RAWALPINDI, Dec 19: President General Pervez Musharraf on Friday said Pakistan offers an attractive and secure business environment for foreign investors following a sustained economic resilience and improved governance in the last four years.

Speaking to a delegation of foreign investors led by Shaikh Tariq Bin Faisal Al Qasimi, and Chairman of the Sharjah Economic Department, the President said the country holds immense promise for returns to foreign investors at the back of a strong and consistent economic recovery.

The president stated that all sectors of the economy are open to foreign direct investment.

“Pakistan’s investment policy is transparent, fair and favourable, it is for equal treatment to both local and foreign investors,” he maintained. The delegation that called on the President included Heitham Salam Al-Ghammei, Tansri Dato Amin Shah, Toby Tan Yeang, Raza Jaffer and Ali Ahmad. Finance Minister Shuakat Aziz and Chairman Board of Investment Waseem Haqqi were also present.

President Musharraf informed the delegation that foreign investors are allowed to hold 100 per cent equity.

The attractive investment package, evolved over the last few years, does not put restrictions on remittances of royalty, technical and franchise fee, capital, profit and dividends.

“The current policy offers a host of incentives to facilitate investment, special care has been taken to avoid delays and bureaucratic red-tap in the way of business.”

He recalled that during last four years Pakistan introduced a number of structural and stabilization reforms and took measures to improve governance in the country.

“The business environment is conducive as a wide range of investment facilities have the backing of an upbeat economic scenario, with the country having achieved the economic growth rate of over 5 per cent last year, the best in South Asia.”

The delegates showed a keen interest in investment opportunities in various areas including banking, hotels, real estate, power production and distribution, textiles, tourism and information technology.

They also expressed a keen interest in the privatization process, being pursued by the government.

The delegates thanked the president for affording an opportunity to learn about the economic and investment policies of Pakistan.—APP

Our Reporter adds: Minister for Privatization and Investment, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, during a meeting with the visiting delegation, said that the pro-investment open policies offer attractive opportunities to the foreign investors in all the sectors.

Mr Shaikh said that the over all economic indicators were moving upward and the efforts were being made to bring in quality players from the private sector for the economic growth and efficient services.

Over 600 foreign companies were operating in Pakistan and new collaborations were emerging between the public and private sectors, which indicated that it was a good time for investors to come forward and invest in Pakistan as there was no restriction on the quantum of equity, joint ventures with local partners, taking out dividends or capital, he added.

He stated, “we were moving forward and our privatization programme was gaining momentum with the completion process of some big ticket transactions like Habib Bank Limited, Pakistan State Oil, Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO), Jamshoro Power Company (JPC), Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC), Karachi Shipyard, Pak Arab Fertilizer Company and Telecommunication Company in a an advanced stage.”

Through the two-pronged strategy i.e. sale of shares of public sector entities through market and strategic sale of the units, in the first year of its operation the present government had conducted privatization worth Rs17 billion plus, which was a record, the minister added.

The investment-friendly atmosphere together with generous tax concessions, easy access to the growing markets in the Middle East and Central Asia and well-identified areas for profitable investments had made Pakistan a haven for investors, he added.

Sheikh Tariq Bin Faisal Al Qassimi, Chairman, Sharjah Economic Department indicated keen interest in the privatization process and expressed to participate in the ongoing and upcoming entities being offered in the banking, power, property and telecommunication sectors. He said that Sharjah intended to increase the present volume of investment in view of Pakistan’s aggressive, open and investors friendly economic policies.