IFC assures support to boost value addition

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) on Friday assured technical and financial advisory assistance to private and public sector in Pakistan to boost value addition in manufacturing and agribusinesses.

Rana Karadsheh-Haddad, regional industry director of Manufacturing, Agribusinesses and Services Asia and Pacific at IFC said Pakistan is the priority country for IFC projects in agribusinesses and services.

“IFC has undertaken various projects in this regard to attract investment in these areas. (It) is providing technical and financial advisory services to public and private sector by assisting local and foreign companies to venture into priority sectors,” Karadsheh-Haddad said at a meeting with Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, Industries, Production and Investment Razak Dawood.

She was heading an IFC’s delegation to deliberate upon the issues pertaining to

manufacturing-cum-export sectors to revitalise the economy. IFC director assured cooperation and assistance to boost the value addition and production in the priority sectors.

Dawood said the country has huge business potential in food processing, power, textile, leather and rice sector, “which has not been exploited optimally so far owing to lack of value addition in the production of same sectors”.

Commerce adviser underscored a need of attracting investment in sectors and

urged the IFC to provide necessary assistance to public and private sector companies.

“Businessmen are very much interested to make investment in Pakistan owing to huge investment opportunities,” he said in a statement. “Big local and foreign companies are interested to invest in different projects, pertaining to value addition, like PepsiCO and Cargill has started to invest in food processing business in Pakistan.”

Dawood said the government has launched a program titled regulatory guillotine to ease the business regulations. “Through this program 2 to 3 regulations are removed every month to ease out the business activities,” he added. “Pakistan has taken various effective steps to improve trade procedures by establishing better trade facilitation regime.”

Commerce adviser further informed the delegation regarding enormous investment opportunities in technology upgradation of the entire value chain of textile sector “as the textile manufacturers are using very old technology which is eroding their competitiveness in the global textile market”.

“Pakistan has taken a strategic decision by which we are going to increase share of renewable energy from 4 percent to at least 20 percent of total energy mix which offers massive investment opportunities in power sector.” Dawood urged the IFC to aid the country for better allocation and utilisation of resources to uplift its economy.