PSX hosts gong ceremony to mark acquisition of Cloudways

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) welcomed the Rt Hon Lord Aamer Sarfraz of Kensington, who is a senior adviser to several NYSE listed technological firms, including DigitalOcean Holdings Inc, Yancey Spruill, chief executive officer (CEO) of DigitalOcean, and Aaqib Gadit, the founder of Cloudways, with a gong ceremony to celebrate the acquisition of Cloudways by DigitalOcean Holdings Inc, a statement said.

This is the biggest acquisition by value of a Pakistani software firm by an international firm.

Farrukh H Khan, managing director and chief executive officer of PSX, welcomed the guests at the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

“This acquisition by DigitalOcean of Cloudways is testament to the fact that Pakistani tech companies present a compelling business opportunity for strategic and portfolio investors. The talent pool in information technology (IT) ecosystem is impressive, which is why there is a significant potential in this industry,” he said.

“Crucially, the IT industry is capable of growing exports of services at a compounded rate, which is of great importance for Pakistan at this juncture. If we see investments in the venture capital space, despite challenges the startup funding reached $347 million in 2022,” he noted.

“The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, has established legal definitions for the startups and the federal government has helped set up Special Technology Zones to support the IT industry.”

Khan thanked the guests and expressed the hope that this acquisition would augur well for the IT industry of Pakistan.

Lord Aamer Sarfraz struck the gong at the PSX Trading Hall to open the trading day, amid the presence of Yancey Spruill and Aaqib Gadit. Also present on the occasion were Dr Shamshad Akhtar, chairperson of the PSX, Board and Management officials of PSX and leading names from the IT industry.

Lord Sarfraz said: “The Pakistan Stock Exchange, under the leadership of its dynamic CEO Farrukh H Khan, will play an important role in the redistribution of wealth across the country, as the economy starts to rebound. Pakistan has had a challenging year, with devastating floods and global economic pressures. The Cloudways story is nonetheless one to celebrate — it demonstrates Pakistani entrepreneurs continue to deliver world-class innovation,” he added.

SECP chairman calls for engaging market participants

Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Chairman Akif Saeed has stressed upon joint efforts of frontline and apex regulators for investor education to increase investors’ footprints in the capital market, a statement said.

Saeed, during his visit to Karachi, met the management and board of directors of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) as well as the executive committee of Pakistan Stock Brokers Association (PSBA) representing the brokerage industry.

The SECP chairman was accompanied by SECP Commissioner Abdul Rehman Warraich and the SECP team, including Chairman’s Secretariat Executive Director Musarat Jabeen and PRDD-SMD Head of Department Asif Iqbal.

PSX Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Farrukh H Khan, PSX Board Members and PSX senior management welcomed the SECP team.

The objective of the meeting was to apprise the newly appointed SECP chairman and commissioner about the latest capital market developments, current progress, challenges, and to identify areas where focused efforts and mutual cooperation of PSX, the front-line regulator, and SECP, the apex regulator, would be required.

The senior officials of the SECP and PSX discussed measures for growth of the capital market, encouraging new listings, enhancing efficiency of the digital onboarding mechanism for investors, and benefiting from the emerging financial technology.

The officials also discussed proposals for reforms in taxation and pension plans, product development, Exchange Traded Funds (ETF), derivatives market and fixed income products and the need for adequate training of staff of market intermediaries.

Additionally, the possibility of listing China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects at the PSX was also deliberated upon.

In a subsequent meeting with the board and senior management of NCCPL during the day, the SECP chairman and his team were briefed about the ongoing developments and future plans by the NCCPL.

Various measures were discussed for bringing reforms in risk management, Shariah-compliant leveraged market products and government debt securities to promote the debt market in the country.

Further, another meeting was held with the executive committee of PSBA where brokers submitted proposals to facilitate the brokerage industry by providing ease of doing business, necessary simplification of regulatory requirements, and elimination of duplication to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Gas utility mulls publishing gas pilferers names in dailies

A spokesman for the regional office of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has said that the department is considering publishing the names of those found involved in using compressors and gas pilferage in the national dailies to bring down the unaccounted-for-gas (UFG) ratio, a statement said.

“The SNGPL teams are conducting raids in collaboration with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and local police personnel. The company is considering an option to publish the names of consumers involved in the installation of illegal compressors and the gas pilferers in national dailies to prevent illegal activities and save precious and scarce gas,” Spokesman Shahid Akram said.

A special task force, during its ongoing operation to stop the illegal use of compressors in the Islamabad Region, had recently removed more than 27 gas meters, detected 18 theft cases and lodged six FIRs over direct tapping and causing loss to the national exchequer.

“It is unfortunate that some elements are using electric devices to get increased gas pressure, depriving other consumers of gas in the peak winters season and putting the people’s lives at risk,” he regretted, vowing that the operation would continue unabated till bringing the illegal activity to a complete halt.

The SNGPL vigilance teams and special task force were busy conducting a detailed survey of all the sectors, societies and other localities, within the Islamabad region, including capital territory, Murree, Kahuta, Attock, Fateh Jang and Taxila to take legal action against the compressor users.

The SNGPL spokesman said the domestic consumers had appreciated the operation against this illegal activity and urged the local administration to take appropriate measures to prevent the sale of illegal compressors and other devices.

SNGPL is making all-out efforts to ensure a smooth supply of gas to the domestic consumers with regular pressure during the peak winter season, the spokesman said.

For this purpose, the utility has established a control room to resolve the consumers’ complaints related to low gas pressure in its operational areas.

“The control room is operating round-the-clock and taking prompt action by mobilising field teams to resolve the gas pressure-related issues. The consumers can lodge their complaints at the Call Centre: 1199 and the control room’s landlines number: 051-9257774,” the spokesman remarked.

The consumers have been advised to avoid excessive use of gas and install fuel-efficient gas appliances like geysers and heaters in the peak winter season.

The consumers have also been asked to adopt all possible precautionary measures to avoid any untoward incident caused by the gas leakages by discouraging rubber-pipe use with gas appliances and keeping the room windows open.

The company has also started a service to provide liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders for its consumers, which can be obtained by calling on the Helpline 1210 or sending a WhatsApp message at 0333-7641199.