Government is moving more actively towards the divestment of its shares in Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) through primary and secondary offerings in the local stock markets. “This would help increase the depth and liquidity of domestic bourses,” said Nadeem Naqvi, Managing Director Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), in a meeting with Tundra Fonder CEO Mattias Martinsson, who on Thursday visited the KSE along with Embassy of Pakistan, Commercial Counsellor Javed Anwar Khan.
The Swedish delegation was welcomed along with Naqvi by KSE Chairman Muneer Kamal and Farrukh Ansari, former CEO of Saudi Pak Leasing Co. Tundra Fonder, a Sweden-based emerging markets fund, has recently launched a Pakistan-dedicated Fund in Sweden, and is planning to extend its distribution to other Nordic countries soon. During discussion with the guests, Naqvi said the fundamentals-based portfolio investment had provided solid return to patient investors in the past and had the potential of doing the same in the future. Pointing to the tremendous growth in the retail sector with much of it being undocumented, the MD KSE said “as this sector comes under the ambit of documentation going forward, significant opportunities for above average returns would likely open up for early investors.” Naqvi said there were also emerging opportunities in export-oriented sectors that foreign investors should keep an eye out for both in the primary market (future IPO’s) and the secondary market.
Tundra Fonder CEO Martinsson expressed confidence in Pakistan as a long-term investment destination saying it was not just the potential of a large population and high caliber entrepreneurial and managerial class but also the advanced infrastructure and risk management capacity of the capital market which attracted his interest in the country. “Investors in Nordic region are not aware of the opportunities present in this country”, he said. Through this fund, Martinsson said, he wanted to raise Pakistan’s profile in that region. KSE Chairman Muneer Kamal, assuring Martinsson of full cooperation from KSE in raising Pakistan’s profile in the Nordic region, said that while there were short-term pressures on government finances, policymakers were coming around to the view that only by supporting and facilitating the private sector, could sustainable growth and employment be generated.
