Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Friday, invited the Swiss investors to avail marvellous opportunities available in livestock, dairy and agriculture sectors.
In a meeting with Swiss Ambassador to Pakistan, Christoph Bubb with LCCI president Irfan Qaiser Sheikh, senior vice president Kashif Younis Meher and vice president Saeeda Nazar also sought Switzerland’s help over GSP plus status to Pakistan. LCCI president Irfan Qaiser Sheikh informed the visiting ambassador that Pakistan’s decision to grant MFN status to India is an added attraction for the Swiss Investors to put their money in Agriculture, Livestock, dairy and a number of other sectors.
“Prices of agricultural land in India are three times higher than that of Pakistan and any investment made in Pakistan would definitely find its way to India”.
LCCI president also stressed the need for exchange of business delegations between the two countries so the business community could have first hand knowledge about the huge potential that exists.
“Globalisation offers marvellous potential profits to all nations of the world and both Pakistan and Switzerland have a great deal of opportunities in this context to expand their trade and economic relations therefore sector-specific measures are needed to realise untapped areas of business.”
Both the sides also agreed to expedite the process of sharing of trade related information so that businessmen could be able to do business with each other.
The ambassador was of the view that Swiss business community was quite impressed and they are ready to make further investments despite the fact that Switzerland was the sixth largest investor in Pakistan.
He said the government would have to focus on electricity shortage, security situation in the country and rule of law to restore the confidence of foreign investors.
He said there are quite a few sectors wherein there is huge potential for Swiss businessmen particularly transfer of technology for textile sector has a lot of scope. He said that several Swiss companies were already operating in Pakistan and doing a successful business, which is enough to prove that Swiss investment has a bright future in this country. The ambassador expressed the hope that Swiss investment would see a boost in coming months due to liberal investment policies. Speaking on the occasion, LCCI office-bearers said major bottleneck in promotion of trade and economic activities between the two countries is lack of information about business opportunities available. We need to undertake frequent activities like exchange of business delegations, organising country exhibitions, participation in fairs & exhibitions, seminars and workshops etc to ensure a continuous liaison. Interaction between the chambers can be highly beneficial.
They said the country has abundant natural resources and skilled cheap manpower but lacks technology. It is a key market of 180 million people. It is a gateway to Central Asian Republics, South Asia and Gulf countries. Population of SAFTA alone stands at 1.4 billion people. The market of these countries, including Afghanistan, can be effectively and conveniently serviced from Pakistan. They said that Swiss economy is one of the most developed economies of the world. It has highly advanced industries such as machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles and precision instruments. They also informed the ambassador that the present government has adopted a liberal investment policy and there is no restriction on sending back the principal, dividends, profits and royalties. Hence, the Swiss businessmen should come forward and seize upon the unprecedented investment opportunities in Pakistan. Honorary Consul in Lahore Suleman N. Khan was also present in the meeting.
