The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has called upon the government and the political leaders of the country to adopt a reconciliatory approach and settle political disputes through dialogue for establishing consistent political stability in the country.
Acting ICCI President Shakeel Munir said that the uncertain political environment was casting a negative impact on business and economic activities and stressed that all stakeholders should realise the gravity of the situation and make sincere efforts to bring stability in the country, which would help in steering the country out of economic problems.
Munir said many sectors of Pakistan’s economy were in dire need of investment for realising full potential of growth but due to the ongoing political instability, investors were reluctant to investing in the country despite availability of numerous investment opportunities.
Resultantly, the local and foreign investment was on the decline while the major sectors of large-scale manufacturing (LSM) have achieved reduced growth rate, he added.
Munir said China has committed to invest $42 billion in Pakistan, but he was afraid that with the current unstable business environment, many Chinese investors would think twice before investing in Pakistan. He said Pakistan has the potential to attract lot more Chinese investment as during 2013, China’s total FDI outflow was 64.1 billion dollars, but the Chinese inflow into Pakistan has been considerably less due to lack of stable conditions.