Invest in Punjab without any fear of bribe or red tape: Shahbaz

Says no room for politics on national projects; over 69 projects to be negotiated with foreigners during two-day moot

LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Monday asked foreign investors to invest in Punjab without any hesitation, promising there would be no red tape and bribes.

“I would request the national and international investors to move forward and take full benefit of opportunities of investment in Pakistan, especially in Punjab”, said the chief minister who added that there would be no red tape, bribes and commission.

Shahbaz was addressing the inaugural session of second international seminar ‘Opportunities of Investment in Punjab’ under the aegis of Punjab Board of Investment at a local hotel. Provincial ministers, members of parliament, representatives from 26 countries besides a large number of investors, industrialists and diplomats attended the seminar.

Over 69 projects from different government departments are going to be negotiated with foreign investors over the course of the two-day conference in addition to the separate list of initiatives designed by the Punjab Board of IT.

While the majority of participants were from China and Turkey, there also were investors from Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Belarus and other countries. He said there was no room for politics and distribution of projects of national importance according to whims.

The chief minister stressed the need for creating harmony, not discord, over CPEC and said otherwise “the future generations as well as the history will not forgive us”. He said the Chinese leadership understood the fact that the current leadership of Pakistan was a guardian of CPEC in the real sense.