Foreign investment in telecom declines to $79m

Investment sinks to lowest level since 2003-04.

ISLAMABAD:


The telecom sector in the country has attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) merely worth $79.1 million in the fiscal year 2010-11, showing a declining trend as compared to previous years, according to a telecom news website quoting official statistics on Thursday.



The share of the telecom sector in overall FDI has contracted to 5% in the just concluded fiscal year, against 17% of the share recorded in the year 2009-10. It was $1.82 billion in 2006-07, $1.44 billion in 2008-09, $815 million in 2008-09 and $374 million in 2009-10.

The FDI level is the lowest since year 2003-04 in the telecom sector as FDI continued to increase till 2009-10. The sector used to be bring in billions of dollars of investments with a host of related economic activities.

In 2005-06, the telecom sector brought $1.91 billion with 54% share in the overall FDI, the figures showed.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22nd,  2011.
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