SEVERAL developments clearly indicate that the efforts of the government, especially the newly created Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), to attract local and foreign investment have started bearing fruits. These are reflective of the growing trust of investors in the policies and programmes of the government which augur well for the economy of the country.
It is, perhaps, for the first time in the history of the country that frantic efforts are being made to translate into reality the understanding reached with the brotherly country Saudi Arabia for huge investment in different sectors of Pakistan’s economy. Only recently, a high level delegation of KSA visited Pakistan for discussions on investment prospects and now a fifty member team is due on May 05 to hold business-to-business (B2B) meetings with focus for trade deals and investment in joint ventures with Pakistani entrepreneurs. The keenness of the government to take all investment initiatives to fruition at the earliest is evident from the decision of the Prime Minister to form a 16-member Steering Committee to prepare for business meetings with the Saudi delegation. In a related development, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, in a meeting with the US Ambassador, Donald Blome, highlighted the province’s substantial investment potential in agriculture, industry and IT sectors and the US envoy expressed a keen interest in fostering closer collaboration with the Punjab government to tackle poverty and spur economic development. Meanwhile, the US State Department said on Thursday that Washington supports Pakistan’s efforts to stabilise its economy, including by reaching agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and this support was unwavering. In another significant development, ten parties have shown interest in buying stakes in PIA and with this in view the date for submission of Letters of Intent has been extended by a fortnight. All these moves and developments augur well for the economy but much depends on political stability and the need for a national endeavour to foil designs of the enemy that uses all tactics at its disposal including terrorism to scuttle our march on the road to progress and development.
