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Cabinet decisions

Govt to import

2.25 m tons of sugar

IKRAMUL HAQ

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Cabinet on Monday decided to import 2.25 million tons of sugar to stabilise its price in the market and to beat the hoarders in their game.

Addressing a press conference about decisions of Cabinet meeting presided over by the Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Information Minister Khalid Ahmed Kharal said that the State Bank has already been advised to allow opening of letters of credit for this purpose.

Answering a question, Kharal said that the amount of 2.25 million tons includes last week's ECC decision to import one million ton of sugar.

Kharal said that the foreign reserves situation was also discussed at the meeting. The Cabinet noted with satisfaction that the government has retired one billion dollars debt recently. The debt was retired in two tranches - one of 800 million dollars and another of 200 million dollars.

Answering a question about the sugar import, Kharal accused the Leader of the Opposition Mian Nawaz Sharif, Deputy Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and another leader Humayun Akhter for creating the sugar crisis.

While discussing the progress of implementation of projects approved by ECNEC, the Cabinet felt that it should concentrate more on implementation of the approved projects instead of going in for new projects. This would help consolidate the impact of the projects. The new projects, the Cabinet directed, should be taken up sparingly.

The Cabinet was informed that the ECNEC approved projects costing over 11.190 billion in mid-February. One of the projects was aimed at increasing the productivity of kitchen crops at a cost of Rs 142 million. The Cabinet hoped it would help increase the output of kitchen items like pulses and vegetables through the provision of better seeds.

The Cabinet also approved a draft bill to amend the patent and design act 1911 so as to meet the requirements of the World Trade Organization and other international agencies.

CONVENTION CENTRE

The Cabinet was also presented with a progress report on the Convention Centre being built in Islamabad in commemoration of the Golden Jubilee of Pakistan's Independence. The meeting was informed that the work was progressing satisfactorily and was in fact one month ahead of schedule. The Cabinet appreciated the pace of progress and expressed the confidence that the Centre would be complete in all respects in time to host the Special Islamic Summit to be held in March next year.

CONFERENCE

The Cabinet accorded approval to a proposal to arrange a one-day conference to highlight the contribution of late Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto for the cause of Islam and the unity of Muslim Ummah. The conference will be held in September this year in Karachi. About 300 renowned scholars, intellectuals, religious leaders and political figures would be invited to attend.

SUPARCO

The Cabinet approved another draft bill for submission to the Parliament to amend the SUPARCO Ordinance, 1981. The amendment seeks to give effect to the Cabinet's earlier decision to appoint the Defence Minister as head of both the Space Research Council and its Executive Committee.

AGREEMENT WITH GERMANY

Approval was also accorded by the Cabinet to an agreement between Pakistan and Germany for the purpose of re-admission of their citizens. The re-admission agreement was suggested by the German Embassy on the eve of the visit of the German President to Pakistan. The agreement would facilitate the re-admission of those persons who hold the nationality of either of the two countries but stay illegally in the other country.