KARACHI: Foreign companies already operating in Pakistan invested more than $23 billion in the country over the past decade, exceeding cumulative net foreign direct investment of about $21 billion during the same period, the country’s largest foreign investors’ chamber said on Monday.
The comparison underscores a persistent challenge for Pakistan: established multinational companies have continued reinvesting in the country, but Islamabad has struggled to attract substantially larger amounts of new foreign capital.
Pakistan has stabilized after a severe balance-of-payments crisis in 2022-23 pushed it close to default and forced it to seek another bailout from the International Monetary Fund. Under a $7 billion IMF program approved in 2024, foreign exchange reserves have recovered, inflation has eased sharply from its 2023 peak and economic growth has strengthened, though the IMF still projects FDI at only around 0.5 percent of gross domestic product.
“The findings reaffirm the confidence that OICCI members continue to place in Pakistan’s long-term economic potential,” according to a latest report by the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry, or OICCI, which represents more than 200 foreign-invested companies operating across major sectors of the Pakistani economy.
“Our members have consistently reinvested in the country, expanded their operations and continued contributing to national development despite challenging economic conditions. Their cumulative investment of over USD 23 billion during the past decade is a strong vote of confidence in Pakistan’s future.”
OICCI said its members collectively generated Rs13.1 trillion ($47.2 billion) in gross revenue in fiscal 2025, held Rs42 trillion ($151.2 billion) in assets and invested Rs615 billion ($2.2 billion) in capital expenditure. They also paid Rs3.2 trillion ($11.5 billion) in taxes and other government levies, according to the report.
The chamber said its members’ cumulative investment over the decade exceeded Pakistan’s approximately $21 billion in net FDI over the same period. State Bank of Pakistan data define FDI as cross-border investment including equity, intercompany lending, capital equipment and reinvested earnings, net of outflows.
The two measures are therefore not identical: OICCI’s figure captures investment by its existing member companies, while the national FDI figure measures net cross-border investment flows. The chamber uses the comparison to demonstrate how much of Pakistan’s investment activity has come from multinational businesses already established in the country.
Pakistan has historically struggled to attract FDI at the scale of some comparable emerging economies, despite a population of more than 240 million and repeated government drives to attract investors from China, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries.
Net FDI fell to about $2.5 billion in fiscal 2025, and OICCI officials have previously cited macroeconomic instability, inconsistent policies, taxation and regional security concerns among factors limiting fresh investment.
Economic conditions have improved substantially since the crisis years. The IMF said in May that Pakistan’s reform program had helped restore macroeconomic stability and rebuild external buffers, with growth accelerating and foreign exchange reserves rising. But it also said structural reforms were still needed to improve competition, productivity and the private-sector business environment.
The OICCI report showed the breadth of foreign companies’ presence in Pakistan. Oil, gas and energy businesses accounted for 36 percent of the government levies paid by member companies, while banks, insurers and other financial firms held 75.6 percent of their combined assets and generated a quarter of total turnover.
Telecommunications companies accounted for 33 percent of total capital expenditure, while foreign-invested companies were also active across food and consumer goods, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, engineering, shipping and aviation.
Among 51 OICCI members listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, profit before tax grew at a compound annual rate of 26 percent in rupee terms between 2021 and 2025 and 11 percent in dollar terms, according to the chamber.
The OICCI said greater policy stability would be needed to translate the continued investment of existing multinationals into stronger overall foreign investment.
“With greater policy consistency, regulatory predictability and an enabling business environment, foreign investors can make an even larger contribution to economic growth, exports, innovation and employment.”
