Investment from overseas Pakistanis discussed

LAHORE: Punjab Board of Investment & Trade (PBIT) hosted a roundtable discussion focusing on attracting small ticket investments from overseas Pakistanis. A broad range of Pakistani expatriates, from across a variety of sectors such as healthcare, energy, finance and IT, attended the roundtable.

One of the most potent recommendations emphasised by the overseas community was the need to have a robust overseas investment protection programme, with the right legislative backing and approval. The proposed Overseas Investment Protection Programme (OIPP) must in essence ensure protection from fraud, theft and other possible risks that threaten small ticket investments from overseas Pakistanis. Linked to this recommendation was the emphasis by the overseas community on streamlining the efficiency of the banking channels so that key concerns such as repatriation of profits from investments could be sufficiently addressed.

The overseas Pakistani community expressed strong enthusiasm in investing in Pakistan, and included both passive investments in assets such as real estate and more active investments in new or existing ventures. Punjab offers a wide range of investment opportunities in a variety of key sectors, and the overseas Pakistani community can play a vital role in the economic growth journey of Punjab and Pakistan.

The participants agreed to meet regularly and constitute a think tank which can propose and suggest the better options to the government to create an investor friendly environment in Pakistan. The participants included Saeed Akbar, Hasib Aftab, Zia Farooqui, Almas Hyder, Mian Nawaz, Amir Nadeem, Muhammad Ali Khan, Mazhar Alam, Ayub Ghauri and Azhar Aslam.