Pakistan offers great trade and investment opportunities; and the time is ripe for foreign investors and overseas Pakistanis to make the best of these openings. With the security situation improving every day and the fast developing China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), there are multiple sectors that the investors could explore in Pakistan.
The government is already giving a lot of incentives to foreign investors and is prepared to facilitate them further.
This was said by Pakistan Federal Minister for Housing and Works Akram Khan Durrani as he interacted with members of the Pakistan community at a reception hosted for him by Shahzad Ahmad Mughal, CEO and Partner of Dania Group.
“Now is the time for foreign investors and overseas Pakistanis to make investments in Pakistan and make the best of the investment opportunities that Pakistan offers,” said Durrani.
Durrani, who has also served as Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan, was on a four-day private visit to Qatar on the invitation of a Pakistani community leader, Hazrat Gul. He held multiple meetings with Pakistani community during his stay and discussed the business opportunities in currently available in Pakistan.
Speaking to the audience, Durrani said his ministry is engaged in different developmental works in Pakistan, besides building residential units for the low income people in Islamabad and elsewhere. He said he would like to meet and invite Qatari government and businesspeople to visit Pakistan and explore the investment opportunities.
He termed CPEC as a major development in terms of opening of investment opportunities in Pakistan, which will see an upgrade to infrastructure, railways, roads and energy projects. In another two to three years, said Durrani, a huge investment and trade opportunity would sprout in Pakistan and this is the right time for foreign investment. Through CPEC, China has pledged to invest $46 billion in the country.
Durrani said that the government has also been able to largely control the problem of terrorism through military operations. The number of terror attacks has drastically gone down and the overall security situation in Pakistan has improved manifold.
“The government is happy to facilitate any overseas Pakistani coming to Pakistan to invest. I will personally show them areas where they can make their investments and I assure you there are huge profits waiting for investors,” said Durrani.
Durrani welcomed Pakistani entrepreneurs’ offer to set up one more airport in KP province. There are many airports in other provinces of Pakistan; KP, however, caters to the needs of a large number of Pakistani expats working in the Gulf through just a single airport in Peshawar.
The minister quoted the example of Sialkot city in Punjab, where private investors have established an airport and their own airline, and stressed that a similar airport can be made in KP as well.
He said Pakistan and Qatar enjoy cordial relations and the recent LNG deal between Pakistan and Qatar will go a long way in helping the power hungry country.
He thanked Qatari authorities for providing employment opportunities to Pakistanis. He said the current government is keen on further strengthening Pakistan’s relations with Qatar in every field. “I will also try in my own capacity to further strengthen the existing brotherly ties between Pakistan and Qatar,” said Durrani.
He said his ministry has already built thousands of housing units in Islamabad and have initiated a number of other housing projects in rural and urban areas, which would benefit the middle and low income people in Pakistan.
Pak-Qatar Business Forum president Ahmad Hussain, Pak Welfare Forum president Riyaz Bakali and Pakistan Muslim League (N) Welfare president Rashid Butt also spoke on the occasion. Durrani left for Pakistan late last week.