‘Foreigners driven away by terrorism, energy crisis’

Ambassador urges enhancing Pak-Swiss Business Council activity.

FAISALABAD: Foreign investors are reluctant to invest in Pakistan due to the chronic energy shortage and deteriorating law and order situation, said Switzerland Ambassador to Pakistan Nicolas Plattner in a visit to the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Plattner said that Swiss companies have invested more than $1 billion over the years but they are reluctant to investment anymore.

The economic ties between Switzerland and Pakistan are built on solid ground, a reality which the present economic circumstances cannot change, he added. He suggested enhancing cooperation at the forum of Pak-Swiss Business Council in Punjab.

Trade between Pakistan and Switzerland had been gradually increasing until recent years and reached about half a billion Swiss francs in 2008, he added.

Swiss companies have come to this country with a long-term perspective as Pakistan is a market of 180 million people.

President FCCI Muzammil Sultan said that Faisalabad alone contributed about 40% of the country’s total textile exports and has a tremendous trade potential between the two countries.

In fiscal 2010, Switzerland was the fifth largest foreign direct investor into Pakistan with an investment of $170.6 million. This is proof that Pakistan has the potential for foreign direct investment, added Sultan.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2011.