economic issues
Revival of ship-breaking industry
By Mohammed Arifeen
The ship breaking industry in Pakistan, which once occupied a second rank position in the world, was thrown into a verge of collapse in the 1990s due to the ascendancy of influential political power of a family having a significant interest in steel trade. In the 1970s it provided direct jobs to some 100,000 workers and indirect jobs to over 500,000 persons. During this period, 150 ships used to enter Gaddani beach for ship breaking purposes with more than 100 companies operating in the country. Gaddani ship breaking industry was considered as the largest and the best ship breaking centre in the world.

National Bank of Pakistan Limited
Entity: AAA/A-1+, Outlook: Stable
JCR-VIS reaffirms ratings of National Bank of Pakistan Limited at AAA /A-1+
JCR-VIS has reaffirmed the credit ratings of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) at AAA/A-1+ (Triple A / A-One Plus) with a Stable outlook.

GLOBAL MARKETS
Optimism regarding global economic recovery
By Aftab Ahmad
According to reports appearing in the Wall Street Journal, commodity and stock markets dipped in both Europe and US on June 22, along with the growing concerns that economic recovery may still be too far and that the commodities and stock markets rally was not in line with the fundamentals.

THE NEWS Index July- 2009
End of Last End of Net Ne
Month Previous Change Change
Month Points %
Composite 4,584.3 4,755.5 (171.2) (3.6) (-) Financials 2,576.4 2,642.8 (66.4) (2.5) (-) Industrials 5,543.4 5,769.7 (226.3) (3.9) (-)

IN FOCUS
Artmart: an Investment of another kind
Karachi's art scene presented some rich and vibrant canvases of local artists and also those coming in from other cities. Most of the art galleries remained busy mounting new shows regularly.
The many faces of art
By Mohsin S. Jaffri
At Ocean Art Gallery
A play with colours
Azra Fatimi chose to display her work at Ocean Art Gallery, Clifton, a semi commercial outlet plus an art gallery. She was displaying some 20 paintings, all in abstract made up of 'all bright and beautiful" colours. In a colour packed composition, in acrylic and with flat shapes and sizes, some canvases projected moving colours and reflected a sense of balance.

Book Bazaar
Investing in an intellectual pursuit
Books are like good and interesting companions, they provide unlimited pleasure and enhance ones knowledge base. Investing in books is like investing in the future.
By Ishrat Hussain
The Agha Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) is a story of 'service with sincerity and dedication' and thus the success element has turned it into 'how determination pays-off.

Management concepts and business acumen
By Amna Nasir Malik Jamal
Two organizations, Nutshell and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE), organized the "Lahore Management Summit 2009 Tiecon", a conference in this summit titled "Managing in turbulent times - the way forward", mainly held for entrepreneurs, to counter the economic downturn with a message of available entrepreneurial opportunities and creative innovations. Speakers shared experiences and ideas of how an innovative marketing strategy drives consumers for the successful entrepreneurs.

RATING ROUNDUP
Publicly Notified Ratings by JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Ltd.
ISSUE / ISSUER MEDIUM TO OUTLOOK SHORT
LONG TERM TERM
LONG TERM TERM
Entity Ratings
AlBaraka Islamic Bank BSC - Pakistan Branches A Stable A-1
Al-Zamin  Leasing Corporation Ltd. BBB+ Rating Watch - Developing A-2
Al-Zamin Leasing Modaraba A- Rating Watch - Developing A-2
Amtex Ltd. A- Stable A-2