Nation has decided its future lies in liberal,democratic Pakistan: Nawaz

Offers lucrative business opportunities to US investors; says 100pc repatriation of profit allowed to foreign investors; internal security situation has improved a lot

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif says the nation has once and for all decided that its future lies in a liberal and democratic country, where the private sector thrives and no one is left behind. 

“Pakistan’s democratic and economic journey has not been without setbacks. I can confidently say that our direction is set, and we are now implementing our nation’s economic and democratic agenda. And indeed, driving a democratic Pakistan forward in its journey towards an economically vibrant future is a labour of love for me.” 

He was addressing the US-Pakistan Business Council Business (USPBC) delegation at the PM House here on Thursday during a luncheon meeting. 

The delegation comprised Chairman USPBC Miles Young, President US-Pakistan Business Council Ms. Esprenza Jelalian and US businessmen, executives, investors, and industry leaders.

He invited the US investors to take advantage of the lucrative business opportunities available in Pakistan and play their part in strengthening the robust Pakistan-US relationship. 

He said Pakistan has one of the most attractive investment regimes in the world, allowing foreign investors 100% repatriation of profits and easy convertibility into foreign exchange.

Numerous investment opportunities are available in the energy, consumer goods, food, agriculture, housing, healthcare, education, financial services, capital markets, IT, oil and gas and infrastructure sectors of Pakistan. 

He said Pakistan is among the few places in the world that offers the promise of land, geography and people, all at the same time. Increased urbanisation, favorable demographics, a growing middle class and economically empowered women and youth are the recognised drivers of growth. 

The prime minister expressed the confidence that this visit of the council's delegation to Pakistan would go a long way towards exploring and creating excellent avenues

 for trade and investment between the US and Pakistan. 

He said for over 60 years, Pakistan and the United States had worked together to forge a relationship that benefits the people of both countries.  He said this cooperation produced transformational ideas and institutions that are still being considered landmark accomplishments in almost all walks of life. 

He said cooperation is fostering Pakistan’s economic and social progress as well as reinforcing the country’s role in the world. He informed the US delegation that Pakistan had greatly improved its internal security situation, and achieved effective governance and public service delivery, resulting in robust macro-economic indicators. 

Nawaz reminded that Pakistan had made a strategic choice to take on terrorists through targeted military operation Zarb-e-Azb. 

It has brought about a marked improvement in the internal security situation in Pakistan, with the current year witnessing the lowest number of terrorist attacks since 2007. It is our firm commitment that we have to eliminate terrorism once forever. 

The prime minister also shared with the delegation the robust economic growth of the country and said the GDP has grown by 4.24 % in the fiscal year 2015, which is

the highest in the last seven years. Inflation is at 4.6% in the same year and in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, it was at historic low of less than 2%. The per capita income has risen by 12.91% in the first two years of government’s tenure. 

“Our budget deficit has been brought down from 8.2% to 5.3% in the same period, tax revenues have increased by about 33%, due to measures aimed at tax-net broadening and removal of exemptions.”

He referred to the rebuilding of the country’s foreign exchange which is now highest in the history of the country, and has led to exchange rate stability. 

The government would continue to take steps to strengthen these economic gains, he said. He said overcoming energy shortages remains the top most priority for his government. 

“We have evolved a comprehensive strategy, geared towards overcoming the energy problem on a sustainable basis. Our goal is to overcome energy shortages by 2018,” he added. He recalled that his government paid around Rs480 billion for the outstanding stock of power sector's circular debt.

“We have taken measures to curtail the flow of further debt by raising and rationalizing power tariffs. These were difficult decisions to make, but we made them to open the way for more investments in the power sector. We have therefore seen the commencement of projects in coal, solar, LNG and wind power.”

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that the government is building three major gas-based power plants, and by 2017, when the new plants come online, it is expected that load-shedding would be ended in Pakistan. He said the government is working on a number of hydel projects including the 4th extension to the Tarbela Dam and Dasu Hydropower project. 

“Our focus is not just on ending load-shedding in Pakistan for once. We are aiming at laying the foundations of a robust energy sector that will meet the country’s needs for the next two decades.

"The government increased the well-head prices of oil and gas for the exploration companies. There is renewed interest in exploration activities while new terminals and laying pipelines was being done to import natural gas and improve the provision of natural gas to homes and industry, he said. 

“Only two weeks ago, we signed an agreement with the Russian government to build a North-South gas pipeline, capable of carrying 1.2 billion cubic feet of gas every day.” 

He said another pipeline connecting the northern and southern region of Pakistan and a pipeline connecting Nawabshah and Gwadar was being built. 

The prime minister mentioned Pakistan’s economic upturn that is being noted worldwide and said leading international publications, fund’s managers and rating agencies have acknowledged outstanding economic performance of Pakistan. 

“Bloomberg has described Pakistan as the best undiscovered frontier market. Morgan Stanley’s vice president has predicted that the rise of Pakistan is only a matter of time, on account of its strategic location and demographic dividends. Moody’s has upgraded Pakistan from CAA 1 to B-, while Standard and Poor’s have improved our outlook to Positive. On the other hand, Fitch has given a rating of B to Pakistan. All these positive assessments have been made on the back of a major turnaround in Pakistan’s economy.” 

Nawaz Sharif said that his government would like the private sector to flourish and provide the best possible services to the people of Pakistan. 

He reminded that with this objective, his government restarted the privatization program in 2013, which aims to improve the efficiency of and service provision by the public sector enterprises. 

He said the government has also successfully auctioned spectrum licenses for 3 G and 4 G for mobile networks, through a transparent and competitive process. The prime minister said his government has enacted Special Economic Zone Act, which provides numerous investment incentives. 

Nawaz said the most promising element of this policy is the recently launched China-Pakistan Economic Corridor -- a fusion of several development and connectivity initiatives, focusing on infrastructure, energy, Gwadar sea port and industrial cooperation. 

This multi-faceted multi-billion dollar project would spur regional economic integration and bring prosperity to the entire region and beyond. 

He said that  Pakistan is also working on other regional energy and connectivity projects including Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, Central Asia South Asia (CASA)-1000 electricity project, Torkham-Jalalabad Road and Kunar Power Project. 

He said that the agriculture sector is the backbone of Pakistan's economy. He said that urbanization is decreasing the current area under cultivation and water scarcity does not allow bringing new lands under cultivation from the available cultivable waste which 8.27 million hectares. 

Similarly, he said the livestock sector can quite rightly be called the country's hidden secret. Pakistan has the third largest livestock population and livestock and poultry sectors contribute 11.8% to the GDP while poultry alone contributes about 28% towards the total meat production. 

This sector also has a huge potential for mutual cooperation and investment. The investors from US can get benefits from these opportunities and set up their enterprises for agriculture, food processing and sea-food development and their export. 

He said the United States remains one of the most important economic and trading partners of Pakistan. Major US companies have invested billions of dollars in Pakistan. The US also remains a major destination for Pakistani exports.

He said that Pakistan would continue to encourage active investment of US companies in Pakistan, especially in the backdrop of our recent economic achievements. 

At the same, I would like to reiterate the need for greater market access for Pakistani products in the US markets for the mutual benefit of our economies. We expect that the US Pakistan Business Council will continue to play its positive role towards this end.” 

He recalled that the overall Trade Volume between US and Pakistan in 2014-15 was $ 5,156 million.  He said Pakistan’s exports to US stand at $ 3,959million and Imports are $ 1,197 Million. 

He said Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from US to Pakistan is a matter of concern as during 2013-14 the total FDI was $ 212 million that has dropped to $ 209 million during 2014-15. “We need to work in this area to address this downward trend.”

He said no region has lagged as far behind in the world today as South Asia.  “To lift our people out of poverty, we must first of all establish peace in the region. Pakistan, therefore, seeks good relations with all its neighbors. I firmly believe that shared prosperity is real prosperity. We cannot maintain peace within, unless there is peace without. This is what under-pins my approach to a peaceful and friendly neighborhood. One of the key pillars of my government’s foreign policy is to support and encourage greater regional integration and connectivity. This is where we have our biggest opportunities to reap the dividends of peace for the common good of our peoples,” he added.