Samsung's ‘Daily Jumbo Jeet’ comes to an end

Samsung Pakistan carried out its exciting promotional activity called ‘Daily Jumbo Jeet’ from 17^th July, at Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Islamabad, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Hyderabad and Gujranwala till 30^th July 2017, to reward its consumers and retailers with exciting gifts. The lucky draw prizes included; Yamaha YBR 125 CC bike, Samsung 32” LED TVs, T-285 Tablets and cash vouchers up to Rs. 5000winner.

The customers and distributors all across Pakistan took full advantage of this promotional activity, whereby participating enthusiastically. The most recent ‘Daily Jumbo Jeet’ was held at Hafeez Centre, where a lucky customer won the grand prize of Yamaha YBR 125 CC Bike. In order to reward the retailers, Samsung gave a Tablet to every retailer whose customer won a Bike or an LED TV from his shop. A cash voucher of Rs. 5000 was also given to the Promoter deployed by Samsung, at the Shop where the purchase is made.

Head of Samsung Mobile Samsung EC Pakistan – Mr. Umar Ghumman stated: “Samsung has assumed a vibrant role to be a consumer-focused organization that seeks new opportunities to reward its customers, while providing them with the most innovative products to enable a modern lifestyle and powerful connectivity around the globe. With the Daily Jumbo Jeet promotional offer, we want to give our consumers and retailers both a chance to win high-valued prizes.”

Young Leaders’ Conference focuses on Hepatitis prevention on day-3

Young Leaders Conference’s (YLC) third day was titled ‘Cultural Leadership’, moderated by Asma Mustafa Khan. Each year, YLC opens its doors to 300 youngsters, between the ages of 18-24 from all over Pakistan. The third day was primarily designed to help the young participants discover their true potential and to find out where their talents could be best utilized.

As the World Hepatitis Day falls on 28th July, this conference welcomed representatives from Hilton Pharma, who engaged them in an awareness session on symptoms, preventive and curative measures for Hepatitis, as well as a Hepatitis Walk where participants designed and displayed their own posters.

Cultural Leadership was discussed in relation to the fashion industry, Self Defense techniques were taught and a campaign “Say no to violence” was discussed in the YLC. A very informative keynote session on ‘Scripture and Culture’ was given by Izhar-ul-Haq.  ‘Skills Shops Breaking Stereotypes’ took place in which the following skill shops were conducted; Defending Yourself, Healthy Lifestyle, Packaging Yourself, Listening an Act of Service and Art of Story Telling.

A Keynote Session was also conducted on ‘Culture matters: How values shape human progress’ by JavedJabbar. A cultural dinner was enjoyed by the youth which celebrated true colors of Pakistan as the third day came to a close. YLC is committed to shape the lives of the individuals attending the conference and help them get a better career path for themselves.

Huawei Consumer Business Group Announces 2017 H1 Business Results

Growth in high-end markets fuels increased smartphone revenue and market share

 Huawei Consumer Business Group today announced its 2017first half year financial results: sales revenue for the first six months of 2017 increased by 36.2% year-on-year to CNY105.4billion. Smartphone shipments also rose to 73.01million, a year-on-year increase of 20.6%.

Richard Yu, chief executive officer of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, said, “Our Consumer Business Group continued to deliver extraordinary growth, beating the industry average and penetrating high-end markets around the globe. This ongoing growth is testament to the strength of the Huawei brand and the momentum we’ve built through delivering premium, market-redefining devices that resonate with today’s discerning consumers.”

In Q1 2017, Huawei’s market share rose to 9.8 percent of the global smartphone market, according to industry analysts IDC. This growth was driven by a significant increase in sales of mid-range and high-end smartphones in key geographies. In Greater China, Huawei laid claim to 22.1% of the market where shipments increased by 24percent year-over-year.  Huawei also saw rapid growth in smartphone shipment across Europe, reporting 18percent year-over-year growth with particularly robust performance inCentral and Eastern andNordic Europe. The Huawei Consumer Business Group also experienced major breakthroughs in Asia-Pacific markets including Thailand, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. Russia also grew strongly.Meanwhile, according to the research of GfK and Sino, Huawei’s Honor brand consecutively topped both the Internet smartphone sales volume and sales revenue in China from January to May, 2017.

This year on year growth was reflected in Huawei’s rise as a globally recognized premium brand. In 2017, Huawei was named number 49 on BrandZ’s Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands, number 88 in Forbes World’s Most Valuable Brands and number 40 on the Brand Finance Global 500 Most Valuable Brands lists.

“Huawei devices have resonated with global audiences because of our clear commitment to quality, experience and innovation,” continued Yu. “With a robust consumer devices ecosystem that includes critically acclaimed smartphones, tablets, wearables and now PCs, consumers know that they can trust Huawei to deliver the kind of experience they’re looking for in a premium device.”

As Huawei’s brand presence grows, so too will its sales strategy. Huawei is set to grow its expansive retail network, reaching 56,000 retail stores worldwide by the end of 2017 – an increase from 35,000 in May 2016. These stores reflect the high-end, premium image that Huawei has cultivated around the world.

Looking ahead, Huawei expects to spur continued growth as the company pushes its devices further through innovations in artificial intelligence and machine learning that will drive the new “smart era” forward. The Consumer Business Group is committing to delivering intelligent devices that anticipate users’ needs and fit more organically into the way people work and live.

Across its 15 global research centers and 36 joint innovation centers, Huawei is working on new technologies including sensors, data management and advances to its Kirin chipset that are designed to bring this type of functionality to the marketplace. Huawei is also complementing its own innovation by collaborating with industry-leading companies such as Leica, Dolby, Microsoft, Intel and Google. 

Through these efforts, Huawei will continue to delight customers, challenge the industry, and build a Better Connected World.

Pak-Qatar Family Takaful distributes 28% Surplus for 2016

The only Takaful company in Pakistan to distribute surplus for 9 consecutive years

Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Limited (PQFTL) has announced the distribution of 28 percent surplus among its Individual Family Takaful Participants (Direct Sales Force-DSF) for the year 2016. With this declaration of Surplus, PQFTL is the only Takaful operator in Pakistan to declare distributable Surplus for Individual Family Takaful in all nine years of its operations.

The single-rate method has been adopted to calculate the Surplus and will be distributed amongst the participants through a defined manner in relation to the “Cumulative Net Contribution’ received in the IFTPF (Individual Family Takaful Participant Fund) by each participant. Furthermore, the actual distribution of surplus will be done only to those Participants leaving the pool during the year 2017, by way of Permanent Withdrawal, Death or Maturity of the memberships.

After this important announcement of Surplus, Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Limited will now become the only Takaful Operator in the country, which has been consistently declaring distributable surplus for Individual Family Takaful, every year, over the past nine years of its operations. It is important to note that in the year 2008, PQFTL had declared a surplus of 10%, which has seen consistent growth to reach 28% in the year 2016.

The following graph depicts the trend of Surplus Rate from year 2008 till year 2016.  

Three Major Technologies of HUAWEI EMUI 5.1

As smartphones are increasingly popular in people’s daily lives, smooth experience has become an important criterion for consumers to judge phones. Android has along been criticized for stutter after used for a while. To tackle the problem, HUAWEI has set up a team of 3,000 engineers who have comprehensively optimized Android 7.0 with Google and developed EMUI 5.1, introduced machine learning and upgraded Kirin 960 to fully tap the potential of software and hardware. As a result, smooth experience can be guaranteed even after a long time. So how does HUAWEI EMUI 5.1 make it happen? Here’s the catch.

Generally, the reason why phones lag as time goes by is that the memory is gradually occupied by more and more invalid fragments over time(see Fig.1.1). HUAWEI EMUI 5.1 seeks to solve the problem for users with its unique technologies.

Fig.1.1 Compilation of various system fragments

Technology 1: Artificial Intelligence

Intelligent perception, prediction and resource allocation of resources for smooth experience

HUAWEI EMUI introduced AI in order to achieve intelligent perception through machine learning. By studying users behavior, Mate 9 will have a better understanding of users habit over time and then be able to accurately predict users behavior and allocate resources to avoid cold boot. In fact, Mate 9 can predict 85% of users behavior and speed up boot time by 20%.

By perceiving demands of apps for resources, EMUI combined with Kirin chipsets can allocate CPU, GPU, memory and other resources accordingly instead of fair competition between apps so that hardware resources are truly allocated based on priorities and experience demand. As a result, phones will not lag over time.

Fig. 1.2 Intelligent allocation of resources

Technology 2: “HUAWEI Ultra Memory”

Making full use of RAM for faster experience

EMUI5.1 has self-learning capabilities based on AI,meticulously allocates resources due to integration of hardware and software and comprehensively optimizes Android components, solving the stutter glitch of Android phones. Moreover, by taking advantage of its technology in managing memory such as more efficient and stable memory recovery, memory compression at higher ratio and smarter memory defragmentation, EMUI delivers more smooth user experience with the same RAM.

EMUI5.1 defragments actively instead of passively, enhancing memory allocation efficiency by 30%. The difference is prominent when multiple tasks are processed simultaneously.

Fig.1.3 HUAWEI Ultra Memory

1) Active memory defragmentation: the system is able to perceive apps’ demand for memory in a real-time sense and then uses HUAWEI’s proprietary memory fragmentation computation model to perceive fragments in memory and defragments actively. In this way, it ensures that continuous memory space is available when needed and improves memory allocation efficiency.

Fig.1.4 EMUI5.1 defragmentation in a timely manner

2)Memory compression at a ratio>50%: EMUI5.1 uses a high-compression-ratio algorithm by increasing the ratio to at least 50%. Based on AI and machine learning technologies, a smart prioritization algorithm in accordance with users’ behavior is obtained to compress apps and files that are not commonly used, thus leading to a high compression ratio. See the following photos.

Fig.1.5 Before compression         Fig.1.6 After compression

3) Speedy memory recovery with higher efficiency of up to 20%: EMUI5.1 adopts HUAWEI’s proprietary speedy memory release technology to recover memory rapidly, effectively and stably, taking less than 1 second in contrast to 12 seconds in the past.

Fig.1.7 Before recovery              Fig.1.8 After recovery

Technology 3 “Huawei Ultra Response”

Making screen fly with your fingers

Photo shooting, sharing and gaming has become a routine in many people’s daily lives. It involves processing photos including image scaling and loading, bitmap decoding and graphics rendering. HUAEWI Kirin 960 has integrated Vulkan graphics engine technology and taken the lead in supporting new generation Vulkan standard graphics interfaces based on Android 7.0 so as to remove the limit of CPU on GPU and enhance GPU’s performance by 180% and power efficiency by 40%.it also has realized multi-threaded rendering acceleration and can load, decrypt and draw graphics through multiple threads, enhancing image processing speed by 400%. Meanwhile, it successfully avoids stutter even if graphics rendering takes a long time. Besides, single frame drawing performance is elevated by 35% to 70%, frame drop reduces by 90%, smoothness increases by 30% and hardware resource usage when rendering falls by 50%. As shown below, rendering speed in the left image is clearly faster than that on the right, delivering more smooth experience for users.

Fig.1.8 Smooth game images

In addition, HUAWEI EMUI5.1 adopts Huawei Ultra Response solutions and optimizes the touch screen driver from the kernel. It also predicts users’ touch based on their habit and does image rendering simultaneously based on Kirin 960, resulting in a response time as fast as iOS.

EMUI5.1 is able to predict the trajectory of users’ touch, accelerating response time by 10%. In other words, it leverages intelligent touch position prediction algorithm to predict users’ touch and refreshes interfaces in advance, accelerating response time to touch by 10%. Whether dragging icons across the desktop, browsing directory and messages or playing games (ThunderRaid), the screen moves perfectly with your fingers. Intelligent prediction makes your phone as smooth as a new one.

HUAWEI EMUI5.1 smart system, by leveraging various technologies, defragments and recovers memory space and optimizes intelligent prediction, image engine and touch screen to speed up response of your phone and deliver smooth experience.

HUAWEI Ranked 83 in the Top 100 of the Latest Fortune 500 List

In this year’s Fortune 500 that came out in the evening of July 20th, HUAWEI climbed up the list to the 83rd place from the 129th of last year with revenue of $78.51 billion, making the top global 100 for the first time.

The Fortune 500 list has always been the most prestigious and acknowledged list that ranks large companies all over the world, known as the “ultimate list”, released every year by the Fortune magazine. The Fortune 500 list ranks the companies according to their revenue and profit, focusing more on the size of the companies compared with other lists. The Fortune 500 rankings have become an important indicator that renowned companies use to measure their own strengths, size and international competitiveness, a parameter of global economy that transcends beyond borders, nationality and cultural differences.

HUAWEI’s brand value, on the other hand, is also recognized by multiple authoritative agencies and selected for several prestigious brand value lists of the world. For example, HUAWEI was the only Chinese company making the World’s Most Valuable Brand List released by Forbes in 2017; ranked the 49th in the 2017 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list; and climbed 7 places compared with last year to No. 40 on the Brand Finance 2017 Global 500 list of the top most valuable brands in the world.

As one of HUAWEI’s three business groups, HUAWEI’s Consumer Business Group is committed to becoming a signature culture and technology brand popular among consumers worldwide. According to market research statistics from wide-acknowledged agencies such as IDC, SA and Trendforce, HUAWEI ranked the third in terms of market share in the global smartphone market in Q1 2017, and Number 1 in China. Its flagship P series and Mate series have won the heart of many consumers, building a solid foundation for HUAWEI to increase its impact in the medium to high end of the market.

Huawei's quality & safety ensured by the highest standards

HUAWEI Consumer Business Group, a brand known for putting quality at the forefront of their product development strategy, recently shed light on its quality standards. HUAWEI goes out-of-the-way to ensure that all its products are extremely safe to use and provide the highest quality.

Earlier in August 2015, the ambient light sensor (ALS) from ROHM in Awn 4, MateS and Honor 7i had a failure rate of 0.1%. Maintaining HUAWEI’s reputation for quality, all of the smartphones using that batch of sensors were sent back for rework. Even if the ALS fails, the phones can still perform almost all the functions but regardless of the huge cost incurred, HUAWEI still called back all devices.

When we talk of HUAWEI – it is the only global brand today, with no record of any exploding-device. HUAWEI has effectively and consistently kept ‘user-safety’ at the forefront of all its operations. No product with even the remotest possibility of posing any health-hazard is ever approved or distributed among the HUAWEI users. Extensive stress-testing is done to ensure maximum safety protocols.

“Quality is the integrity and lifeline of Huawei. Huawei employs the craftsmen’s spirit’ to measure its products and ensure zero defects.” said Richard Yu, CEO of HUAWEI’S Consumer Business Group.

To ensure the quality of HUAWEI Health App 2.1, it underwent numerous tests by the testing crew. To guarantee the tracking precision, running tests were held in multiple cities. They ran over 1,000km, equivalent to 24 marathons. To guarantee the heigh tracking precision, the crew climbed up and down over 1,200 stories of stairs, equivalent to climbing up the Burj Dubai on foot for 7 times.

To guarantee the precision of step count, the testing crew walked over three million steps covering a total distance of over 2,000km, equivalent to walking back and forth for 10 times between Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

HUAWEI has also opened the doors to its “Device-Testing facilities”, in order to boost the consumers’ confidence in its products. Consumers can now be sure that maximum quality is ensured through due diligence for each one of their favorite HUAWEI products.

Enviro Kitchen Appliances endorsed and promoted by Chef Shireen and other famous food channels

Enviro - a leading manufacturer of a diverse range of home appliances, consumer-electronics and power-solutions has recently been promoted by various famous food television channels. Enviro brand was promoted and endorsed by the famous Chef Shireenand was also endorsed on Zaiqa TV.

Mr. Tauseef Zafar, Product Manager for Enviro Kitchen and Small Domestic Appliances (SDA) said “It is a pleasure for Enviro to have such endorsements and promotions by famous chefs and food channels and shows. We are committed to create more convenience for the consumers, by adopting innovative ways and providing unique services to our customers.”

  

Being a part of JW SEZ (formerly Ruba SEZ), Enviro is a progressive global enterprise, with a vision to be acknowledged globally as a trustworthy market-leader with a status for excellence in performance.The ergonomically designed, easy-to-use products are tailor-made to meet the needs of the Pakistani households and suit the environment.

All Enviro products come with a valid warranty that is backed by the promise of prompt after-sales service all over Pakistan.

For more Information kindly visit their website: http://www.enviro.com.pk/about.php

IBA-Karachi signs up as Knowledge Partner for 17th ITCN Asia Exhibition

From its inception in 2001, ITCN Asia has evolved as the biggest IT & Telecom exhibition and conference in Pakistan and it is now being organized for the 16th consecutive year on 19th to 21st September 2017, at the Expo Centre in Karachi. Most powerful brands of the world will showcase their state-of-the-art products and services, which will allow the user-community to get exposure to a wide range of technologies and solutions under one roof.

The Institute of Business Administration - IBA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to become the “Knowledge Partner” for the 17th ITCN Asia 2017. This year’s event is expected to host more than 300 International and/ National Exhibitors, representing more than 350 Companies, that shall showcase 600+ Brands.

This series of International Conferences comprises of a 3-day annual event. This year, it will feature insightful sessions like: China Pakistan Economic Corridor-CPEC opportunities for the ICT sector of Pakistan. It will cover important topics like: Challenges of Digital Security for Media. It will feature discussions during; A Telecom Summit, a CEO’s forum for Pakistan Software Export Board - PSEB, a conference on Information Security, and a Summit on Start-up Asia.

More than 3,000 CXO’s from different verticals of the ICT industry are expected to witness this event, while a grand exhibition also enriches this annual event, organized by the E-commerce Gateway Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd. Thus, ITCN Asia has catapulted the local IT and Telecom Industry, by attracting major enterprises from all over the world.

It is designed to create major opportunities for business-to-business alliances, leveraging their mutual strengths. It plays a pivotal role in strengthening the image of Pakistan on the IT Map of the world, to bring in huge foreign and local investments in the Country. Today, Pakistan’s IT sector has over 100 ISO certified companies, due to a continued focus on quality.

The industry also requires more competent Human Resources, with access to more Space and Bandwidth. There is a need for more Public Sector Development projects under which training programs, tailored to the specific needs of the Industry, can be implemented by the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB). The Higher Education Commission has also created stronger Industry-Academia linkages, to improve the quality and knowledge of fresh IT graduates.  Software Technology Parks (STPs) are also being set up on a large scale, all over Pakistan. On the bandwidth front, Today, Pakistan has 3 separate submarine cables for International connectivity that provide much needed resilience to the data networks.

Pakistan Council on China hosted annual forum to discuss prospects of CPEC

Pakistan Council on China (PCC) hosted its annual forum on the prospects and challenges of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) today in Islamabad.

The aim of the conference was to help promote better understanding for the future opportunities and challenges in the implementation of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

As key note speakers, Chargé d'affaires Chinese Embassy Islamabad Mr. Lijian Zhao  and Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Ms Tehmina Janjua shed light on this  important project for the region.

While discussing the opportunities of this strategically very significant initiative, Pakistan's foreign secretary Ms Tehmina Janjua said that " Pakistan believes its long-term prosperity  is inextricably linked to peace and development and we need  comprehensive approaches to regional peace, stability and prosperity.

She further said that our long term  vision of economic development  is reflected in vision 2025 which emphasizes regional connectivity and economic cooperation. CPEC is a natural choice for Pakistan and china. Pakistan's Eastern neighbor has publicly announced opposition to CPEC and we are well aware of the challenges.  She said that as the flagship project of OBOR, CPEC is destined to serve as a game changer for the whole region.

Chargé d'affaires Chinese Embassy Islamabad Mr. Lijian Zhao highlighted the role of Pakistan and china for regional connectivity and trade saying that " BRI carries the virtue of peaceful cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and win-win spirit. He further said that CPEC is an unprecedented undertaking in the history of China-Pakistan relations".

Forum also discussed  cultural, educational and economic  dimensions of CPEC. President of Pakistan Council on China Amb (r) Inam-ul-Haq  said that Pakistan and China enjoy a unique history of mutual respect, trust and friendship. He said that PCC created  in an effort to improve the level and content of communications between the two countries. He further stated that CPEC is the foundation for regional cooperation, improving economic growth and offering trade diversifications.

Director of Pakistan Council on China, Hamayoun Khan said that PCC is without doubt a strong contributor  to the concept of  BRI and CPEC  with our intellectual advantage. He further said that every Pakistani and Chinese are looking forward to great success of CPEC which will ensure the brighter future of the whole region.

Pakistan Council on China (PCC), a think-tank that was established in 2012, a year before initiation of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in view of the significance of expanding Sino-Pak bilateral relation. PCC is an independent, non-political, non-partisan body constituted to promote Pak-China relations. 

HUAWEI’S Amazing promotional Campaign Closes With A Bang!

HUAWEI recently completed its latest campaign which was primarily focused on celebrating the joys sharing with their valued customers. The campaign was rightfully kicked off in the Holy month of Ramadan and continued on well past Eid. Starting in mid Ramadan, the company gave its customers the amazing opportunity towin gifts simply by purchasing any Huawei devices, whereby they also automatically entered the Grand Lucky Draw.

This grand campaign covered 10 major clusters in a total of 6 cities across Pakistan. The last in a series of weekend Grand Lucky Draws was held 15th July. Apart from the small selfie sticks and Huawei merchandise the customers won on the spot, certain lucky customers got the opportunity to win much bigger prizes like Television Sets, Motorbikes etc through the Grand Lucky draw. The last grand ceremony was held across Pakistan in all big technology clusters such as Hafeez Center and Hall Road Lahore on 15^th July where these prizes were distributed.

Mr. Blueking - Country Manager of Huawei in Pakistan stated: “Huawei is not just a big name in the technology world; it is a socially embedded organization. By this campaign, we aim to provide the Huawei customers with exciting gifts and prizes, to make their life more joyfull and exciting.”

Huawei Pakistan keeps delivering on its promise of providing more than just quality devices to its users though these social campaigns. According to Huawei officials they plan to launch some more exciting nationwide campaigns later this year through which users will get the opportunity to not only win big prizes but also get a chance to showcase their talents to the world. Stay tuned to the social pages of Huawei to get more information on that.

Samsung’s 2017 QLED TV Line-up Launched in Pakistan

Samsung Electronics Pakistan showcased the next innovation in TV during the launch event held in Lahore.

The newly launched QLED TV has it all: perfect color, boundless design and it is smarter than ever. The QLED TV picture quality is simply jaw dropping in terms of the utter realism, brilliant color, and immersive experience it provides. With no hyperbole intended, the QLED TV delivers a TV viewing experience which simply hasn’t been seen before.

Apart from the revolutionary picture quality that is powered by Samsung’s metal alloy quantum dots and Smart TV functions that help control almost all peripheral devices with the One Remote Control, Samsung’s QLED TV is the lifestyle TV that gives consumers the freedom to put their TV anywhere. The notion that your TV must sit still and/or be affixed to one place in the room will be completely changed with Samsung’s QLED TV.

With Q Picture, experience 100% colour volume. Utilising ground-breaking Quantum dot technology, QLED takes light and turns it into breath-taking colour. No matter how bright or dark the surroundings are, one can always see extreme depth with incomparably bold contrast. Q Style ensures that the TV blends perfectly into any surrounding with a no-gap wall-mount and an invisible connection. With Q Smart all devices and content can be controlled with one remote control.

Our 2017 lineup is ushering in a new era for television. This year, we are taking smart features, craftsmanship and creativity to new heights—all while delivering a premium experience and solving everyday consumer pain points in the process, “With QLED TV, Samsung’s advances in Quantum dot technology provide our best picture quality ever – all while truly enhancing the way you live. This is how television transforms—and becomes an essential part of your lifestyle.” said Mr. Y J KIM – President Samsung Electronics Pakistan & Afghanistan.

The launch event held in Lahore featured a live performance by Hadiqa Kiyani and was attended by notables & celebrities. The cricket star Imaad Waseem, who played in the Championship trophy, was also present at the event.

COMPANIES MUST BE AWARE OF THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF CLIMATE-RELATED RISK, SAYS ACCA

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has welcomed the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) as an important step towards the better allocation of capital, by incorporating the effect of climate change in investment decisions.

Yen-pei Chen, subject manager – corporate reporting at ACCA said:

‘The four thematic areas of the TCFD’s recommendations – governance, strategy, risk management and metrics and targets – provide a useful framework for disclosure.

‘The detailed implementation guidance in the annex will be particularly helpful for companies preparing to report under the EU’s Directive on the disclosure of non-financial and diversity information.

‘Climate-related disclosures, in our view, will be best integrated into the reporting of the impact of other material factors within the four thematic areas.’

ACCA also welcomed the inclusion of references to the financial impact of climate-related risk, and the ensuing recommendation that this be reflected in companies’ financial statements.

‘In particular, climate-related risks could affect the carrying value of assets and goodwill, and in some cases the going concern status of the business,’ added Ms Chen.

‘Accounting standard setters such as the IASB should be giving greater priority to closing the long-standing gap that exists in reporting the effect of pollutant pricing or emissions trading systems.’

‘Pakistan has always faced extreme climate conditions, but now more than ever before climate or rather managing climate and its connected maladies is posing a threat that’s greater than global terrorism. Water scarcity for example threatens not only human lives but increasingly is being ignored by business processes. A lot of the environmental, social and governance costs needed for managing climate change are “off balance sheet”. This cannot remain the status quo. With game changing strategic investments like CPEC around the corner the cost to Pakistan of not investing in ESG in the short medium and long term may be a price too great.’ said Arif Masud Mirza, ACCA’s Regional Head of Policy – MENASA.

Professional accountants play an important role in helping companies to manage and report climate-related risks more effectively. This is particularly clear in light of this week’s EU adoption of non-binding guidelines for non-financial information reporting, which is another example of the global momentum towards better-informed capital markets and companies fit for the challenges of today’s world.

ACCA is committed to educating the professional accountants of the future, giving them the skills they need to respond to this wider set of challenges, and contribute to a more sustainable future for businesses and our planet.

PACRA Assigns Positive Outlook to Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Limited

Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) has maintained the Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) rating of Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Limited (PQFTL) at ‘A’ (Single A). Outlook on the assigned rating has been revised from ‘Stable’ to ‘Positive’. 

The rating reflects sustained market position of the PQFTL having decent foothold in Takaful industry. The financial position of Pak-Qatar Family Takafulhas strengthened and gained momentum in terms of business expansion. Moreover, after having established extensive branch network, Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Limited is gradually expanding wings through Alternate Distribution Channels. The profitability of the company has remained strong as compared to peers, reflecting strong business profile. The financial risk profile has been strengthened based on fresh injection.

The Chief Financial Officer of PQFTL – Mr. Kamran Saleem stated that, “It is a pleasure for all the stakeholders to witness that the robust performance of PQFTL, in all aspects of its business, is being recognizedby a credible rating agency like PACRA. It is a reflection of the consistent hard work of our highly committed team. I congratulate all team members on winning this accolade for strong financial stature and earning more respect as a robust financial institution”.

The ‘Positive Outlook’ captures the company's ability to improve its market share while improving the persistency of Gross Contribution.

Y5 2017 – The finest mid-ranging smartphone by HUAWEI

HUAWEI, the leading telecommunications company has recently launched this year’s most innovative device in its winning mid-range series – HUAWEI Y5 2017. This revolutionary device has a redefined and user-friendly design making it smart and sturdy, all while looking premium and stylish to hold.

The Y5 2017 has beautifully curved edges and a sand blast finish, giving it an exquisite look and feel; whereas the 8.5mm thin design makes it the ideal size to perfectly fit inside the palm. Its design truly exemplifies fine craftsmanship and comes in 3 exquisite colours; white, grey and gold.

The Y5 2017’s marvelously crafted 5.5” HD display gives off a picture-perfect resolution which breathes life in all the pictures, videos, games and apps.  It comes with a revolutionary 8MP rear-camera with F2.0 aperture and a 5MP front-camera with an 84 degree wide angle, with an additional dual-flash and soft-lighting features – which makes it perfect for amazing photography even in low-light settings.  The beauty feature in the Y5 is designed to capture perfect selfies, giving a smooth photoshoped effect.

Huawei is rapidly emerging as an innovative industry leader within the electronics and telecommunications arena, aiming to deliver exceptional services to the rapidly expanding segment of smartphone users in Pakistan, who seek powerful global connectivity.

GREE to install 550 tons VRF All DC Inverter System at Crystal Mall, Multan

GREE - a globally leading enterprise of air-conditioners has recently signed a project of installing 550 ton VRF All DC Inverter systems at Crystal Mall, Multan - the 2^nd biggest shopping mall of Southern Punjab. Crystal Mall is state-of-the-art luxury shopping mall which includes top brands, food court and a cinema theatre.

GREE goes out-of-the-way to meet the expectations of its customers, whilst delivering excellence. GREE All DC Inverter Multi VRF System is equipped with extremely high-efficient inverter compressors, and also has four exciting features, different from the traditional inverter air conditioners. This system has an excellent energy saving effect, reducing the electricity cost throughout the year. It also has a smarter network control, more reliable and precise operation which provides the users with the best cooling experience.

Other distinguish features of GREE VRF system are; All DC inverter technology, DC fan-linkage control, precise control of capacity output, balancing control of refrigerant, original oil balancing technology with high pressure chamber, high-efficiency output control, low-temperature operation control technology, super heating technology, high adaptability for project & environmental refrigerant.

GREE is a brand which stands on quality and reflects technological excellence. It possesses the expertise to produce highly reliable products with cutting-edge technologies.

Opple Lighting Pakistan launched its advertisement campaign with Sahara Trust

Opple Lighting Pakistan, a premium LED lighting solution has recently launched its advertisement campaign in collaboration with Sahara Trust, a charitable organization.

This advertisement campaign by Opple Pakistan carried out in all major cities of Pakistan, where different marketing techniques used to promote both Opple and Sahara. Streamers allocated all over, where 70% of the space given to Sahara Trust and Opple utilized only 30%.

The complete cost of this initiative was borne by Opple Lighting Pakistan. Opple is an innovative, fast-growing company and an integrated lighting company concerning R&D, production and sale. Its products include light source, lamps, electrical appliances, integrated ceiling lamps etc.

After 15 years' development, Opple possesses leading energy-saving lamps, ceiling lamps, stands, electrical appliances and other production lines, and has a full-equipped, hi-tech, elite-gathered Research and Development Center, and sets up the EMC, distribution of luminosity and the other most professional laboratories in the industry.

For more Information kindly visit their website: http://www.enviro.com.pk/about.php

Innovative Technology in Huawei Y5 2017 – Easy Key Feature

HUAWEI, the leading telecommunications company has launched its flagship device in its winning mid-range series – HUAWEI Y5 2017. This revolutionary device not only gives a premium feel and user-friendly interface, but is also equipped with an appealing feature; the Easy key.

The Easy key is an innovative feature available in the HUAWEI Y5 2017 which makes the smartphone experience convenient and helps save time. With a simple press, double-press, or press-and-hold you can launch any application or feature you’ve assigned to each gesture.

There are always some moments which we want to record discretely, with the easy key, one can easily record whatever and whenever they want. The easy key is strategically place on the opposite side of the power key and volume key so the phone sits comfortably in your hand.

The Country Head of HUAWEI Pakistan – Mr. Blueking stated: “As culture and technology continue to intersect in every aspect of our world, we want to deliver new products and experiences that ultimately improve and enhance life. The Y5 2017 is indeed the best choice for consumers looking for top-of-the-line features in a reliable phone.”

The Y5 2017 truly exemplifies ‘value for money’, for just Rs. 15,999/, customers can avail the most advanced features in this price range. The 3000mAh battery allows the phone to last 2 whole days on a full charge, whereas the 16GB Memory and 2GB RAM provides the users with abundant speed and storage. The Y5 2017’s marvelously crafted 5” HD display gives off a picture-perfect resolution which will breathe life in all the pictures and apps.

HUAWEI is rapidly emerging as an innovative industry leader within the electronics and telecommunications arena, aiming to deliver exceptional services to the rapidly expanding segment of smartphone users in Pakistan, who seek powerful global connectivity.