits from GSP Plus scheme given by the European Union; and (b) the mechanism devised to comply with the conditionalities of said scheme? Transferred to Water and Power Division for answer on next Rota Day. 137. *Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho: (Deferred during 10th Session) Will the Minister for Commerce be pleased to state: (a) the amount of foreign exchange earned by the pharmaceutical sector during the last two years; and (b) the incentives being given to improve the said sector? Minister for Commerce (Eng. Khurram Dastgir Khan): (a) A total amount of US$ 358252 was earned from the export of Pharmaceutical sector during the last two years. Breakup is as under:— 2 ————————————————————————————— Year Value in “000” US$ ————————————————————————————— 2011-12 158,387 2012-13 169,865 ————————————————————————————— Total: 328252 ————————————————————————————— (b) Assistance in Marketing Abroad Exhibitions are arranged by TDAP for promotion of exports in different sectors. The exporters of pharmacutical sector have been invited to attend following exhibitions in the year 2013-14 to market their products in overseas markets:— —————————————————————————————— Exhibition Particulars Region —————————————————————————————— 1. Medical Dusseldorf, Germany, 20-13 Nov. 2013 Europs 2. Hospital Expo, Jakarta, Indonesia, 6-9 Nov. 2013 3. Arab Health, Dubai UAE, 27-30 January, 2014 4. Korea Int’s Medical & Hospital Equipment Show, Asia Other than South Korea, 12-24 March, 2014 China 5. The 15th SE-Asian Healthcare Show, Malaysia, 24-26 April 2014 6. 16th Inti Exhibition of IRAN Health 2013 (Iran Med- Iran Lab-Iran Pharm) 18-21 May 2014 7. Saudi Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18-20 May 2014 8. Hospital 21-24 May, 2014, Brazil USA 9. Mediconex, Cairo Health, 17-19 April 2014 Cairo, Egypt. Africa —————————————————————————————— Pharma Trade Delegation to Vietnam ,Cambodia & Laos An eleven members Pharma Trade Delegation visited Vietnam, Cambodia Laos from September (09 - 16), 2013. TDAP arranged business interaction meetings of the delegates with the trade associations / chambers / buyers in three countries as well as for provision of logistics, interpreters and transportation facilities alongwith leaflet on delegates / company profiles for distribution in these places during B2B meetings. The Delegation consisted of eleven Pakistani companies dealing with a wide range of medicines, nutritional supplements, Tablets, Antibiotic medicines (Analgesics, Anti-diabetics, Anti-ulcers, Anti-allergies), Herbal Medicines, Eye-drops, ophthalmic preparations, Intravenous irfusion / dialysis solutions, calcium, vitamins, syrups, specialty cosmetics etc. 3 197. *Ms. Nighat Parveen Mir: (Deferred during 10th Session) Will the Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan be pleased to state: (a) the steps taken by the Government for rehabilitation of the people of those areas of Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan who have been badly affected by natural disasters during the year 2012- 13 till date; and (b) the name of authority established to deal with the said disasters? Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gil-git Baltistan (Mr. Muhammad Berjees Tahir): Reply of Gilgit-Baltistan (a) & (b) In the year 2012-2013 some natural disasters occurred in Gilgit-Baltistan. Cases regarding rehabilitation/compensation are in pipeline and two rehabilitation/ compensation cases of District Ghizer were approved and funds are placed at the Disposal of GBDMA. In district Ghizer two villages namely Dalnati and Sosat were badly affected due to flashfloods in June/July, 2013. In these floods 19 houses were completed damaged including loss of prosperity and trees. The GB Govt has approved a sum of Rs. 4.667 million for the affectees regarding reconstruction and compensation as per approved policy of KA&GB. Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Management Authority (GBDMA), Govt of Gilgit-Baltistan Reply of AJ&K During years 2012-13 the following damages were reported: i. 85 lives death ii. 40 injured iii. 1020 houses completely damages iv. 662 houses partially damages v. 35 shops destroyed vi. 120 cattle perished. 4 Response : - Population was immediately rescued/evacuated to the safer places from threatened areas. - Compensation appropriately as per approved scale in vogue in AJK and property losses was provided. - Affectees were provided with shelters/tents and other Non Food items to protect them from any disaster situation. - One month food packegus were also provided to affectees. State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), Govt of AJ&K 201. *Ms. Shakila Luqman: (Deferred during 10th Session) Will the Minister for Textile Industry be pleased to state: (a) Whether it is a fact that a large number of power looms and sizing sectors have been closed in the country; if so, the reasons thereof; and (b) the total number of employees who have been rendered jobless therefrom? Minister for Textile Industry (Mr. Abbas Khan Afridi): (a) The export data of last eight months shows an increase in exports of cloth, which is an evidence that the said sub-sectors are showing progress and are not facing threat of closure:— —————————————————————————————— 2014 2013 % age Products Jul-Mar Jul-Mar Change —————————————————————————————— Cotton Cloth Qty (M. Sq. Mtrs) 1764.780 1571.980 12.26 Value (M.$) 2125.210 1986.278 6.99 —————————————————————————————— Sizing is an intermediary process before loom and as mentioned in the table if cloth exports increased then sizing would also be working. Further, the overall exports show that there is an increase of downstream products as well. 5 (b) Exports have increased which shows that loom operations have increased compared to previous year and more personnel would be employed to produce more fabric. 206. *Ms. Munaza Hassan: (Deferred during 10th Session) Will the Minister for Commerce be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that import consignments of raw material of cloth, steel sheet, machinery, auto parts and other various items are being cleared under the disguise of industry; (b) whether it is also a fact that the national exchequer faces loss of tens of millions of rupees monthly due to said corruption; if so, the reasons thereof; and (c) the steps being taken by the Government in this regard? Already replied by Revenue Division on 09-05-2014. 210. *Mr. Waseem Akhtar Shaikh: (Deferred during 10th Session) Will the Minister for Commerce be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that Pakistan has not been qualified so far to become Member of Hilal Board of the World; if so, the reasons thereof; and (b) the steps being taken by the Ministry to make Pakistan Member of said Hilal Board? Already replied by Science and Technology Division on 05-05-2014. 121. *Ms. Parveen Masood Bhatti: Will the Minister for Commerce be pleased to state: (a) the facilities being provided by the Government to common man with reference to GSP Plus status given to Pakistan by European Union at present; and 6 (b) the impacts of devaluation of dollar on the exports of the country? Minister for Commerce (Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan): (a) GSP Plus allows duty free access on agricultural and industrial finished and semi-finished goods to the European Union w.e.f. 1st January, 2014. The European Parliament had granted GSP Plus status to a few selected countries which undertook to ratify and implement 27 International United Nations Conventions (list attached) pertaining to Human Rights, Labour Rights, Climate Change, Narcotics Control and Good Governance. The Government of Pakistan has ratified all these 27 Conventions and is committed to implement in letter and spirit for ensuring Good Governance and Sustainable Development. The Implementation of Conventions are nothing new nor are they an additional responsibility or burden imposed on the Government. In fact the Constitution of Pakistan and the ethos of Islam contain and guarantee all of the provisions that are contained in these Conventions. Other than improving the human rights condition and providing for better working conditions, it is anticipated that GSP Plus status will result in the following: i. increase in our export to European Union by US$ 1.5 billion in one year. ii. There will be creation of around 100,000 more jobs in textile sector alone. (b) The devaluation and stability of the Pakistani Rupee viz -a-viz the US$ is likely to have a positive impact in the long run since it will make our exports ‘cheaper’ and hence internationally competitive. The analys is of dollar devaluation for the period from june, 2013 to March, 2014 and its impact on the exports of Pakistan is given in table below: ——————————————————————————————————————————— Month Exports Growth Exchange Exchange (2013-14) Rate (%) Rate (2012-13) Rate (2013-14) (1 US$=Rs.) (1US$Rs.) ——————————————————————————————————————————— July 2 0 94.38 100.8 August 1.9 -5 94.47 102.3 September 2.6 36.84 94.59 104.6 October 1.8 -30.77 95.35 105.9 November 1.8 0 95.99 107.2 December 2.2 22.22 97.19 106.3 January (2014) 2.1 -4.55 97.47 105 February 2.1 0 97.97 108 March 2.2 4.77 98.06 99 ——————————————————————————————————————————— Average 96.16 104.34 ——————————————————————————————————————————— 7 Comparison of exchange rate during July-March, 2013 with July-March 2014 shows that on 9 months average basis Rupee appreciated to 104.34 from 96.16. Notwithstanding rupee appreciation, the export date analysis transpires monthly exports, range from US$ 1.8 billion to US$ 2.8 billion during 9 months of CFY. Export stands at US$ 2.1 billion during February 2014 (Exchange rate is Rs. 108 versus 01 US dollar) against US$ 2.2 billion during March 2014 (exchange rate at Rs.