Lahore—A train service will soon be started between Pakistan and Turkey whereas Turkey is taking solid steps for promotion of trade and over-coming energy crises in Pakistan which will soon yield positive results.
These views were expressed by heads of Turkish traders delegation Mr. Turgut Puyan and Mr. Dogan Kaynak during media briefing. They said that they preferred to celebrate Eid with their flood affected brothers and sisters in Pakistan by leaving their family and country on Eid days. They said that 5000 animals were sacrificed and 2.5 lakh packets of meat were distributed among affectees and a total of 15 lakh people benefited from this meat. They told that all animals were purchased from flood hit areas and Rs. Two crore were paid to the local people.
They told that due to this step, economic activities were boost up in flood hit areas. Turkish traders informed that MoUs were signed with Lahore Chamber of Commerce for enhancing trade between Pakistan and Turkey under which a delegation of Pakistani traders will visit Turkey next year. They said that Turkish and Pakistani Prime Ministers and Chief Minister Punjab have given a special target which will be fulfilled and both the countries will achieve the target of trade of two billion dollars during next two years.
They said that planning has been made for opening school with the cooperation of Turkey in every city of Pakistan. Turkish traders informed that they witnessed personally that the financial assistance given for the rehabilitation of flood affectees is being used properly. They told that Turkish investors will start their business in Pakistan in near future. They also told that train service between Pakistan and Turkey will be started soon whereas Turkey will also extend full cooperation for over-coming energy crises in Pakistan. A mobile power plant has reached at Karachi Port in this regard which will provide electricity to Karachi for five years.
Turkish traders said that they are thankful to the people of Punjab and Khadim-e-Alla Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif on their warm welcome. They said that Turkey and Pakistan are two separate country but are one nation.
SIALKOT: A six-member delegation of leading leather goods exporters left Sialkot for Turkey on Saturday, for a week-long study visit under the auspices of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido).
The head of the delegation, Muhammad Anwar Butt, told media that the Sialkot exporters would learn advanced leather and leather goods manufacturing technology from Turkish exporters and manufacturers, while visiting manufacturing facilities in Istanbul and Azmir (the big industrial cities of Turkey). The Pakistani exporters would also share their experiences and observations.
He said that the trip would also be helpful in the early transfer of advanced leather technology to Sialkot which would help upgrade and modernise the industry, enabling it to meet global challenges under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regime.
Butt said that Unido had offered technical assistance and expertise to strengthen the leather industry which could be capable of meeting the international demand and quality standards. Unido has initiated a development project for this purpose which included provision of latest machinery for garments to the Leather Product Development Institute Sialkot, practical training and foreign study tours for hands-on knowledge.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2010.
via Exporters leave for Turkey – The Express Tribune.
LAHORE: Pakistan and Turkey need to promote cooperation in agriculture, industrial, trade, science, education and other sectors including technological advancements. The consensus was developed at a meeting between 30-member Turkish delegation and the Executive Committee Members of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Saturday.
Both the sides agreed that the deep-rooted relations between Pakistan and Turkey should be translated into trade and economic terms in the larger interests of the people of the two sides. The visit to Pakistan provided an opportunity to the Turkish delegates to have first-hand knowledge about available business openings in Pakistan.
The delegates while exchanging their views said that both the countries have marvelous but as-yet-untapped business potential that needs to be realised by maximising the involvement of private sectors of the two countries. The Turkish delegates hoped that the economic relation between the two countries would strengthen further to create a win-win situation for Pakistan and Turkey.
In his address, the head of Turkish delegation and Vice President Business Tuskon Federation, Dogan Kaynak said that Turk people attach great importance to Pakistan, consider it their second home and this was the only reason that they had expressed solidarity with their brothers and sisters by celebrating Eid in Pakistan. He said that the Turkish people in general and the business community in particular would continue to support Pakistan in the days to come. He said that the delegates during their visit to Pakistan gained ample information about available business opportunities and would surely be coming back with good investment proposals.
Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI President Shahzad Ali Malik thanked the Turkish delegation for celebrating Eid with flood victims in Pakistan. He said that it speaks volumes about Turkish people having love for their brothers and sisters in Pakistan.
The LCCI President said that the LCCI is taking immediate and concrete steps to enhance the volume of trade between the two countries from existing $663 million to $2 billion. He said in order to achieve the target, focused and collaborative efforts would be made.
Shahzad Ali Malik said that Turkey would be focused this year for exploring trade and business opportunities and to achieve the goal a strong linkage would be established with Turkish businessmen for having market access to Europe, North Africa and Middle East.
The LCCI President said that the LCCI through its own efforts is continuously working on an agenda of closer cooperation between Turkey and Pakistan. To supplement these efforts, we have established Turkey-Pakistan Business Council by signing an agreement with Foreign Economic Relations Board, Turkey.
He said that the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Lahore chamber and Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and Industry needs to be reinforced. The LCCI President also lauded the efforts made by Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif for strengthening the linkages among the business communities of Turkey and Pakistan. He said that the role of Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) is quite exemplary as they are organizing conferences like they held in April 2010 in Lahore where over 200 leading CEOs of both the countries were engaged to discuss ways of exploring investment opportunities for Turkish companies in Punjab. Shahzad Ali Malik said that Pakistan was in dire need of Turkish expertise in the food processing and agriculture sectors. The LCCI is giving top priority to these two sectors because the recent floods have destroyed agriculture and food industry.
The LCCI President said that in the wake of the recent floods, the country is going to initiate the process of reconstruction of infrastructure, bridges and road networks in the devastated areas, the Turkish construction companies would find ample opportunities to collaborate with Pakistani businessmen.
Earlier, the LCCI signed an MoU with ANEED (Anatolian Businessmen Federation) working under the umbrella of Business Tuskon Confederation, ANEED, Turkey — a federation committed to making a valuable contribution to the nation’s economic development through the promotion of trade and industry.
via Daily Times – Leading News Resource of Pakistan – Pak, Turkey to enhance trade ties.
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said that the Turkish delegation, by celebrating Eid with the flood victims, has proved that Turks really consider Pakistan as their home.
Addressing a reception hosted in honour of a 75-member Turk delegation at CM Secretariat on Friday, he thanked the people of Turkey for not only donating money and relief goods but also sparing time for the calamity-stricken people. Business Tuskon Confederation Vice President Dogan Kanak, Hatem Sayki of Hatemoglu Company Istanbul, Turgat Puyan, Senior Adviser Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, members National and provincial assemblies, Punjab Investment Board vice chairman and senior officers were also present.
The chief minister said Pakistan and Turkey have deep rooted religious and cultural relations, which are unparalleled in history. He said that next year, when he would visit Turkey, along with his trade delegation, he will go to every Turkish city to tell the Turk people how much Pakistani people were indebted to them for their help and assistance to the flood victims. app
via Daily Times – Leading News Resource of Pakistan – Turks consider Pakistan as their home, says Shahbaz.
KARACHI: A Turkish ship carrying rental power plants and scheduled to enter Pakistani waters on Wednesday will be required to undergo environmental checks, among other formalities, before generating electricity for the national grid system, it emerged on Tuesday.
The ship, which is sailing from the Tuzla port, Istanbul, will be initially berthed at the Karachi Port Trust. The incoming plant has a generation capacity of an estimated 220 megawatts. – File photo
The ship, which is sailing from the Tuzla port, Istanbul, will be initially berthed at the Karachi Port Trust. The incoming plant has a generation capacity of an estimated 220 megawatts.
A coordinator for the Turkish firm Karkey Karadeniz Electrik Uretim A.S., which has been awarded a contract for the establishment and operation of rental power plants on the city’s coastline, told Dawn that the power ship named Kaya Bey is likely to be moored for power generation in the vicinity of the Korangi Thermal Power Plant on Nov 24.
In March, after a public hearing held for environmental clearance for the ship-mounted plants, chairman of Turkish firm Orhan Remzi Karadeniz had said the plants were set to be brought to Pakistan in mid-April 2010.
He had further affirmed that the necessary no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Port Qasim Authority for the berthing of the ship at the project site had been acquired and efforts were afoot to ensure compliance of the country’s environmental laws at every stage and taking necessary environmental impact mitigation measures for a safe power generation.
When contacted by this reporter, the director-general of the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa), Naeem A. Mughal, who had issued an NOC for the power ship project, first of its kind in the country, in April last, said that a Sepa team would undertake scrutiny of the ship and verify the details provided by the proponents of the rental power project. Without Sepa approval, the plant could not operate, he said, adding that though the ship was said to be a state-of-the-art vessel, Sepa’s concerns mainly pertained to marine and air pollution.
He said that since the power plant would be placed in the province, Sepa wanted to ensure that all the system and machines used for power generation worked in conformity with the environmental laws of the country. The proponents are already in line with the conditions of Sepa’s NOC required to observe the World Bank’s set standard for noise level to minimise the possible noise impact of the project on the receptors in the surrounding, he added.
The Turkish firm was notified as the qualified bidder in the award of the contract in September 2008 for the installation, commissioning, maintenance and operation of the barge/ship-mounted power plants at Karachi on a rental basis for five years.
At the public hearing, experts had suggested certain extra facilities to be made available at the ship-mounted plants to address the issues of safe disposal of effluent and solid waste, including hazardous sludge discharge and emission of SOx, NOx, CO2 and CO from the plants.
The conditions as mentioned in Sepa’s NOC impose that the proponent shall ensure that all industrial wastewater, gaseous emission and particulate matters generated due to operation of the ship-mounted power plant are in compliance with the National Environmental Quality Standards notified for the purpose.
“The equipment for the separation of oil and grease from effluent shall be installed on board to prevent the discharge of oil and grease into the sea. Temperature, TSS, and pH of all effluents and gases being released will be controlled through effective equipment and technologies,” the conditions included.
It is further observed in the regulatory conditions that the ship will be located at an optimum distance from the fishing jetty by ensuring that the movement of fishing boats going to and from the jetty should not be affected and for this purpose consultation will be ensured with the local fishermen.
Monitoring of ambient air quality within a radius of 500 metres of the plant shall be conducted on a regular basis for CO, SOx and NOx parameters during operation of the plant in order to observe the incremental impact of the project on air quality. The result shall be provided to Sepa with the monitoring reports.
Natural vegetation of mangroves or any other species will not be destroyed or damaged or removed, and no dredging of the area will be undertaken, except with the approval of Sepa.
Among other dos and don’ts, the NOC called for the submission of an emergency response or contingency plan for any accident on the plant to Sepa, development of a complete code of health, safety and environment and strict adherence to mitigation measures recommended in the EIA report to minimise any negative environmental effect on the ecology of the project area.
The coordinator for the Turkish firm said that on the suggestions of the experts, some technical details in the environmental impact assessment reports had already been added, while all reservations of Sepa would also be addressed properly.
Replying to a question, he said his firm was already operating two power ships in Iraq. The ship being brought into Pakistan was the largest one and could be fuelled with heavy and light oil. The firm intends to bring in another ship for oil storage, the coordinator added.
About the schedule of the ship’s arrival and plant operation, the spokesman said the ship would come to the KPT at its berths 4 and 5 on Nov 18, followed by an on-board ceremony welcoming dignitaries and other concerned persons on Nov 21.
The ship would finally be moored at the rental plant’s operation site near the Ibrahim Hydery union council of Bin Qasim Town on Nov 24. Necessary stringing and interconnection from the delivery point (onboard the ship-mounted plants) to the Korangi grid station and any commercial generation from the plant may take two or three weeks more, the coordinator concluded.
Turkey’s growing ties to Iran and opposition to NATO missile defenses targeting Tehran are raising “many doubts about Turkey’s future” among officials in the alliance, Greece’s No. 2 defense official says.
“I’m a bit pessimistic about the Turkish future,” Greek Deputy Defense Minister Panagiotis A. Beglitis said in an interview with The Washington Times. Mr. Beglitis was in Washington on Thursday for meetings with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen and other Pentagon officials.
Mr. Beglitis said Turkey’s government recently “objected to mentioning Iran as a potential threat in a NATO text concerning” missile-defense doctrine.
“Also, they objected very, very recently to [the Security Council] of the United Nations concerning sanctions against Iran. They voted against sanctions. That’s the reality. We have to pay attention to that,” he said.
Mr. Beglitis said he does not know what the future holds for Turkey’s place within NATO, but he said Greece “share[s] the same concerns with many, many colleagues within the alliance.”
Greek Deputy Defense Minister Panagiotis A. Beglitis says he is concerned about the Turkish government’s growing ties with Iran. In an interview Thursday, he said it may have an impact on the NATO alliance. (Associated Press)”I can tell you I would not be surprised to see a Turkey outside of the Western institutions and playing an autonomous strategic role in the whole region.”
Turkish officials declined to comment on Mr. Beglitis’ statements.
Turkey also had a strong alliance with Israel until December 2008, when Israel launched its 22-day war against Hamas in Gaza. Relations further deteriorated after May 31, when nine Turkish nationals were killed in a confrontation with Israeli commandos aboard a ship seeking to run Israel’s blockade of the territory.
Turkey has demanded an apology from Israel for the deaths. Israel has refused.
Greece, a historical rival of Turkey, meanwhile, has been developing closer ties to Israel.
