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Tuesday March 19, 2024

$40b projects planned for next 5 years

By Our Correspondent
February 16, 2019

ISLAMABAD: The PTI government has carved out a plan to install projects of $30-40 billion with the help of friendly economies and global investors in various sectors of economy and increase the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to $5 billion in a year from existing $3 billion jacking up to $25 billion in next 5 years.

Pakistan is currently getting tremendous response from investors across world for construction of hotels in the country for which a Clean Land Bank is being constituted and to this effect a committee has already been formed, Haroon Sharif, Chairman Board of Investment (BoI), told The News in an exclusive talk.

The Land Bank will provide clean land to investors that will boost investment with faster space in the country. “For setting up the Land Bank, we all are working vigorously and to this effect government and private land will be acquired for making it available to investors,’’ Sharif said.

He said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia during the visit of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman will ink seven MoUs in various sectors of economy and one agreement on provision of oil facility on defer payment for three years.

Asked if Saudi Arabia will sign MoUs valuing $21 billion, he expressed his inability saying all these are estimates. However, Saudi Arabia has shown keen interest in installing Aramco refinery and petrochemical complex in Gawadar and has also shown interest in minerals, alternate renewable energy, agriculture and food processing, financial sector, tourism, sports, housing and energy sectors.

He said after signing MoUs, feasibility studies will be initiated and completed. As per international standards, feasibility study for refinery requires 18 months to get completed, but Sharif hopes that the refinery at Gawadar may be completed in one year as experts of Saudi Aramco have started the process.

Once the feasibility is finalised, he said “we will be able to assess about the investment on refinery”. After the feasibility, the decision will be made by Saudi Arabia to invest in petrochemical complex. He said that Saudi Arabia has also shown interests in buying the RLNG power plants at Haveli Bahadur Shah and Balloki but for this purpose, bidding process will be held and Saudi Arabia will have to participate in the bidding.

He said UAE is also geared up for installing deep conversion refinery at Khalifa Point, Balochistan with the capacity to refine crude oil of 300,000 barrels per day with the cost of $5-6 billion.

However, the sources at BoI, Commerce, Power and Petroleum Divisions said that Pakistan expects $7 billion Saudi investment in short term. Under short-term investment, two RLNG power plants will be sold out to Saudi Arabia on estimated cost of $3-4 billion as both the power plants are scheduled to be privatised till June 19, 2019.

The amount of $2 billion will be fixed for renewable power pants for which an MoU is ready and $1 billion Saudi Fund for Pakistan for which MoU is being negotiated. In the medium-term Pakistan is expecting $2 billion investment of which $1 billion will be for petrochemical projects and $1 billion in food and agriculture projects which are at the negotiation stage.

Under the long-term projects, the country expects investment amounting to $12 billion including $10 billion for establishment of Aramco Oil Refinery and $2 billion for mineral development. MoUs for long-term projects are also ready for signature, they said.