DAVOS, Jan 26: President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday invited the global entrepreneurs to invest in Pakistan, saying its geo-strategic location, booming economy, lucrative incentives and market of 156 million people makes the country an ideal destination for foreign investment.

“We have a tremendous scope, don’t believe me, come to Pakistan and see for yourself the opportunities the country offers,” he told the chief executive officers and representatives of leading international organizations.

Speaking to the potential investors on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, he gave a bird’s eye view of the investment-friendly regime in Pakistan that offers the best return on investment.

“Pakistan’s economy is on an upsurge and posted 8.4 per cent GDP growth last year,” he said and assured that the economic upswing would be sustained as it was directly related to the welfare of the people.

The president was confident that despite burgeoning world oil prices and the October 8 earthquake, Pakistan was well on its way to sustain or even surpass 7 per cent growth this year.

Briefly recounting the economic gains, President Musharraf said that five years of structural reforms had brought debt-to-GDP ratio to a healthy 59 per cent.

He said that the debt servicing liability was down to 30 per cent from 64 per cent, exports were up by 105 per cent, revenues had increased by 130 per cent and the development expenditure had recorded 300 per cent raise.

The president said that oversubscription of Euro and Islamic bonds in the international market were indicative of growing confidence of foreign investors in Pakistan.

He particularly alluded to the Karachi Stock Exchange, which is the best performing exchange in the world today with the KSE-100 index having crossed the 10,000 mark.

Stressing the continuity in the government policies over the years, President Musharraf said that investors must feel confident about the strength of Pakistan’s economy.

Listing some of the incentives, the president said that foreign companies were allowed 100 per cent equity and there were no restriction on remitting profits and dividends.

The country’s cheap but skilled manpower and low cost of doing business are the other ingredients of Pakistan’s investor-friendly climate, he added.

The president also pointed to the high profitability and said most of the foreign companies in Pakistan were earning profits between 30 to 60 per cent.

He identified telecom, IT, agro-based industry, engineering, construction, power, oil and gas exploration, fisheries and food-processing as some of the areas which offer vast opportunities for investment with good returns.

Speaking to William H. Gates, chairman software giant Microsoft, who called on him on the margins of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Thursday, President Musharraf said effective use of information technology was fundamental to Pakistan achieving its strategic economic objectives.

“With its large domestic market and strategic location, Pakistan could be used as a hub for Microsoft initiatives in Central Asia and Afghanistan”, the president said.

William Gates discussed possible areas of Microsoft-Pakistan collaboration and investment in the country’s promising IT sector. —APP