Government targets $20 billion foreign investment next year

[Neo]

Government targets $20 billion foreign investment next year ​

ISLAMABAD (December 14 2008): Federal Investment Minister Senator Waqar Ahmad Khan has said that the government has fixed 20 billion-dollar target for foreign investment in 2009 to bring the country out of the current economic crisis. Pakistan needed over 40 billion-dollar investment and the government was optimistic to achieve the 20 billion-dollar target fixed for 2009, he stated this while talking to reporters here on Saturday.

Pakistan, he said, was open for investment in any sector. But the priority sectors of the government were oil and gas, energy, food, agriculture, information technology and infrastructure, he added. Senator Waqar said that 100 percent repatriation of money had been ensured to the investors, while special commercial zones had also been set up for them.

"We have also announced a five-year tax holiday, besides 10-year tax exemption for investors who help us set up a commercial zone", he said. He also disclosed that the government had finalised its plans to offer ownership of agricultural lands to investors for farming. "We are extremely enthusiastic in providing areas for farming with great incentives. Investors could own the land, cultivate it and export 100 percent of its crop", he added.

President Asif Ali Zardari had a vision to give a corporate image to Pakistan and he himself would go abroad to gain the lost confidence of foreign investors. "We have a plan to constitute a special task force for protection of foreign investors," he said, adding the task force would comprise officials from the ministries of Interior, Defence, Investment and Finance, which would protect investors' interests.

The Minister said that the government was well aware of the security concerns of foreign investors and this was the reason for constitutions of special task force to protect investors and their investments. The task force would be an invisible mode of security, which would provide ultimate comfort and sense of security to investors, he said, adding that the task force would be in place later this month.

He said that the present government was not seeking any financial relief directly and this was not the thrust of President Zardari's visits to different countries. "We are immediately looking at deferred oil payments from Saudi Arabia and the UAE to get some economic relief," he added.

 

[khanz]

they are always saying stuff like this this goverment is all talk i'll believe it when i see it.There is too much speculation in pakistani economy.

 

[TopCat]

He just want FDI to fix his Balance of Payment in foreign currency. NOT a good move at all. I bet it just sells Pakistan off. Will have a long term chain effect. Only the fortune seekers will come to Pakistan right now, nobody else. Who will go for business in Iraq right now??? But you will find few already there. Just ask yourself.. who could be them?

A real investor will first ask, what is the current condition of Balance of Payment of Pakistan. They would not want, their money to be used to fix that. If I were an investor I would not go 100 yards close to Pakistan right at this moment.

 

[maqsad]

After selling off everything that was not nailed down now they have started selling off physical land to foreigners too. The main reason this is happening is because the balance of payments deficit has to be balanced but they completely ignore the root of the problem and just open up the economy to further international rape and call it a "solution".

Any sane economist would find a long term solution for the trade deficit but what these people are doing is making the problem even worse by giving away more and more national assets. It's really puzzling as to whether these rulers are mentally retarded, brainwashed in bhangeeconomics from places like LSE and Harvard or if they have been bribed to knowingly or unknowingly keep Pakistan's economy in the gutter? What's also sickening is that 99% of the so called "educated" pakistanis smile and cheer each time Pakistan's economy gets stabbed in the gut.

 

[ajpirzada]

i think 20bn is a big number. with credit crisis still to worsen, it will be great if we could achieve even half of this figure. hope they have done some calculations before comin up with this number. few days back i was readin someone claiming this figure to be 40bn.