Veon Pakistan ties investment to incentives

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will have to match its incentives in terms of taxation and provide an enabling environment to stakeholders for boosting investment in telecom and information technology sectors, an industry official said on Thursday.

“In order to draw more investment into the country, the government will have to introduce right kind of incentives on top of matching them with a reasonable taxation regime,” Mark MacGann, group chief external affairs officer at Veon Group (formerly VimpelCom Ltd) told reporters in a press conference.

Replying to a query about the possibility of Jazz’s participation into (remaining) 4G spectrum auction next month, MacGann said they were looking at different options and would take a decision keeping in view the right appetite of the market. “We would like right kind of investment opportunities,” McGann said.

Going forward, he admitted that his company had made some mistakes in the past, but now they have decided to come up with a new strategy and a greater focus on data services to exploit the real potential of growing market. 

“The quality of services will be the real determinant of success. We have restructured our company to tap the global markets. We see much more digitalisation activities in the coming months,” he added.

MacGann argued that technological advancement had brought fundamental shift in the business models of telecom companies. “Value-added services with more focus on quality can help in claiming our due share in the global market,” he said adding the value-added services could help make Pakistan a real digital country. 

The Veon official said that Pakistan would have to provide competitive environment as well as policies for the promotion of investments. “Instead of taking short-term steps, Pakistan requires to introduce long-term plans/policies for boosting investments especially from overseas,” he observed. 

To another question, he said that excessive taxation on equipment and data services required a coherent strategy that required honest decision-making process at all levels of federal and provincial governments in Pakistan. "A smooth internet experience would go a long way in improving education, health, transportation, and many other areas in Pakistan," the Veon official concluded.

MacGann is visiting Pakistan to review the progress of Jazz Incubation Center, a public-private-partnership project established to train young entrepreneurs for achieving dream of transforming Pakistan into a digital country. 

Veon has replaced the name of VimpelCom in order to transform itself from a global communication to a global technology company. According to a company statement, this is a rebirth of the global telecom giant that expects to lead an internet revolution and bring new experiences in the markets of tomorrow.