The Prime Minister said this during his separate meetings with General Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), Acting Director, Hesham Ibrahim Al-Waqayan and Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), Acting Managing Director, Othman Ibrahim Al-Isa here on the second day of his two-day official visit.
“We have one of the world’s largest coal reserves - 175 billion tons - in Thar. KIA should consider investing in mining of that coal and generation of electricity with it,” he stressed. The prime minister offered the top executives of KFAED and KIA to take advantage of the liberal investment regime as well as the investment-friendly incentives in Pakistan.
During his meeting with Chairman KIA, the prime minister said that Pakistan is willing to offer Kuwait a portion of land in its strategically located Gwadar port for setting up a terminal for the storage of its oil reserves.
“We would also welcome KIA’s investment for the development of Gwadar Port facilities and its related infrastructure projects”, he added.
Gilani also sought the KIA’s investment for establishment of cold chain and food grain storage facilities, setting up of agro-based industries in horticulture commodities and investment in livestock, dairy and poultry sectors in Pakistan. The produce of these projects can then be supplied to the Union of Consumer Cooperative Society of Kuwait, he added.
Gilani said Shariah-compliant Islamic Banking is another sector where Pakistan can benefit from the experience of Kuwait Finance House (KFH), a subsidiary of KIA, adding, the opening of KFH branches in Pakistan would be welcomed. KIA is estimated to hold in excess of $200 billion of assets and is reportedly one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 16th, 2011.
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