JEDDAH, 16 December 2004 — Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Pakistan has increased by 300 percent as a result of the pragmatic policies of the government, Minister of State for Labor, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Sen. Tariq Azeem said at a gathering of Saudi and Pakistani businessmen at a local hotel on Monday.
Sen. Azeem, who is here on an official visit, addressed a press conference on Tuesday and spoke at a Pakistani community meeting. He also attended a meeting of the Pakistan Executives Group on Tuesday night.
Addressing businessmen he said confidence of foreign investors had been restored and foreign investments were likely to pick up. The minister said multinational companies that had invested in Pakistan were satisfied and sounded optimistic that more foreign companies would invest in the country in diversified projects.
He said the rate of return on investment in the country was very high. Each foreign investor has invariably earned 26 to 60 percent of his investment in terms of profit, he said.
He asked overseas Pakistanis to invest in their country as the economic conditions now were conducive to business. The minister said expatriate Pakistanis were better placed to invest in their country saying their participation in business would lead to economic boom.
Azeem said the government’s investment policies were aimed at creating more opportunities for investors.
Quoting another example of the economic stability in the country, the minister said that Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) has been rated as the best performing stock exchange in the world for the past three years. In 1998, its index was 1,700 which has now jumped to 5,700 — which is a 400 percent increase in a short period of five years.
During the question and answer session Sen. Azeem said there was substantial reduction in foreign debt. In 1998, sixty-four percent of the budget was consumed in payment of foreign debt, whereas now the percentage has come down to thirty-four and a substantial amount is available for the development of social sector.
He remarked that the aim of the country’s 2004-2005 budget was to accelerate “economic growth and investment”.
The government, he pointed out, had increased its development spending by more than 31 percent to 202 billion rupees, as total investments in the country rose by 18.1 percent of GDP in 2004 compared to 16.4 percent the previous year.
The minister said that the hectic industrial activity in the country is another indicator of Pakistan’s investor-friendly economy and in order to attract maximum foreign investment, the government is considering abolishing all taxes on items not produced locally.
The gathering was attended by a large number of Pakistani and Saudi businessmen.
Earlier, Consul General of Pakistan Masood Akhtar welcoming the minister, said: “Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have very close relationships. Pakistanis have played a remarkable role in the development and progress of the Kingdom.”
He hoped that the visit of Sen. Azeem would further cement the ties between the two brotherly countries.
At the press conference on Tuesday, Azeem spoke about the peace process launched by India and Pakistan. He said the reduction of troops by India in Kashmir was a good gesture but it should be permanent and considerable in number.
About the problems of overseas Pakistanis, he said he realized that much needed to be done.
