Foreign investors turning to Pakistan: Gillani

Procedure, rules for setting-up industries in SEZs to be simplified to attract FDI

LAHORE:

The Federal Secretary Board of Investment, Asad Rehman Gillani has said that a high-powered 250-member strong Japanese business delegation is due in Pakistan in the last week of September.

He was speaking at a meeting at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). LCCI President, Mian Nauman Kabir, Senior Vice President Mian Rehman Aziz Chan and Vice President Haris Ateeq also spoke on the occasion. The Federal Secretary said that the Japanese delegation is coming to identify available opportunities in various sectors. He said a delegation of Pakistan will visit Saudi Arabia on October 29-30 as the Saudi businessmen are keen to step into joint ventures with their Pakistani counterparts.

He said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the removal of all hurdles coming in the way of foreign direct investment (FDI). Gillani explained that the “Special Economic Zones have a ten-year tax holiday and machinery can be imported tax-free for the industries in SEZs”.

The federal secretary further added that the procedure and rules and regulations for setting-up industries in SEZs under FDI are being made easier. He said that the business community will be taken on board once the draft in this regard is prepared. Gillani hoped that the work in this regard will be completed by December.

The federal secretary informed the house that SECP is providing nine licences online to the corporate companies while the registration of companies is also being done online.

Kabir said that “according to data from the State Bank, our recent FDI inflows are concentrated in sectors like power, financial services, oil and gas and communications. There is a great potential to attract FDI inflows in sectors like construction, housing, tourism, food processing, logistics, value added textiles, automobiles and renewable energy”.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2022.

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