KARACHI:
By the looks of it, the PTI government wants to bring about an industrial revolution in Pakistan. They are trying to introduce different incentives and change policies to attract investment into new industries. But it is highly likely to fail horribly because it is not fixing the problem at the source. The reality is that Pakistan is a real estate development paradise. It is easy and much more economically profitable to invest in real estate development than in new industries — let’s be honest.
Research has shown that countries like Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai have immense wealth creating opportunities because the real estate is the most profitable business. On the other hand, in nations where real estate is not profitable, like China or the US, investments are directed towards other desirable industries so that wealth can be generated.
It is rather evident that if Pakistan wants to become a leading industrial nation, the government has to make real estate investment profitable. But first it is necessary to ban the sale of property “files” and make this a jail-able offence in order to ensure that all the investors get their investments back. This will help generate a considerable investment amount from the fraud sale of property files which can be directed elsewhere. Only by encouraging development and boosting the real estate sector can we capture the interest of international investors.
Shahryar Khan Baseer
Peshawar
Published in The Express Tribune, June 16h, 2021.
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