PAKISTAN AMERICAN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION

PABA NEWS Issue No. 11 November , 2015

PABA, Gujranwala Chamber Join Hands to Hold International Convention in Washington

The Pakistan American Business Association and

the Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry have signed an agreement of cooperation to hold an International Convention and a Trade Show in Washington.

The agreement was signed by President of GCCI, Samee Ullah Naeem and Chairman PABA, M. Siddique Sheikh who visited Pakistan from Oct 6-23 to hold meetings with Pakistani businessmen and discuss their participation in the Convention to be held under PABA’s aegis.

“The International Convention and the Trade Show will bring together renowned and emerging companies from Pakistan and the United States,” said Mr. Sheikh referring to the response and interest shown by businessmen in both the countries.

PABA, a non-profit organization working for nearly 30 years to promote business linkages between Pakistan and the United States, has held several seminars, job fairs and trade shows, including an international convention held in Islamabad in 2004 that was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister of Paki-stan.

In addition to GCCI, the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce Industry are also in talks with PABA to attend the convention. No final date has yet been announced for the conven-tion which is duly supported by the Pakistan Embassy in the United States.

Mr. Sheikh earlier visited Pakistan in March this year as head of the PABA delegation to attend U.S.-Pakistan Business Council. The delegation made a comprehensive presentation about the Convention which was very well re-ceived by the businessmen and entrepreneurs who attended the three-day event.

During that visit, Mr. Sheikh also met with the Commercial Counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan who also assured all support for the Convention.

Under the agreement, signed on Oct. 17 , the two sides will work closely to hold the event within three years, though it was agreed that efforts will expedited to arrange it as soon as possible.

“The Chamber will help PABA to work as a bridge between Pakistani compa-nies and their American counterparts to make this Convention a success,” according to the agreement.

The Gujranwala Chamber will also conclude talks with the Sialkot and Gujarat

Chambers to be followed by a formal agreement. After the agreement with PABA and

the three chambers, a committee will be set up to form a criteria for selecting compa-

nies for the Convention

Also in this Issue

U.S.-Pakistan Energy

Employees’ Wellbeing

School Board Election

Pakistan Briefs

Pakistan’s Ambassador to U.N. Assures Full Support for PABA’s

International Convention

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Maleeha Lodhi has expressed her full support to Pakistan

American Business Association for its plan to hold an international convention and trade show in Washington D.C.

In a letter sent to the Chairman PABA, M. Sid-

dique Sheikh, the ambassador said she would extend

all support at the government as well as at the personal

level to make it a success. Ambassador Lodhi was

PABA’s guest of honor to ring the NASDAQ Opening

Bell in August as part of the celebrations to mark Paki-

stan’s Independence Day.

The entire ceremony held at the NASDAQ

MarketSite in Times Square, New York on August 28

was streamed live on the NASDAQ screen and was

widely reported by Pakistani and U.S. media, includ-

ing, CNBC, Fox, CNN and Bloomberg.

Ambassador Lodhi said it was an immense pleasure for her to join PABA to perform the ceremony. “It was a

unique honor for all of us to use the platform of one of the world’s major stock markets to introduce Pakistan to tens

of thousands of viewers,” she wrote in the letter.

The ambassador said the whole program was im-

maculately arranged and conducted and” I feel that this

event, the first by any Pakistani linked association or

company, will go a long way in contributing to our ef-

forts to promote a positive image of Pakistan”.

Dr. Lodhi said she was delighted to see the ex-

tensive coverage given to the event by both Pakistan as

well as the foreign media. She expressed the confidence

that the event will help pus forward the shared vision of

promoting ties between Pakistan and the United States,

especially in areas of trade and investment.

“It was indeed heartening to see the Pakistan flag

flashed time and again on the gigantic scree in New

York’s Times Square, one of the country’s most popular spots, frequented by man from the around the world every

day.”

A video clip was also displayed for hours that helped thousands of people know about Pakistan and its people.

She thanked PABA and its team for hosting the prestigious event to mark Pakistan’s Independence Day. She

assured her full support to PABA’s plan to hold the international convention and trade show in Washington D.C.

U.S., Pakistan to Hold Clean Energy Conference in December

The Pakistan and the United States govern-

ments will hold a Clean Energy Business Opportunities

Conference in December to highlight opportunities of

investment in clean energy projects in the South Asian

country struggling to overcome a chronic energy crisis.

The proposed conference will focus on private

sector investment options in Pakistan’s natural gas, wind,

solar, hydro, geothermal, and other clean energy projects,

according to a fact-sheet that was released by the White

House during the visit of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz

Sharif to the United States in the third week of October.

Both gas and power shortages are weighing

heavily on Pakistan’s efforts to boost its economy which

has started to show some signs of improvement after years

of slow growth. But, frequent power and gas cuts are

impeding efforts to sustain the economic growth which

crossed 4 percent mark in the previous fiscal year, after averaging 3 percent in the preceding five years.

Energy demands are projected to double by 2030 and could put the country in a serious situation if it fails to plug the gap

in supply and demand. The United States is extensively helping its nuclear-armed ally Pakistan, since 2009, to overcome power

shortages, and has committed more than $1 billion to date to support energy sector investment and reforms in cooperation with

the Pakistan’s government.

The US efforts have contributed to add almost 1,700 additional megawatts to the national grid, 1400 megawatts in the

past two years alone since the Sharif government took over. The U.S.-Pakistan Clean Energy Partnership is a new initiative to

support significant new private sector investment in clean energy projects in Pakistan.

Under this initiative, the United States will

provide technical assistance, risk guarantees, and

targeted investments in support energy infrastructure –

transmission lines. USAID will work close with the

Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and

multilateral development banks to bring additional

financial resources to the table in support of enhanced pri-

vate sector investment.

In September 2015, the OPIC Board of Directors

approved a loan guaranty of up to $250 million for trans-

mission and distribution infrastructure improvements at K-

Electric, Karachi’s power distribution company.

OPIC has also executed loan agreements facilitat-

ing U.S. private sector investment in five wind projects

amounting to 250 MW of generating capacity in Sindh

province.

The U.S. Department of Energy and three of its research laboratories will collaborate with Pakistan to develop an energy

sector-wide Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for energy. The plan, with the full support from the relevant Pakistani agencies,

would increase Pakistan's capacity to forecast future demand and identify clean and cost-effective generation and transmission

projects.

An organization’s values are the foundation of the way they do business. Their vision, mission and ultimate

goals help to articulate how their values guide their relationships with their clients, employees and shareholders.

Well established organizations have a clear vision, mission and purpose/goal. Many organizations preaches their

mission on a consistent basis implying that they really cared about their employees, but it is often noted that employees are

not happy with their leadership and strategy.

This results in high turnover, low production and even cost the health of employees. This concept has been studied

and researched before. Organizations should aim on the importance of maintaining employee wellbeing in the workplace,

which has large implications for an organization’s bottom dollar.

When an organization does not have happy employees, then organizational change needs to take place, which in-

cludes various phases such as the assessment phase and implementation phase of an intervention that can improve well-being

in the workplace.

When picking an assessment model to utilize for the task of implementing a well-being intervention into the work-

place, it is important to refer back to the theoretical basis of the models.

Weisbard’s model explains employee well-being in the workplace. This model represents a way to look at the organi-

zation’s structure. The components of the model include purpose, structure, relationships, rewards, leadership, and helpful

mechanisms.

We can administer a questionnaire to assess each of the boxes. To help us understand the true purpose of our change

initiative, “Do your employees agree and believe in your company’s vision, mission and goals?” This can allow researchers

to understand if employees are feeling valued and believe in their organization.

For structure, we can ask if there is open communication between departments. This can give insight into if em-

ployees get along with one another and we can promote well-being through one of our suggestions of increasing social con-

nectedness, especially if the feedback on structure indicates this is lacking.

To better understand relationships, we can ask employees about their relationship not only with their managers but also

their colleagues. We can get an idea of how the organization goes about managing conflict or promoting collaboratively to assess

relationships as these can be indices of employee well-being.

By Ghufran Ahmad

<a href="http://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/business">Business vector designed by Freepik</a>

Continued on P - 5

Having traveled the world and interacted with educators in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and South

America, I am reminded again and again of the power of democracy. The power of one person’s vote.

But that power is only experienced through active participation. It dissipates with apathy – and local elections

matter every bit as much as national ones. In fact, local elections probably impact individual families the most.

One of those elections that is critical to the well being of the community and to individual lives is the School

Board. A vibrant public school system is crucial for our children, our property values, our civil discourse and more.

Yet, as with other parts of society, schools are in the midst of dramatic changes. To test or not to test; English

as a second language; crowded classrooms; low teacher pay; the safety of children; special needs; changes in technolo-

gy. The list of critical items is long. And, these are not issues that “someone else” should deal with. They need YOU.

I have three recommendations for our readers.

First, it is critical that you as parents and a citizens involve yourselves in school life. If every family would

volunteer 2 hours per week at a school or on a school committee, we could save tens of millions of dollars of taxpay-

er’s money. AND, just think how rich our school community would be with all of those ideas and helping hands.

YOUR ideas and helping hands. Remember my question in an earlier article - “What could we do together that we

cannot do alone?”

Second, you must become familiar with education itself. Are the textbooks our schools using the best? Do

they portray history and the world accurately, or are they prejudicial? How is technology being used – is it successful?

Is our curriculum broad – offering a rich variety for students? Are school boundaries fair to the community, do they

make sense? As new schools are being built are they forward looking? Remember, some of the buildings we are

building today will be used 50 or more years. These are just a few of the issues at hand.

Third, we should elect people for the school board that have strong qualifications in education, budgets, facili-

ties, community insight and knowledge, good fundraising etc. .It is important that school board members be selected

who want to serve the community, not use the election as a stepping stone for some other elected office. The stakes

are too high to be careless in whom we ask to serve.

On November 3, I hope the citizens of the Coles District of Prince William County will give me a chance to serve. I’ve

been a Dean at George Mason University for 14 years, and have developed

By William “Bill” Reeder

Continued on P - 5

…. Continued from P - 3

Researchers can ask about the current reward structure and if the company is aware of the types of rewards

that actually motivates their employees as motivation and reward can positively impact an employee’s well-being.

It is also vital to understand the current leadership structure and figure out what kinds of leadership styles are being

used an d if these styles are making employees happy or anxious working in the organization.

Lastly, it would be important to assess helpful mechanisms, such as if the company has the resources to accomplish its

objectives. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to accomplish a job

in an environment that does not facilitate the process.

Weisbord’s model can help us in diagnosing the issues that need

attention or it can also reinforce the change we would like to see in that

organization. We would be able to have the appropriate questions from the

model answered utilizing questionnaires because it will be of little cost to the

employer and it would allow the employee to respond anonymously.

This model also talks about the environment as well, but we can

assess the importance of which factors to focus on, the external or the internal

factors that can impact employee well-being.

When focusing on enhancing employee well-being based on our as-

sessment, we can make recommendations. A recommendation that can be

made includes an intervention in which the employee can do activities that

research has shown to be beneficial to improve their job affective well-being.

These activities would be done by the employees themselves.

Throughout the organizational change procedure, we need to relate the intervention initiative to the organization’s vision

and mission and goals.

Ghufran Ahmed is Vice President at BB&T and Director PABA

…… Continued from P - 4

I’ve had experience with large education budgets, and I’ve built many successful education

facilities throughout my career. Above all, I care deeply about a global community and the vitality

that our citizens from around the world bring to the American societal fabric.

I want to serve all of our families, and I pledge to represent you honestly, fairly and with boundless energy. And,

I will form a citizens advisory board, and you will be invited to participate.

Many of you live in other communities – and cannot vote for me. But you can, and you must vote. And when you

go to the polls, I implore you not to neglect the School Board race. On most ballots, it is at the end, you may have to look

for it.

Take just a moment to become familiar with the candidates before hand. All of them have websites that describe

their experience and their ideas. Select the ones that make the most sense to you. Trust your judgment. That is the power

of democracy.

At the end of the day, this is not a job that one applies for. It is an election that YOU decide. So do your home-

work, and above all – vote! So many have sacrificed to make this election possible.

William “Bill” Reeder is Professor and Heritage Chair, George Mason University

and Coles District Candidate, Prince William County School Board.

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VGMC to Hold Annual Legislative Reception in November

The Virginia Gasoline Marketers Council

will hold its annual Legislative Reception

on November 12 that will provide an oppor-

tunity for its members to meet new custom-

ers and business contacts.

The VGMC hold the reception every year to support its members and their busi-

ness and encourage the participants to invite their local and state representatives.

The Council uses a network of dedicated volunteers to monitor legislative and regulatory

actions to ensure that interests of its members are well protected.

Mr. M. Siddique Sheikh, Chairman Pakistan American

Business Association, is the member of the 2015

VGMC Legislative Reception Committee which is

overseeing the event. Other members include Roy

Page, Ron Harrell, Myron Boncarosky, Tom Harvey,

Bob Reilly, Steve Harrell, David Rubino, Bill McGil-

licuddy and Bill Wiygul.

Fairfax County Police Department

Minimum Qualifications-Police Officer

Corrected 20/20 vision; normal color perception.

Ability to perform full range of job functions.

20 1/2 years of age at date of hire.

High school graduate or G.E.D.

Valid drivers license with good driving record.

Never committed, been involved in, convicted of a felony or serious misdemeanor. Drug history will be scrutinized.

Excellent character, reputation, and stable work history.

Police Officer : $50,263 *

*enhanced pay consideration for prior law enforcement, college degree, foreign

language proficiency, or military experience.

Become a member of the largest and most progressive local law enforcement agency in Virginia

* Pakistan Imposed 10% Duty on Import of Cotton Yarn Pakistan has imposed a regulatory duty of 10% on the import of cotton yarn and grey and

processed fabrics of cotton. The decision was taken by the Economic Coordination Commit-

tee of the Cabinet (ECC), the highest decision-making body on Oct. 29. The committee was

informed that the decision was based on extensive consultations with the relevant stakehold-

ers

* Turkey to Provide 34 T-37 Jet Trainer to Pakistan Turkey will provide 34 T-37 Jet Trainer and Light-Attack aircraft to Pakistan free of cost. An agreement was signed on

Oct. 28 during the 11 meeting of Pakistan-Turkey High Level Military Dialogue Group (HLMDG) in Ankara.

* Pakistan to Buy 26 LNG Cargo rom Qatar Under 1-year Contract Pakistan will buy a total of 26 cargoes of LNG from Qatar under a one-year contract, out of which 14 have already

been received, Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Oct. 28. LNG price at 15 percent of Brent index of

$50 percent would be $7.5 per MMBTU. The country’s natural gas production was stagnant at 4,000 mmcfd per day

for 10 years and constrained demand stood at 6000 mmcfd. The Minister said the government needed to sign five more

contracts to import LNG as currently cater to only 20 percent of the country’s energy needs.

* U.S.’ OPIC Inks $250 Accord with Pakistan’s K-Electric The U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation and Pakistan’s K-Electric executed a commitment letter for a US $

250 million 10 year financing project on Oct. 22 during the visit to the United States by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The OPIC loan which has been facilitated by CitiBank will be used by K-Electric to undertake a comprehensive and

transformative upgrade of the K-Electric power grid.

* ADB to Provide $178 Million For Pakistan’s National Motorway The Asian Development Bank will provide $178 million to Pakistan for constructing the 62-kilometer National Motor-

way M-4 Gojra-Shorkot Section Project. This includes a grant component of 90.77 million to be provided by the De-

partment of International Development (DFID), UK. The loan agreement was signed on Oct. 22.

*China Increases Financing For Thar Coal Project The Chinese Government has agreed to increase financing in Thar Coal which will increase the generation capacity of

Thar Block-II from 660 to 1320 MW, it was announced on Oct. 20.

*Pakistan to Award Contract For Building Dasu Dam in March

Pakistan will award contract for building Dasu hydropower project in March, next year. A meeting held on Oct. 18, and

attended by the World Bank officials, approved the financial package for the dam. The World Bank told the meeting

that ten leading international Contracting companies had expressed interest in bidding for the project.

*Pakistan, Russia Sign Agreement to Build North-South Gas Pipeline Pakistan and Russia signed an Inter-governmental agreement on Oct. 16 to build the North South Gas Pipeline which

will transport gas, with an additional capacity for LNG, from South to North Pakistan. The approximately $2 billion

pipeline project traversing a distance of about 1,100 Kms is expected to be completed by 2018.

Pakistan Briefs

The Pakistan American Business Association, commonly known as PABA, was established in

1986 to bring together business people of diverse occupations, providing opportunities for

them to flourish and help others grow.

Through our board, active members and leadership in the United States of American and in

Pakistan, PABA has been able to achieve many successes at local, national and international level. PABA nurtures

business opportunities between Pakistan and the United States and enables its members to develop new businesses

and promotes dialogue between Pakistani and American government officials. we have don

PABA AT A GLANCE

Local, state, national and international conventions

Job fairs for aspiring business people

Relief efforts for Katrina Hurricane and 2010 Pakistan Flood victims

International Trade Conference in Pakistan in 2004

Raised Funds for Shaukat Khanum Hospital in 1995

And much more,,,,,,,,,

PABA To Host International Trade Show in Washington D.C. Soon

Pakistan American Business Association

9302 Old Keene Mill Road Suite B

Burke, VA 22015 - 4278 www.pabausa.org

What we have done

Editorial Team :

M. Siddique Sheikh

Shakeel Tufail

Augustine Anthony

Khalid Noufal