Pakistan's Privatisation Commission has recently pre-qualified seven parties for participating in the further process of the privatisation of 51pc equity stake in Pakistan State Oil (PSO). International Companies Companies participating in the bid include Kuwait Petroleum Corporation; Abraaj Capital Limited, UAE; Consortium of Vitol S.A, Switzerland, and Hasan Associates, Pakistan; LUKoil International Trading and Supply Company, Russia; Abu Dhabi Group, UAE; PAL Group of Companies, UAE; Al-Jomaih Holding Company, Saudi Arabia; Chevron Texaco, US.
---

Malaysia's Petronas, through its exploration and production subsidiary Petronas Carigali (Overseas) Sdn Bhd, recently signed a cooperation agreement with Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation's (EGPC) production arm, Tharwa Petroleum Company of Egypt. Under the three-year agreement, the business units will conduct joint studies to identify the hydrocarbon potential of concession areas within Egypt and surrounding region.
---

The list of prequalified bidders for for 51 percent stake in the Turkish government owned oil refinery Tupras Petroleum Refinery includes ENI Refining and Market Division from Italy, OMV Aktiengesellschaft from Austria, Shell, Repsol YPF S.A. from Spain, PKN ORLEN SA from Poland, Indian Oil Corp. Ltd,. MOL from Hungary, Zorlu Group, Petrol Ofisi, Anadolu Tasm, Energy Group and Oyak from Turkey. Saudi and Gulf investment groups are reportedly holding talks to join one of the Turkish Consortia.

Iran Khodro Industrial Group (IKCO), Iran's major car manufacturer, reported that it is exporting over $500,000 vehicle parts per month to countries such as Turkey, France, Tunisia and Portugal.  In Turkey, (IKCO) has attained the Turkish certificate of standard for the Iranian passenger car Samand. Some 700,000 Samands are expected to be exported to Turkey's market annually.
---

Three senior executives of Malaysia's national carmaker, Proton Holdings Bhd., have resigned in the wake of the recent ouster of the company chief executive, Mahaleel Ariff., by the government. Mahaleel's exit followed a series of disagreements between him and the government where Mahaleel opposed selling a significant equity stake in the company to a foreign company, something that has been talked about since the government started talks with German carmaker Volkswagen AG.
---

Against stiff competition, EDARAN Otomobil Nasional Bhd (EON), Malaysia's largest car retailer, saw its net profit fall by as much as 61 per cent from a year ago. The company said its Proton sales for the first half fell 6.4 per cent at 29,610 units compared to 31,621 units sold a year ago. However, it is is on track to achieve 75,000 vehicle sales this year, up from just below 70,000 units sold last year as it embarks on various initiatives to boost sales to capitalize on the expected 6.3% growth in the passenger car market.

Prince Waleed ibn Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, has donated $20 million towards building an Islamic art gallery at the Louvre museum in Paris. The museum says it has 10,000 artefacts from Islamic civilisation, ranging from Spain to India - most of which is now in storage because of lack of space.

Arab Banking Corporation, headquartered in Bahrain, announced the Group's net profit for the half year till June totalled $61 million from continuing operations, an increase of 20 per cent over the comparable net profit for the same period last year.
---

Indonesia may sell 30% of Bank Negara Indonesia next year after it is allowed to acquire smaller rival Bank Tabungan Negara, said Bank Negara's president director Sigit Pramono.
---

Malaysian financial services-provider CIMB Bhd. (5064.KU) Tuesday said second-quarter net profit rose 19% on year to MYR86.0 million due to investment gains. Revenue increased 18% to MYR169.6 million, CIMB said in an exchange filing. CIMB is Malaysia's biggest investment banking company in market capitalization terms.
---

Turkey's Dogus Holding reached an agreement with US banking giant General Electric's GE Consumer Finance for 25.2% shares sales in Granati Bank for $1.8 billion. The sale is expected to be complete by the final quarter of 2005. Meanwhile, Dogus Holding is also discussing the sale of its 71% stake in Tansas to Koc Holding and its retail unit Migros.
---

Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) has been awarded the Best Domestic Commercial Bank award for 2005 by Asiamoney following its strong financial performance and quality management throughout the year.
---

Gulf Air's, Project Falcon, the three-year restructuring plan approved by the Board in December 2002 is bearing fruit with a first time profit of BD1.5 million ($4.0 million) having been reported for the year 2004 on revenues up 23.8 per cent to BD476.3 million ($1.26 billion) (2003: BD 384.6 million).

---

The Dubai-based real estate giant Emaar Properties is to build a four-billion-dollar residential development in Cairo, its first large-scale project in Egypt. The residential, commercial and recreation community will be developed by Emaar Misr, a subsidiary of the Dubai-based company, and Al-Nasr Housing and Development Company.

Saudi Aramco was granted its 11th patent this year by the US Patent Office for a new pressure-reducing pipeline control valve for severe service conditions.

---

Public Bank Bhd, won the `Malaysian Business Corporate Governance Award 2004' organised by a local business magazine -- Malaysian Business. Seven listed companies who won merit awards were LPI Capital Bhd, Opus International Group Plc, Malaysian International Shipping Corporation Bhd, Southern Bank Bhd, UMW Holdings Bhd and YTL Cement Bhd.

---

The Ritz-Carlton Kuala Lumpur retained its position as the number one ranked Hewitt's Best Employers in Malaysia. The study is conducted by global human resources services firm Hewitt Associates. Dumex (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd came in second, followed by SP Setia Bhd, The Ascott Group Ltd, Brunsfield Group of Companies, American Express (Malaysia), Komag USA (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Federal Express Services (M) Sdn Bhd, Microsoft (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

---

According to a survey conducted by "Malaysia Business," Genting Bhd's Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay was the highest paid director among Malaysian listed companies last year with remuneration of up to RM96.2 million (US $ 26 million) as chairman, president and chief executive of Genting and subsidiary, Resorts World.

Irancell consortium led by Turkcell, has been licensed as the second GSM operator in Iran.  The consortium under the presidency of Turkcell won the mobile phone license tender in February 2004; however, the deputies in the parliament decreased Turkcell's shares from 70 percent to 49 percent in the Irancell agreement. There are nearly six million registered mobile phone users in Iran which is expected to reach 11 million with the introduction of the second GSM operator.

---

Malaysia's MAXIS Communications Bhd has reported higher revenue and profit for the first-half year ended June 30. Revenue increased 14% in the first half to RM3.11bil from RM2.73bil achieved in the previous corresponding period. Chief executive officer Datuk Jamaludin Ibrahim said the growth in revenue was due to a 30% increase in its subscriber base to 6.6 million in the second quarter to June 30, from 5.1 million in the second quarter of last year.

---

Turkey has recently signed a contract with Saudi Oger Telecom for the sale of a 55 percent stake in fixed-line operator Turk Telekom. A venture led by Saudi Oger Telecom, which also includes Telecom Italia won, the tender in July, offering $6.55 billion for the 55 percent stake in Turk Telekom. Privatization procedures are expected to be finalized in October.

---

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said on Friday it was seeking bids by November for two new third-generation (3G) licenses, adding to two existing operators. State-controlled Telekom Malaysia and Maxis Communications launched 3G services earlier this year, following the first 3G tender in 2002. Malaysia has 15 million mobile phone subscribers, equivalent to 60 percent of the population, making it Southeast Asia's third-most developed mobile market after Singapore and Brunei.

---

UAE's Etisalat is reported to be one of the six bidders who have qualified for the award of Yemen's third GSM licence. Mobile penetration in Yemen stood at 5.8% with more than one million subscribers at the end of 2004.

---

Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), the Saudi Kingdom's, second mobile phone operator, has secured one million subscribers (12% penetration) since its commercial launch just three months ago on May 25th. Etihad Etisalat had put down some SR12.21 (US $3.25) billion for its GSM licence which was financed through the largest Islamic loan in the region of SR8.13 billion (US $2.2) through an alliance of banks led by Samba Financial Group.

---

TELEKOM Malaysia Bhd (TM) group, through wholly-owned international investment arm TM International (L) Ltd, is looking into the possibility of an initial public offering of the shares in its mobile arm in Indonesia, PT Excelcomindo Pratama (XL.) XL, Indonesia's number three mobile operator, has a total of 4.2 million mobile subscribers and a 15.5% share of the country's market. TM had earlier listed its Sri Lankan mobile unit, Dialog Telekom Ltd. and has recently agreed to buy a 12.06 percent stake in Singapore's No. 3 cellphone company, MobileOne Ltd.

---

The Turkish Savings and Deposits Insurance Fund (TMSF) has put Telsim, second biggest GSM operator in Turkey, on the market with the minimum price level set as $2.804 billion. About 15 foreign firms have shown interest in Telsim which includes Egyptian Orascom, and Etisalat from the United Arab Emirates

Previous News Briefs:
Jun 15; May 31; Mar 13; Feb 21 ; Feb 13; Feb 6