ISLAMABAD, 12 April 2004 — Pakistan has just unveiled a $56 billion plan for infrastructure building, for which it is seeking international investment — private, bilateral and multilateral.
As corporate and other business yields are quite high, Islamabad hopes, foreign direct investment (FDI) will feel attracted in these infrastructure projects. It will be very beneficial for Middle East and Gulf investors, in particular, as surplus funds are available there. The projects are located nearer home for the potential investors, who will find it easy to keep a tab on them.
Implementation of these mega projects on offer for investment, over the next 5 to 15-year span can provide an extraordinary boost to the economies of Pakistan, as well as South Asian and Central Asian regions because of their strategic importance. Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali, unveiled the projects at the Pakistan Development Forum (PDF), or the Paris Club, organized in Islamabad by the World Bank. PDF is predecessor of Aid to Pakistan Consortium, launched by the World Bank in 1963.
Jamali, speaking to 40 high-powered delegations from Western government donor countries and Japan, as well as World Bank, IMF, Asian Development Bank, and other governments that are members of PDF, sought “cooperation and assistance to undertake mega infrastructure projects.”
He said, “the process of a composite dialogue between Pakistan and India has created a conducive environment for investment and has accelerated economic activities in the South Asian region.”
Jamali identified some of the mega projects and asked donors to “support these endeavors in speedy completion.” He said, Pakistan needs to generate 8,920 megawatts of hydropower over the next five to 10 years, for which it requires a $16 billion investment.
These eleven hydropower projects, and their locations, are: Neelum-Jhelum, Kohala, Dasu, Pattan, Thakot, Bunji, Chakothi, Naran, Azad Pattan on River Jhelum, Matiltan and Taunsa.
An additional $5 billion investment is required in the short-term for twelve transmission, distribution and grid stations, besides rural electrification. These projects have been planned by the government’s two major water and power monopolies — Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC)).
