UAE keen to invest in agriculture sector of Pakistan: envoy

KARACHI: Ambassador of UAE in Pakistan, Hammad Obaid Ibrahimi AlZaabi said though bilateral trade between the two countries was satisfactory, there was a huge potential to further enhance trade and investment ties in agriculture for which various bilateral agreements need to be revitalised and updated.

Exchanging views at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the envoy said UAE investors were keen to come to Pakistan for investing in various sectors, of which the agriculture sector was the “most important sector”.

The ambassador was of the view that investment potential exists in all provinces of Pakistan, particularly in the agriculture, textile, sports and other sectors. “For us, Pakistan is a brotherly country and we consider this country as our second home,” he said, adding that UAE Embassy actively engages with Pakistani business community and tries its best to fully facilitate them. The envoy assured to visit Karachi again in the month of September 2021 to hold another meeting with the business community of the city.

He also invited the Karachi Chamber to participate in Expo 2020 Dubai which would start from October 2021 with more than 180 participating countries. “It will provide a perfect opportunity to Pakistani businessmen to improve linkages and explore areas of trade and investment cooperation.”

UAE has been issuing golden visas to investors with no investment limits and also to professionals for a period of ten years, he said, asking the the business fraternity to avail the same.

Earlier, KCCI President M Shariq Vohra welcomed the ambassador and said Pakistan and UAE have been enjoying excellent relations for many years and it was heartening to see a large number of Pakistanis working in UAE and playing a major role in its development and modernisation.

“UAE investors must come to invest in Pakistan which offers lucrative opportunities in numerous sectors particularly the agriculture sector,” he stressed, while referring to a statement of Prime Minister Imran Khan during the visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan where UAE was welcomed to invest in oil and gas, logistics, ports and construction sectors.

Currently, Pakistan and UAE trade stands at more than $5 billion, but UAE investment in Pakistan was low.

He said investors from UAE, Saudi Arabia and other gulf countries usually get discouraged because of the state’s inability to guarantee title when a foreign investor purchases land, which was not just complex but also insecure as the law provides little or no protection to the investor’s title.

Realising the gravity of the situation, the KCCI has taken up this serious matter with both, the federal and provincial tiers of the government, so that it could be resolved and the procedure simplified to attract foreign investment, he added.

Although Pakistan has not been receiving foreign direct investment yet, the country continues to perform exceptionally well in terms of exports, which grew by 61.4 percent YoY in June 2021 whereas the domestic markets, steel, cement and automobile sectors were also doing very well.

“The boom in auto sector can be gauged from the fact that Pakistani banks issued financing of more than Rs280 billion.” Four car manufacturers have successfully been operating in this market, while three more were in the pipeline, he added.