Dar asks German companies to benefit from SEZs in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday suggested the German companies to explore the possibility of benefitting from the opportunities available in the special economic zones (SEZs) being established in Pakistan.

Ishaq Dar held a meeting with the visiting German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Dr Gerd Muller on Thursday at the PM House in Islamabad. Matters of mutual interest with particular focus on bilateral development, cooperation between Pakistan and Germany were discussed during the meeting.

Both the finance minister and the german minister reaffirmed mutual commitment to further enhance and strengthen the bilateral relations in existing and new areas.

Ishaq Dar welcomed the German minister and highlighted the historic ties between Pakistan and Germany. He appreciated the cooperation and support of the German government for various development projects in Pakistan, including the recent equity participation by German development bank, KfW, in the Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company (PMIC). He shared with the German minister that after having achieved macroeconomic stability in Pakistan, the government is now focused on attaining higher, sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

He said that Pakistan is focused on the promotion of financial and digital inclusion in the country. In this regard, he highlighted the IT Park project in Islamabad that is being implemented with loan assistance from the Korean Exim Bank.

Dar emphasised that Pakistan has a liberal investment regime and invited German companies to invest in Pakistan, particularly in the automotive and solar PV sectors. The German minister acknowledged Pakistan’s economic success story over the last three and a half years. He appreciated Pakistan’s efforts and sacrifices for addressing the challenges of terrorism and extremism and the promotion of global peace. He said Germany is focused on continuing its economic and development initiatives in Pakistan. He offered Germany’s technical and research assistance for development projects in Pakistan, including technical support in agriculture sector to achieve higher yields. The German minister invited Ishaq Dar to visit Germany and meet various German business leaders to promote investment and business opportunities in Pakistan.

Following the meeting, Pakistan and Germany signed a Joint Declaration of Intent with the aim of further strengthening development cooperation between the two countries. The declaration reiterates three priority areas of Pakistan-German development cooperation, i.e. governance, energy and sustainable economic development, and indicates that the volume of bilateral development cooperation could reach up to €109 million for the two year period 2017-18.