PM woos investors to benefit from Pakistan's rich potential
Abbasi said work on infrastructure development programmes was progressing at a fast pace.
ISLAMABAD (APP):Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday wooed foreign investors to exploit the rich potential Pakistan offers in diverse fields and benefit from the lucrative incentives offered by the country.
Addressing an investors’ conference here at a local hotel that focused on ways to raise the national GDP to 9%, the Prime Minister said the national policies for foreign and domestic investors would continue, despite the change in government.
“Pakistan has become a destination of choice,” the Prime Minister told the investors and diplomats of several countries and said “not a single company has lost money in Pakistan.”
He said Pakistan has a mature financial and legal system and was rapidly removing the bottlenecks in ease of doing business so as to attract more foreign investors into the country.
He said work was also on to provide more tax incentives to those who wish to avail the liberal policies of the country.
The Prime Minister said the reality of Pakistan was far away from what was portrayed on the international media and said the challenges of security and energy shortage have already been addressed while the country’s economy was growing stronger and international economic institutions have termed all indicators positive.
Abbasi said he looks forward to more investors in Pakistan as it promises higher returns and security to their investments.
Abbasi said work on infrastructure development programmes was progressing at a fast pace, and 1700 km long 6-lane motorways would be added to national road network by 2029. He also mentioned the progress on economic zones, sea and air ports besides improvements in the supply of electricity and natural gas.
He said the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and the Belt and Road Initiative would help Pakistan open up to Western China and Central Asian Republics and boost its trade.
He said the PML-N government managed the long standing issue of power shortage with the fast track import of Liquefied Natural Gas and boosting the supply by 30%.
Shahid Khaqan termed the removal of sanctuaries of all terrorists as a major success of his government and said the country achieved in this war, where others failed against the same enemy at the same terrain.
He said lots of effort and sacrifices went into making Pakistan a safe place to be. He said all these measures were taken to bring peace to the country and to make it sustainable.
Minister for Finance Miftah Ismael spoke at length on the measures taken to build a strong economy and said the PML-N government has given unprecedented tax incentives and slashed the tax rates for individuals from 30 to 15 percent. He said there were tax rebates and also penalties for those who do not pay taxes. He said a non-tax payer in Pakistan could not purchase land, a vehicle or open a foreign currency account in the country.
He said by the year 2025 Pakistan would have the fifth largest middle class in the world and the international companies would have no option left but to come and invest in Pakistan. He said the over 60 per cent youth of the country were a huge incentive as they were educated, technically skilled and ready to enter the employment field in challenging environment.
He said there was a great potential for foreign companies to grow and do business, and those who do it would find Pakistan friendly and open to them.
