PM appoints old friend as special aide on investment
This is the third appointment for investment portfolio as FDI remains markedly lower in Pakistan
With Jahangir’s appointment, the number of cabinet ministers, advisers and special assistants has swelled to 39. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Imran Khan has appointed his decades-old friend Sahibzada Amir Jahangir as his special assistant on foreign investment - the third high-profile appointment to look after the investment portfolio and the second with UK background.
“The prime minister has been pleased to appoint with effect from October 11, 2018 Sahibzada Amir Jahangir as Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Foreign Investment,” said a notification issued by the Cabinet Division.
He has been appointed under Rule 4(6) of the 1973 Rules of Business which says that there may be a special assistant or special assistants to the prime minister with such status and functions as may be determined by the prime minister.
With Jahangir’s appointment, the number of cabinet ministers, advisers and special assistants has swelled to 39. There are two-dozen federal ministers, six ministers of state, four advisers with the status of federal minister and five special assistants including Jahangir.
Jahangir will be the third cabinet nominee who will be looking after the investment portfolio. The premier has given the portfolio of adviser to PM on commerce, industry and investment to Abdul Razak Dawood.
Govt starts tax drive without empowering FBR wing
This month, the government has also appointed Haroon Sharif as chairman of the Board of Investment with the status of minister of state.
Dawood did not respond to the question whether the PM appointed Jahangir in consultation with him.
One of the key structural problems that the economy has been facing is low investment to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, which has increased the country’s reliance on foreign partners for financing its development needs.
Compared with the regional average of 25% investment-to-GDP ratio, Pakistan’s average ratio has been hovering around 15%.
Foreign direct investment into the country plunged to $288.2 million in first two months of the current fiscal year, down $192.4 million or 40% over the same period of last year, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.
Jahangir has been meeting with the prime minister along with Aneel Mussarat - another friend of the premier. Mussarat is advising the PM on the construction of five million low-cost housing units - the flagship project of the premier that is still at initial stage.
Panels to suggest how to implement 100-day plan
There is a possibility that Jahangir will assist the prime minister in attracting foreign investment for the five-million housing project, according to an official of the BOI. Jahangir may be given an office at the Prime Minister’s Office, said an official of the Cabinet Division.
High interest rates could become a challenge to the government’s scheme of low-cost houses. Although the government has not yet made details of the scheme public, the finance minister said on Saturday that his ministry would not subsidise the financing cost.
Jahangir is the second cabinet nominee having the UK background. Earlier, the prime minister appointed Sayed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari as his special assistant on overseas Pakistanis and human resource development with the status of minister of state.
In an interview to Geo News last month, Jahangir denied that he was an aspirant for the post of Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK. The media report claimed that Jahangir has been the prime minister’s friend for 40 years and could become Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 17th, 2018.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has appointed his decades-old friend Sahibzada Amir Jahangir as his special assistant on foreign investment - the third high-profile appointment to look after the investment portfolio and the second with UK background.
“The prime minister has been pleased to appoint with effect from October 11, 2018 Sahibzada Amir Jahangir as Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Foreign Investment,” said a notification issued by the Cabinet Division.
He has been appointed under Rule 4(6) of the 1973 Rules of Business which says that there may be a special assistant or special assistants to the prime minister with such status and functions as may be determined by the prime minister.
With Jahangir’s appointment, the number of cabinet ministers, advisers and special assistants has swelled to 39. There are two-dozen federal ministers, six ministers of state, four advisers with the status of federal minister and five special assistants including Jahangir.
Jahangir will be the third cabinet nominee who will be looking after the investment portfolio. The premier has given the portfolio of adviser to PM on commerce, industry and investment to Abdul Razak Dawood.
Govt starts tax drive without empowering FBR wing
This month, the government has also appointed Haroon Sharif as chairman of the Board of Investment with the status of minister of state.
Dawood did not respond to the question whether the PM appointed Jahangir in consultation with him.
One of the key structural problems that the economy has been facing is low investment to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, which has increased the country’s reliance on foreign partners for financing its development needs.
Compared with the regional average of 25% investment-to-GDP ratio, Pakistan’s average ratio has been hovering around 15%.
Foreign direct investment into the country plunged to $288.2 million in first two months of the current fiscal year, down $192.4 million or 40% over the same period of last year, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.
Jahangir has been meeting with the prime minister along with Aneel Mussarat - another friend of the premier. Mussarat is advising the PM on the construction of five million low-cost housing units - the flagship project of the premier that is still at initial stage.
Panels to suggest how to implement 100-day plan
There is a possibility that Jahangir will assist the prime minister in attracting foreign investment for the five-million housing project, according to an official of the BOI. Jahangir may be given an office at the Prime Minister’s Office, said an official of the Cabinet Division.
High interest rates could become a challenge to the government’s scheme of low-cost houses. Although the government has not yet made details of the scheme public, the finance minister said on Saturday that his ministry would not subsidise the financing cost.
Jahangir is the second cabinet nominee having the UK background. Earlier, the prime minister appointed Sayed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari as his special assistant on overseas Pakistanis and human resource development with the status of minister of state.
In an interview to Geo News last month, Jahangir denied that he was an aspirant for the post of Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK. The media report claimed that Jahangir has been the prime minister’s friend for 40 years and could become Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 17th, 2018.