Noman Said, a world-renowned IT expert, investorand founder has termed the formation of Special Investment FacilitationCouncil (SIFC) a game-changer vis-a-vis foreign direct investment (FDI)and transformational in nature for the economy of Pakistan.
SIFC will comprise top leadership of both the government and the armedforces – and, will have apex, executive & implementation committees.This is a brilliant, timely move; and, we hail both the civilian & thestate institutions for their clarity of thought and coming together for
the prosperity of the country, he added.
Noman Said continued that investors, entrepreneurs and business groupsare not comfortable or encouraged by red tapism; dealing with numerouslicensing & regulatory authorities and inconsistency in economic &investment policies. They are accustomed with investment facilitationand incentivization through one-window-operations; and, these are
exactly the issues SIFC is mandated to address.
It is pertinent to note that SIFC will focus on defense production;agriculture; mines & minerals, energy sector and IT industry; with atarget of $100 billion in FDI within a short span of three years.
Thepenultimate goal is to reach $1 trillion in terms of nominal GDP byFY35. State apparatus will provide full-fledged technical and strategicsupport to SIFC to pave the way for seamless functioning of the council.
Noman Said explained that licensing for setting up new industry orbusinesses may involve as many as 20 NOCs; up to 18 months and countlessvisits to various authorities; and, this unfortunate state of affairsrequires one-window under one-roof to bring any substantial amount ofinvestment into the country.—NNI
