German Consul General wants European investment in Pakistan

German Consul General Dr Tilo Klinner said he had asked German and French companies to get ready to make investment in Pakistan in 2012. Dr Klinner pointed out this in an informal interaction with some senior journalists in Karachi on Tuesday night. He pointed out there was a backlog of projects and investments to be undertaken by the German companies in Pakistan. The backlog developed because of a number of reasons that could not be pointed out exactly, he said.
He, however, said he had urged German and French companies to get ready to make investment in Pakistan as the business sentiment was improving rapidly in the country amid reports of early elections and caretaker set-up.
He said German companies were interested in carrying out infrastructure and alternative energy development projects in Gwadar and other parts of the country.
Dr Klinner further stated these companies were also interested in handling wastage in Karachi which is going to be the fifth largest city in the world by the year 2015. Karachi, he said, produces wastage in a greater quantity than other similar cities in the world.
Referring to economic cooperation and bilateral trade ties, Dr Klinner said Pakistan German Business Council was striving to bring more German investment to Pakistan beside the 12 blue chip German companies operating here.
However, he said small and medium enterprises were reluctant because of negative media projection which painted Pakistan in an adverse light. German Consul General said he had spoken at numerous German chambers of commerce and other forums to give a correct picture.
Dr Klinner specifically mentioned two areas that he felt should be explored further between both countries. One of them is solutions and development of infrastructure for megacities. He said Karachi was likely to become the tenth largest city in the world by 2023 and fourth largest by 2050. This posed a real challenge to city’s planners and there was a pressing need to develop an efficient and cheap mass transit system and state of art waste management and water management facilities. Germany had the expertise and know-how in this respect.
The second area mentioned by the German diplomat was alternative energy sources. He said Germany was the leader in producing energy from solar and wind power. Eight wind energy projects were being set up in Sindh, he added, and Thar coal project could also benefit from German experience as it was of lignite variety and Germany had vast expertise in that.
He said German giants, like Siemens and BASF had a decade long and fruitful association with Pakistan and Germany was also instrumental in helping Pakistan acquire access to European markets through EU GSP scheme.
Pakistan is a very young country and attention to good education and vocational training for youth is the key to its bright future, he said.
Dr Klinner spoke in detail about Pakistan German ties and said cooperation between the two countries depended upon those areas and sectors which met the most urgent and pressing needs of Pakistani society.
He said youth was an important asset of Pakistan as it comprises of 65 per cent of the population. Germany, he said, was keen to strengthen the traditional academic cooperation with special focus on vocational training schemes, and a pilot project in the offing. He added the objective was to impart vocational training and chances of employment in German MNCs operating in Pakistan. He pointed out there was a bright future for demanding jobs, like lab specialists, pharmaceutical, technology and power generation enterprises.