Dar speaks at US-Pakistan Business Council

ISLAMABAD: Finance minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar has said Pakistan was fast improving the ease of doing business in the country.

The minister was addressing members of the US-Pakistan Business Council (USPBC) at US Chamber of Commerce at Washington, a statement said on Tuesday. After having achieved macroeconomic stability, the government was now making concrete efforts to achieve sustainable and inclusive higher growth, the minister said.

The present government was committed to ensuring transparency in all sectors of the economy and for this it was working closely with international organisations, the statement added. For the government bringing good governance through transparency and fighting against corruption and tax evasion was a serious business, Dar emphasised.

Ishaq Dar apprised the audience that international rating of Pakistan had improved from negative to positive during the span of the last four years. “Our stock market has emerged as the 5th best performer in the world, which clearly indicated that Pakistan had huge potential for investment. Pakistan had so far introduced 24 laws to make the environment business friendly, whereas ten more such laws were in the making,” Dar said.

While stating that Pakistan and the US had long history of strong bilateral relations, particularly in the arena of trade, business and social development, the finance minister urged the US investors to take advantage of the tremendous investment opportunities coming up in Pakistan.  He informed the participants that international companies must consider relocating their manufacturing operations to Pakistan, as the country had abundant supply of cheap labour and provided convenient access to very large regional markets.

Presently, Pakistan was offering low interest rate and was in the process of
setting up Pakistan Infrastructure Bank led by IFC to provide capital for infrastructural development to the private sector.