ISLAMABAD: The Board of Investment (BoI) has established links with Central Asian Republics and African countries, presenting Pakistan as a suitable investment destination.

More than 100 delegates from CARs and Africa attended a day-long ‘Pakistan Investors Meet-up 2022’ organised by the BoI in Lahore on Saturday.

The Board appreciated the speedy economic growth achieved by many African nations and said that the African continent was currently at a critical juncture in its history, owing to its promising economic potential, paving way for Pakistan-African Joint investment cooperation in various fields of the economy.

Speaking at the meet-up, BoI Secretary Fareena Mazhar said that as people-to-people contact was an effective instrument for encouraging joint investment endeavors, the event would play a pivotal role in establishing and strengthening ties with the business community from the CARs and African continent.

Ms Mazhar said that it was right time for the CARs and African nations to invest in Pakistan.

The business community from Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Cameron, Egypt, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and other African and CARs attended the meet-up.

Pakistan and the CARs have signed various memorandums of understanding on economic and investment cooperation in several fields. Furthermore, inter-governmental joint economic commissions have also been established with regional countries.

The BoI is all set to materialising the envisaged joint benefits and facilitate mutual avenues of investment to materialise the protocols in letter and spirit. Agriculture, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, minerals, information technology, engineering and tourism as potential areas of cooperation between Pakistan and Africa, explained the Direc­tor-General Investm­ent Promotion of BoI.

In his presentation, he highlighted investment potential and opportunities of different sectors in Pakistan.

The delegates were informed that the BoI is organising a two-day ‘Pakistan Investment Summit, 2022, in Islamabad from March 30 and more than 500 international investors are expected to attend it.

The Deputy Chairman of Uzbekis­tan’s Food Industry Association, Fazlitdinov Sanjar along with his delegation also participated in the conference and underscored the immense scope of joint participation of Pakistan with Uzbekistan in agricultural products including cotton yarn.

The business community from Uzbekistan expressed interest to invest in Pakistan’s tourism and agriculture sectors.

Senior Vice President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mian Rehman Aziz shared his views pertaining to Pakistan’s local businesses’ immense potential and the key areas of focus.

Zonal Chairman of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Association of Pakistan Dr Faisal Khokhar invited the foreign business community to invest in the pharma sector and elaborated on the future of Pakistan’s pharma industry.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2022