FEDERAL government has picked Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, a global influencer, business connector, non-partisan analyst and entrepreneur based out of Pakistan, as new Chairman of Board of Investment (BOI).
He is the fourth person to have been appointed to the post and has replaced Atif Bokhari who resigned in June due to “personal reasons”.
Given his experience and exposure, Ahsan, in our view, is the right person for the top seat in BOI.
He is the founder of Corporate Pakistan Group (CPG), which represents the elite of Pakistan’s national intelligentsia, including corporate and business leaders, politicians, academicians, energy and foreign policy experts, tech entrepreneurs, defence personnel, media practitioners and the movers and shakers of civil society.
He also established the Nutshell Group, of which he is the Founder CEO, and has also hosted over 3,000 foreign delegates in Pakistan, including, among others, global CEOs, senior executives, ministers, academicians from Ivy League universities, and thought and knowledge leaders from 35 countries over the last 21 years.
Ahsan is the Vice President and member Executive Council of the Marketing Association of Pakistan – an apex body of marketing in Pakistan. He also served as Chairman of MARCON – Pakistan’s flagship marketing event.
Ahsan indeed is the sort of energetic blood that is required in the BOI to unveil and execute a well-defined strategy to attract foreign investment from different sources.
BOI was set up for the promotion of investment in all sectors of the economy, facilitation of local and foreign investors for the speedy materialization of their projects, enhancement of Pakistan’s international competitiveness and contribution to economic and social development.
However, the performance of this institution has so far not been up to par. We are confident that the new Chairman has the brain to transform it into such a body that really goes an extra mile to facilitate the foreign investors.
If we really want to take the country forward, we have to bring in the foreign investors in different sectors, especially the industrial and agriculture fields.
Under the new leadership, the BOI should prioritize the realization of the Saudi investment portfolio of $ 20 billion announced by the Saudi Crown Prince during a visit to Pakistan back in February 2019.
This in fact will encourage other countries from the Gulf region to further expand their investment base in Pakistan.
