Jang Economic Session: Foreign investors safety key to economic growth

LAHORE: The government and top military leadership in Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has assured the businessmen that all kinds of protection will be provided to foreign investment in various projects as well as to local investors and industries. The success of SIFC depends on its ability to effectively remove public distrust on various government policies.

These views were expressed by the discussant in Jang Economic Session on ‘SIFC - A new agenda of economic growth - will it resolve economic problems?’ on Friday. Adnan Khaliq Butt, Farooq Tahir, Dr Pervaiz Tahir and Dr Ikram-ul-haq were the panelists while Sikindar Lodhi moderated the session.

Adnan Khaliq Butt said it is good omen that military leadership held useful meetings with business community on SIFC platform in which various proposals were discussed to increase private sector’s role in different sectors.

The business community suggested not increasing energy cost on IMF agenda. The SIFC is a big agenda, which explains that the successive governments failed to work on economic front, he added.

Farooq Tahir said the SIFC is an imaginary world department, which focused on agriculture sector besides energy, IT and minerals sectors. The government should first develop barren agriculture land and bring foreign investment for it. It is good to give hopes of new projects of billions of dollars but economy could not be revived without resolving public issues.

Dr Pervaiz Tahir said that SIFC has exposed mistrust of business on bureaucracy and politicians. However, all these are makeshift arrangements as no one can bring the country from current crisis. There is need to focus on two things. One to bring the investors in country and reduced the budget deficit.

Dr Ikram-ul-haq said that the message is given by creating SIFC institution that all other institutions are not working well. The SIFC is working in five sectors with primarily focused on agriculture but the agriculture sector lacking the infrastructure so how the investment will come in it. Investment could not be possible without solving the basic problems such as taxation system and other relevant issues.