World’s top investment groups eye Pakistan

KARACHI: World’s top investment and financial groups have shown keen interest in Pakistan’s equity-linked instruments such as convertible and exchangeable bonds for state-owned enterprises, expected to be issued by the Privatisation Commission.

They have also expressed interest in privatisation process under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode. These groups include the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), Nomura (UK) and London Stock Exchange.

Senior officials of HSBC, Nomura, London Stock Exchange and other major financial institutions in London expressed the desire during meetings with the Federal Minister for Privatisation, Waqar Ahmed Khan, says a message received from the UK on Tuesday.

During the meetings, senior banking officials apprised the minister of the current global economic and financial environment and discussed various options for increasing foreign investment in Pakistan. They said that frontier markets like Pakistan were the key to future global growth and current market conditions were opportune for foreign investment in the country.

Khan said that the restructuring plan for state-owned enterprises would further improve overall economic environment and turn the loss-making companies into profitable ones.

This restructuring plan included generating capital via equity-linked instruments and efficient utilisation of proceeds for restructuring of companies on the privatisation agenda, he added.

The minister said that the economic environment in Pakistan has become more conducive for investment through consistency and continuity of investment-friendly policies.

The international community could play a vital role in promoting foreign investment in Pakistan, which would ease fiscal pressure on the government caused by the war on terror, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 14^th, 2010.