Pakistan termed most lucrative market for investment

• PM meets with leaders of large MNCs

• Pakistan a secure destination for foreign investors

Pakistan has received a warm and a welcome appreciation for its efforts in improving security situation and its continuous journey towards becoming an economic powerhouse. Leaders of different countries and large multinational companies (MNCs) have appreciated the efforts and sacrifices Pakistan has made in the past few years.

Pakistan is being represented by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the 47^th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Switzerland. The prime minister was invited personally by the founder of WEF, Klaus Schwab.

WEF chairman praises Pakistan’s progress

Chairman World Economic Forum (WEF) Klaus Schwab Wednesday lauded Pakistan’s economic progress and said the international investors were looking at Pakistan with great optimism.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gave him a brief outline of his economic agenda and vision for a progressive Pakistan. He informed him of the macro and micro economic policies that had started yielding the dividend.

He informed the Prime Minister that business leaders consider Pakistan a great investment destination. He appreciated progress of Pakistan in infrastructure sector and said Pakistan was now ready to lead the regional connectivity initiative with Central Asia. He said Pakistan was now attracting business groups from abroad owing to improved security and improvement in the energy sectors.

Pakistan a secure destination for foreign investors

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in a meeting with Group Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Jose Vinals said that his country was the new attractive destination for foreign investors that offered security and attractive returns.

The PM said Pakistan has made a remarkable recovery and all its economic indicators were positive.

The CEO Standard Chartered Bank said Pakistan was an important partner and said the Bank was working with Chinese banks on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

He said his bank was also working on the improvement of the small and medium enterprises.

Jose said the profile of Pakistan had gone up significantly and added the economic matrix was moving in the right direction.

He said the SC bank was also happy with the progress made by Pakistan in security and energy sectors.

Economic stability achieved

In another meeting with Group Chief Executive Officer of VimpelCom Jean Charlie, Nawaz Sharif said that his government has achieved economic stability and turned around the country’s economy in a short span of three years.

The prime minister said his government was pursuing a comprehensive reforms agenda, besides successfully delivering on the major challenges of terrorism, economy and power shortages.

Jean Charlie said he was seeking public-private partnership for working with the government on education and skills development programmes. He said his company was planning to launch new products in Pakistan as the country had come to the forefront as the largest emerging market.

He lauded the investment environment in Pakistan and said it was very attractive for foreign investors.

P&G appreciates investment environment in Pakistan

In yet another meeting with Chief Executive Officer of Procter and Gamble David Taylor, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan of today is totally different from the one in past and is an attractive place for business from around the world.

The CEO appreciated the conducive business environment in Pakistan and credited the government for improved economy.

David Taylor said he was very optimist about the country’s economy and was appreciative of Prime Minister’s personal interest in the improvement of the business environment in the country.

He said there was a lot of conducive environment for the business sector and it was more attractive for foreign investors.

He said his company was providing best quality products for its local consumers.

He said keeping in view the government’s positive attitude his company was planning to expand operations in the country.