Foreign investors contribute Rs1.4 trillion as tax in Pakistan

KARACHI: Foreign investors operating in Pakistan have contributed Rs1.4 trillion as tax revenue to the national exchequer during 2020/21, a statement said on Monday.

Irfan Siddiqui, president of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), representative of the foreign companies operating in Pakistan, said: “We are proud that in the past 12 months, [the] OICCI members, despite very challenging and uncertain business environment due to [the] Covid-19 impact on the business and life of [the] people globally and in Pakistan, contributed over Rs1.4 trillion, or approximately Rs5 billion each working day, towards the tax revenue of Pakistan.”

“This is approximately one-third of the total tax collection in the country. Two of the OICCI members paid taxes in excess of Rs100 billion each,” he added.

Commenting on the significant contribution of the foreign investors in the Pakistan economy, Siddiqui said: “[The] OICCI members believe in Pakistan and, going forward, are keen for playing a more prominent role in a growing economy supported by a predictable, transparent and stable policy framework and a business-friendly regulatory and operating environment.”

In the last nine years, the OICCI members had invested over $18 billion, largely in the energy, telecom, chemicals, food/fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and banking sectors.

“With an asset base of $137 billion, the OICCI members maintained their position as the leading investors in Pakistan during 2020 with the new investments of over $2.4 billion mainly in the energy, telecom and chemicals sectors,” OICCI Secretary-general M Abdul Aleem said.

Besides the monetary contribution, the OICCI members also played a leading role in the transfer of technology, digital transformation, introducing latest inventions and sharing the best practices in the field of manufacturing operation, supply chain and marketing of the internationally-renowned brands.

Moreover, the OICCI members, as a group, are the largest contributor towards the social sectors. In the last one-year, they had contributed Rs8 billion to social initiatives, benefiting 62 million people across the country, and also contributed an additional Rs8 billion for various government and private sector Covid-19 containing activities.

The OICCI secretary-general said: “Pakistan suffers from [the] negative perception, which is largely uncalled for, requiring authorities to work in partnership with serious stakeholders, such as OICCI, to ensure the country gets its due share of the significant FDI [foreign direct investment] coming to this region.”

The Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the chamber of over 200 leading foreign investors in Pakistan belonging to 35 countries, and has released the consolidated financial contribution of its members for the year 2020 based on the feedback from 170 members, 50 of whom are subsidiaries of the Fortune 500 companies.

The foreign investors have contributed significantly towards the GDP of Pakistan and have maintained the OICCI position as the largest chamber of commerce in terms of economic contribution in the country. This comprehensive survey has been conducted annually since 2009.

Also Read

FBR Announces 15% Holding Tax On Profits Of National Savings Schemes

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has announced a 15% holding tax...