Pakistan opens gates for Gulf investment

SIFC approves 28 projects to lure investors from Arab kingdoms

ISLAMABAD:

In a major development, Pakistan’s new Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) -- a hybrid civil-military forum -- has in principle approved 28 projects worth billions of dollars that would be offered to Gulf countries for investment, including the construction of Diamer-Bhasha dam and mining operations at Reko Diq in Balochistan’s Chagai district.

The list of the approved projects suggests that if all the schemes are picked up by countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, the quantum of investment under the SIFC banner can be greater than the $28 billion under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Initially, the approved schemes are in the food, agriculture, information technology, mines and minerals, petroleum and power sectors. They include cattle farms; the $10 billion Saudi Aramco refinery; explorations of copper and gold in Chagai; and the Thar Coal Rail connectivity scheme.

The Diamer-Bhasha dam has also been offered to China for investment under CPEC.

In order to give legal cover to the SIFC working, parliament this week had approved a host of amendments to the Pakistan Army Act and the Board of Investment (BOI) Ordinance.

Amendments to the Election Act have also been introduced to ensure the continuity of work on these schemes during the tenure of the caretaker government.

These laws will provide fast track execution of the initially approved 28 multibillion dollars investment projects, besides ensuring immunity to the decision-makers from any kind of investigation by various anti-graft bodies.

Another law, the Pakistan Sovereign Wealth Fund, is also in the pipeline that will provide equity to the SIFC-approved projects for both joint ventures with foreign nations or single ownership schemes.

The assets of seven profitable state-owned entities, including blue-chip companies, are being transferred in the wealth fund for utilisation on the projects approved by the SIFC.

Pakistan has set up the SIFC for what Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described as a move to “foster synergy between the federal and provincial governments to facilitate timely decision making; avoid duplication of efforts; enhance investor confidence, and ensure swift project implementation”.

Sources said the government had identified 23 countries for pitching these projects but the main focus would be on Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.

Pakistan will issue priority visas to the citizens of these countries in an attempt to achieve swift execution of the schemes.

The challenge will be at the execution stage, as even the strategic projects including CPEC could not fully materialise because of a host of issues including bureaucratic snags, Pakistan’s backtracking on its sovereign commitments to China, and its indecisiveness about geopolitical alignments.

Islamabad and Beijing had planned a total $62 billion investment under CPEC but so far, less than a sum of $28 billion has been materialised.

Pakistan narrowly avoided a sovereign default last month after the prime minister as well as the military establishment took economic decisions in their own hands and reached a new $3 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The civil-military leadership has now planned to jointly run the economy aimed at attracting investment from the Gulf countries to enhance Pakistan’s non-debt inflows and reduce reliance on imports.

The sources said the majority of these projects would be executed on a government-to-government basis.
Some of them could be offered for international competitive bidding, they added.

The apex committee of the SIFC approved a project for corporate farming on 10,000 acres in Cholistan desert that will be later extended to 85,000 acres.

The initial presentations made by Punjab’s agriculture department suggested that the provincial government had to perform a great deal of work to implement the scheme.

The sources said Qatar was interested in this farm to meet its food security needs.

The SIFC’s apex body also approved the setting up of a dairy company holding 20,000 Holstein Friesian animals (an international breed of dairy cattle) and the number of farms could be extended to five or more, according to the decision.

It also endorsed the establishment of a corporate feedlot farm of 30,000 animals that could also be extended to five or more.

Similarly, the SIFC gave the nod to the establishment of a corporate camel farm of 10,000 animals that could also be extended to five or more.

The source said after the SIFC’s principle endorsement last week, these projects were again discussed by the implementation committee of the primary body this week.

They added that now these projects would be tabled before the SIFC’s apex committee next month for the final approval.

The sources continued that the SIFC had approved setting up of technology zones, a project for investment in the optical fiber network, establishment of Cloud infrastructure and a semiconductor designer, manufacturing of smart devices, global skill hub scheme and various centres of excellence.

The SIFC has given the nod to Chiniot Iron Ore project, Barite-Lead-Zinc project, and the explorations of copper and gold in Chagai as well as lead and zinc in Khuzdar.

The SIFC approved a Saudi Aramco oil refinery costing a $10 billion and the TAPI Gas Pipeline Project for investment under its umbrella.

Some major projects in the power sector have been identified for sharing with the Gulf countries for investment purposes.

These included the multibillion dollar Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Thar Coal Block II.

The Solar PV Project at the locations of Layyah and Jhang have also been endorsed.

Similarly, a hydropower project at Rajdhani, two transmission Lines from Ghazi Barotha to Faisalabad and Matiari to Rahim Yar Khan have also been approved by the SIFC.

A Reactive Power Compensation Devices project and battery storage for frequency regulation were also part of the plan, said the sources.

The SIFC also gave the nod to conducting a feasibility study on a project for construction of water reservoir for excess flood water for irrigation in Cholistan and it sought a progress report on Chashma Right Bank Canal Project.
The National Assembly approved amendments to the BOI law to give legal cover to the SIFC work.

According to the revised law, the SIFC will act as a single window for multi-domain cooperation in relevant fields with Gulf Cooperation Council countries, in particular, and other countries in general.

It will enable a policy environment for the facilitation of investment and development, recommend approvals, execute commercial transactions, as well as enter into arrangements and agreements -- directly or indirectly -- with local and foreign investors.

The SIFC has also been given powers to summon any regulatory bodies, authorities, public sector entities, divisions and departments of the federal government.

The body has been given power to relax or exempt from regulatory compliance.

There will be complete immunity to SIFC from lawsuits, prosecutions or any other legal proceedings or action.
No investigating department, anti-graft body, law enforcement agency or a court can inquire into or initiate a probe in relation to any commercial transaction, arrangement or agreement signed by the SIFC, according to the revised law.

In another important amendment, the revised BOI Ordinance will have precedent over all the existing laws.