Day: September 28, 2021

Islamabad, September 28, 2021 (PPI-OT):Many private companies in Pakistan are still struggling to reach gender diversity targets, while fewer than one in 20 women make it to senior management roles, according to a new survey by IFC and the Pakistan Business Council highlighting the challenges and opportunities around women’s employment in the private sector.

More than half of the 86 companies across a range of sectors that responded to the Gender Diversity and Disclosure in Pakistan survey had less than 15 percent of women working for them, despite clear goals to reach the 15 percent target. Sixty-three percent had less than five percent of women in senior leadership roles, while 60 percent had either none or only one female member on their board of directors.

Lack of awareness and transparency around gender diversity is also a problem, with nearly 70 percent of the companies surveyed not collecting data on the gender pay gap. In addition, over half have never publicly disclosed gender specific targets.

“The study shows that Pakistan’s private sector still has a way to go to reduce the gender gap in its workforce, and this includes improving awareness of the business case for employing more women. Investing in women isn’t just a moral imperative; it also broadens the talent pool and helps companies increase productivity,” said Ehsan Malik, CEO of the Pakistan Business Council.

To address the issue, the survey includes five IFC Gender Equity Principles that private sector companies can adopt. These focus on promoting leadership and accountability, improving gender diversity, reducing the gender pay gap, creating an optimal workplace culture, and coaching and mentoring female employees.

“As the survey shows, Pakistan’s private sector can play a vital role in increasing gender diversity, from collecting data and encouraging transparency, to adopting gender-specific policies and offering flexible work options,” said Shabana Khawar, IFC Regional Head of Operations for Afghanistan and Pakistan. “We hope these findings will help create more inclusive and flexible workplaces that empower women to participate.”

While female labour force participation has increased in Pakistan in recent years, it remains one of the lowest globally at around 22 percent and just 10 percent in cities. Entrenched social norms, mobility issues, a large and persistent gender wage gap, and structural barriers such as discrimination or lack of awareness of employment laws have all contributed to the low rate.

In 2019, IFC partnered with the Pakistan Business Council to lead a peer-learning collaboration – Tackling Childcare Pakistan: Creating Family-Friendly Workplaces – with 13 Pakistani companies and Pakistan-based multinationals, to promote better work-life integration and implement policies such as paid paternity leave, breastfeeding support, and childcare facilities.

For more information, contact:
Headquarter,
International Finance Corporation (IFC)
2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20433 USA
Tel: (202) 473-3800
Fax: (202) 974-4384
Website: www.ifc.org

Karachi, September 28, 2021 (PPI-OT):Pakistan, National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) and Central Depository Company (CDC) have successfully completed a business continuity management drill. The exercise was planned for the most critical business functions to assess the readiness to continue operations in the event of unforeseen situations or emergencies.

The exercise was conducted on the actual operations providing all the critical business services from Alternate Processing Site (APS) throughout the day. The teams that were working from APS assumed full control of operations and performed all the operational activities remotely.

The main objective of this exercise was to assess if the predetermined Recovery Time Objective (RTO – time window taken to resume the operations) of each business critical functions are met and to assess recovery plan procedures and team members’ readiness for major incidents. The following critical business systems were involved in this exercise. The exercise was successfully achieved using latest state-of-the-art high-technology remote collaborative communication solution for instant decision-making.

NCCPL and CDC are certified against global standard of ISO 22301 Business Continuity Management System. Effective Business Continuity is a part of our strategic direction and we are committed to ensure its continuous improvement. Our strategic alignment is tested through resumption of business critical activities in acceptable timescale. Our history of excellence is based on striving for continuous improvement converting impossibilities into possibilities and priority towards client centricity.

For more information, contact:
Head Office,
National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL)
8th Floor, Karachi Stock Exchange Building,
Stock Exchange Road
Karachi – 74000, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-32460811-19
Fax: +92-21-32460827
Email: info@nccpl.com.pk
Website: www.nccpl.com.pk

Karachi, September 28, 2021 (PPI-OT):Frontier Foundry Steel (FF Steel), one of Pakistan’s leading and fastest growing steel manufacturers and Financial Advisory Consortium held a signing ceremony for the award of mandate for the upcoming listing of FF Steel on Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). A Financial Advisory Consortium (FAC), comprising of HBL, Bank Alfalah Limited, AKD Securities Limited, and Alfalah CLSA Securities Private Limited, has been engaged to advise the Company for listing at the local bourse.

Nauman Wazir, Chairman – FF Steel, Zarak K. Khattak, CEO – FF Steel, Muhammad Aurangzeb, President and CEO – HBL, Atif Bajwa, President and CEO – Bank Alfalah, Aqeel Karim Dhedhi, Chairman – AKD Securities, Ali Ansari, Chairman – Alfalah CLSA, and other senior team members of the FAC were present at the ceremony. The FAC together holds strong credentials with access to deep-rooted capital market investor base, both domestically and internationally.

Incorporated in 1986, FF Steel produces top quality Grade-60 steel bars having plants in Peshawar and Lahore and ranks amongst the top three rebar manufacturers in Pakistan. The Company also intends to explore different opportunities in the South region. FF Steel, with its focus on achieving efficiency and capturing growth opportunities, has undertaken backward integration at its Lahore plant. The Company has also heavily invested in its IT infrastructure and boasts state of the art ERP system.

Furthermore, FF Steel, due to its superior quality and strong brand value has already started exploring diversification into copper export business and steel bars export avenues regionally due to its favourable positioning (proximity to Central Asian countries), which can potentially unlock significant value for the Company in the future.

Commenting on the occasion, Nauman Wazir, Chairman – FF Steel said, “Over the past 3 decades, FF Steel has built strong foundations through its systems and policies, team and market penetration; I am confident of a prosperous and secure future of the Company and its stakeholders. With the assistance of such a strong and professional FAC of HBL, BAFL, AKD and Alfalah CLSA, FF Steel will, Insha’Allah, be making a historic and one of the largest ever private sector IPOs in Pakistan”.

For more information, contact:
Habib Bank Limited (HBL)
Habib Bank Plaza, I.I. Chundrigar Road,
Karachi – 75650, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-32418000 (50 lines)
Fax: +92-21-39217511
Website: https://www.hbl.com/

Islamabad, September 28, 2021 (PPI-OT):Islamabad Sihala Police held a wanted member of a bike lifting gang and recovered 17 stolen motorcycles worth hundreds of thousands of rupees from him, police spokesman said. He said that, following orders of IGP Islamabad Qazi Jamil Ur Rehman, DIG (Operations) Afzaal Ahmed Kausar assigned special task to police officials to curb car and motorbike lifting and to arrest the accused involved in it.

Following these directions a special team under supervision of Dr. Syed Mustafa Tanweer headed by SP (Rural-Zone) Muhammad Usman Tippu DSP Rural circle including SHO Sihala Police station Inspector Mirza Muhammad Gulfraz , Sub-Inspector Muhammad Ishfaq and others raided and succeeded to apprehend an accused of bike lifting gang identified as Zeeshan Sarwer resident of Chakbali khan District Rawalpindi. After investigation police team has recovered 17 stolen motorbikes from him.

During the preliminary investigation, he confessed to lift these motorcycles from various areas of Islamabad and Rawalpindi and sold on cheaper rate. Spokesperson said that, the accused was involved in seven cases of bike lifting in Sihala, Margalla and Rawalpindi New Town, Waris Khan, Cival line, and Airport police Stations areas while further investigation is underway from him for more recovery. IGP Islamabad has appreciated the performance of Sihala Police team and announced rewards for the team. All officers were further directed to intensify efforts to curb car and motorbike lifting incidents.

For more information, contact:
Islamabad Police
Data centre H-11, Admin Block,
Police Head Quarter, Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: +92-51-9258371 Ext (160)
Fax: +92-51-4443180
Email: webmaster@islamabadpolice.gov.pk
Website: https://islamabadpolice.gov.pk

Islamabad, September 28, 2021 (PPI-OT):The Chairmen of Committees of Defence and Foreign Affairs of the British House of Commons met with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in London and discussed the prevailing situation in Afghanistan. The Foreign Minister during the meeting stressed that the international community should not leave Afghanistan alone and take steps to lift Afghans out of the humanitarian crisis.

He also informed the chairmen about the ongoing atrocities of Indian occupation forces, siege of the Kashmiris and worsening human rights situation. The Foreign Minister said that Pakistan has issued a 131 page dossier on the ongoing oppression in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and in the dossier there is irrefutable evidence of war crimes of Indian officers.

For more information, contact:
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Government of Pakistan
4th Floor, Cabinet Block, Pak. Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: +92-51-9103557
Email: info@moib.gov.pk
Website: http://www.moib.gov.pk