The audience of a seminar were informed the other day that governance related issues and lack of transparency in relevant ministries and government-run departments had been the single most common and serious concern prevailing among prospective foreign investors from around the world who are assessing the possibility of investing in Pakistan.
People around the world who are willing to invest in Pakistan want to see political and social stability in the country along with consistency of economic policies so that long term investment plans could be prepared, said Managing-Director of Pakistan Stock Exchange Nadeem Naqvi on Saturday.
He said the government had to ensure maximum transparency in the working of its agencies which deal with prospective foreign investors coming to the country. The MD of Pakistan Stock Exchange said this as he delivered his keynote address at the conclusion of a seminar titled “Grand opportunities of foreign investment in Pakistan” organised by Standing Committee on foreign investment of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI)
Naqvi said on the occasion that Pakistan was required to increase budgetary allocation for education so that it could produce skillful labour having skills that are in demand by industries on the global scale. He said that science and technology, robotics and artificial intelligence were some of the areas of knowledge-based economy of the country which should get investment for rapid growth of the nation as per international standards.
He said the infrastructure sector of the country had the vast potential to get more investment from foreign companies after the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project which is already being built. However, he said the government should frame such policies, which are be helpful in attracting international investors.
He said the bottlenecks faced by incoming foreign investors when they deal with regulatory and licensing regimes of the country have to be eased out while speeding up and simplifying the regulation frameworks. Arif Habib, Chairman of Arif Habib Group, said that Pakistan should be considered one of the most profitable destinations by prospective foreign investors who should make massive investment in various sectors of trade and economy.
He said that owing to fiscal, energy, and security deficit of the country, it needs more investment by foreign companies in the power and infrastructure sectors. He said it is a welcoming sign that more companies from the United States, China, Switzerland, and Australia are coming to Pakistan with their investment plans. He suggested that joint venture companies should be formed by local businessmen with prospective Chinese investors so as to avail the massive opportunity of doing business available under the CPEC so that maximum volume of investment made in the country stays within Pakistan. He said that energy and agriculture sectors are going to be two promising areas, which should get foreign investment.
Kahlid Tawab, acting president of FPCCI, said that Pakistan with 110 million working population and up to 60 per cent of its population consisting of youth provided an excellent prospect for foreign investors to invest in the economy of the country. He said that textiles, mineral, and food packaging sectors had phenomenal potential to increase exports of the country with proper incentives, growth, and investment in these areas of trade and industry. He said that Pakistan had all the potential and resources to build its infrastructure for doing exports for global Halal food sector as at present a non-Muslim country is accounting for up to 70 per cent exports in this area concerning Muslims around the world.
He said the Pakistanis should work to remove the perception that its economy poses undue hurdles and checks in the way of getting foreign investment as the image of the country should be built as an investment friendly country. The acting FPCCI president praised the efforts of present government to end power shortfall in the country by 2018 saying that deficit in the energy sector had to be overcome to attract more foreign investment in the country.
He said the federation he had been representing was always available to facilitate foreign investors in any required manner as the FPCCI would act as a bridge between government and international companies willing to do business in Pakistan. Noted industrialist Mirza Ikhtiar Baig said that foreign money being brought and invested in Pakistan should be considered as the safest when compared to any other economy in the world as multinational companies had gotten up to 60 per cent profit on their investment and such a high rate of return on foreign investment was next to impossible in any other country.
Association of Builders and Developers Pakistan Chairman Hanif Gohar called on the government to ease out the process of getting the loan facility by families of middle and lower income groups for their own housing facility so that they could contribute to the economy of the country in best possible manner. Abdul Azim Uqali, director projects at Sindh Board of Investment, talked about the potential that the Sindh province had to attract foreign investment as the province had all three special economic zones of the country at Khairpur, Bin Qasim, and Korangi Creek.
Ghulam Murtaza Khuhro of Federal Board of Revenue, Pakistan had to improve its standing among the global ranking of countries providing “ease of doing business” to foreign investors as the country was ranked at 136 among the list of 184 nations.
Jordan James Din representing Consulate General of Switzerland talked about the commercial and trade ties between the Swiss and Pakistani economies and governments.
Earlier, Malik Khuda Baksh, chairman of FPCCI’s Standing Committee on Foreign Investment, welcomed speakers and participants of the seminar saying that the federation would continue to hold more such moots for promoting the cause of attracting more foreign investment for the good of the country.