IT has been about two and a half years now since the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government came to power but it has failed to win the confidence of foreign investors in the economy. The very figures released by the SBP depicts so as there has been over thirty per cent plunge in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Pakistan in the first half of current financial year. The country received an investment of $ 952 million during July-December 2020 as compared to $1.357 billion dollars in the corresponding period last year.
The breakout of Covid-19 may be one of the prime reasons behind this fall in FDI but the fact of the matter is that the investment is consistently on the decline over the last few years. This should be a matter of serious concern for the government and relevant departments. Given the challenges posed by the pandemic, promoting FDI is the only option to improve the overall economic health of the country. For this the government must draft favourable policies in order to attract domestic and foreign investment into different sectors. Firstly, the government must focus on the expatriate Pakistanis and they should be convinced to invest their dollars in the country. There has been a record increase in foreign remittances over the last six months or so and it is only a matter of giving them confidence with consistent economic policies, removal of bottlenecks in the way of investment besides ensuring political stability to attract their investment. During the high-profile visit of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman to Islamabad back in 2019, Saudi Arabia had announced to invest $ 20 billion dollars in Pakistan. Similarly commitments had come from other Gulf countries including UAE and Qatar but there has been no progress to realize them. There is a need to engage with these countries immediately at the highest level in order to materialize them. Their investment will not only give impetus to the economy but also encourage other investors to come to Pakistan. Board of Investment (BOI) must be activated to take the investments to the upward trajectory.
