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Prime minister invites foreign entrepreneurs to invest in safe business environment
Friday, January 30, 2009
DAVOS, Switzerland: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and discussed Pakistan-Russia bilateral relations. The meeting, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, focussed on further strengthening the bilateral relations.
Gilani was apprised by Prime Minister Putin about the role played by his government in defusing the tension between Pakistan and India in the wake of Mumbai attacks. Gilani appreciated the role played by Russia and informed him that Pakistan had extended its cooperation to India in the investigations and would share the results with it. The two leaders also agreed to further expand the Pakistan-Russia strategic dialogue besides enhancing cooperation in areas of defence and economy.
Gilani invited the foreign businessmen to invest in Pakistan and said a successful elected government was in place to ensure safe business environment for investors. “Investing in Pakistan is investing in future,” the prime minister said while addressing a lunch he hosted for leading businessmen.
Gilani said Pakistan’s sound fundamentals offered investors an opportunity to explore the country’s economic potential in diverse fields. He emphasised the need for more foreign investment coming into Pakistan and benefit from its investor-friendly economic policies.
He said Pakistan’s liberal economic regime with zero import duty on raw material provided equal opportunities for local and foreign businessmen. He said Pakistan was though confronting with a number of challenges, including economic crisis, however, the democratic government was struggling to improve the situation.
“Despite all the challenges, the economy continues to be buoyant and vibrant in Pakistan,” the prime minister said, adding the country’s mineral and workforce resources had the great potential to be fully tapped. He said the government had fixed its focus on the development of the agriculture sector to utilise it, particularly during the recession phase. “It will be just a matter of time that Pakistan will become a regional hub of economic activity,” he said.
Gilani said the government was taking a number of strategic measures, and mentioned increased trade with Afghanistan and improved regional mechanism with the Saarc countries. He said a deep seaport at Gwadar had been established for greater economic activity among the Central Asian and Asian states. He said the improved economic plan for civil aviation, customs and logistics would substantially enhance the country’s trade activities.
The prime minister said Pakistan had the capacity to join hands with partners in food security, being a major food producing and also the fourth largest milk producer in the world. He said the government was endeavouring to use the trade policy prudently by pursuing the ongoing growth. “Our economic strategy rests on strengthening the trade dividends and ensuring a business-friendly environment in the country,” he said. Gilani said in the WTO context, Pakistan would support substantial reduction on tariffs in the developing countries.
Gilani also met chief executive officers of Coca Cola and Metro Cash ‘N Carry group and urged them to bring in more investment into the country. He said his government would assure maximum security to foreign investors and provide them the best possible facilities.
The CEO of the Coca Cola company, Mukhtar Kent, said his company had plans to invest $ 200 million in Pakistan and establish plants for preparing concentrated juices, introduce a variety of teas, sports drinks, beverages and other products of international standard.
The chairman of the Metro group, in a separate meeting, said his group will open a store in Karachi next month, while more stores in Sialkot and Multan would be opened soon. He said the group had planned more stores, but because of the global financial crisis Metro had to scale down a bit its operations. He hoped the new stores will create more job opportunities. He said the group was concentrating on frozen seafood and high-quality rice.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
