Foreign Investment: Media portraying negative image

US energy companies hesitate due to security concerns: US consultant.

KARACHI: The media in Pakistan is portraying a very chaotic image of the country which is a major hurdle in bringing investment, according to Christopher H Johnson, the US government’s consultant on investment.

Johnson was addressing businessmen at the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Wednesday.

“Pakistan has to consider the fact that her neighbouring countries are progressing. Meanwhile, the local media is hammering out a very negative picture of the country, which should be controlled and negated,” he said.

Pakistan should work on surmounting impediments to attract investments, he said, adding that energy is a major obstacle and inviting big energy companies from the US is a problem because of security concerns.

Although many US companies have been operating in Pakistan for several decades, more investors should enter and establish a production base to tap the huge and largely untapped market, said KCCI President Muhammad Saeed Shafiq.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2010.