Board of Investment assures facilitation to foreign investors

ISLAMABAD: The government is committed to protect and encourage foreign investments and the Board of Investment (BoI) has assured to facilitate the investors and help them execute their investments.

The BoI organised an investment promotion seminar to apprise the potential foreign investors on investment policies and opportunities in Pakistan.

Board of Investment secretary Fareena Mazhar said that the economic development was an area of priority of the present government and Pakistan, under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan has been undergoing bold economic reforms, which has helped the country improve significantly in all sectors of the economy, a statement issued by the BoI said.

Discussing the investment climate of the country, Fareena Mazhar elaborated that recent surveys indicated increased confidence of foreign and local investors due to liberal trade and investment policies of the government and Pakistan was home to more than 1,000 foreign companies.

The BoI secretary said the Vision 2025 maps Pakistan to join the top 25 economies in the world leading to upper middle income country status by 2025 where the economy is targeted to grow over 8 per cent between 2018 and 2025, while maintaining the single-digit inflation.

She also said the Price waterhouseCoopers ranked Pakistan at No 20 in its projected list of 32 most powerful economies of the world in 2030.

Apprising the audience about the initiatives undertaken by the government to facilitate investors, she said four of the 22 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) that are designed to become high-end commercial, technology and manufacturing hubs, equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and business ecosystems are ready for investment, as early harvest projects.

Fareena Mazhar specifically mentioned the Electronic Vehicle Policy recently introduced by the government, which offered a lucrative set of incentives for various categories of electric vehicles.

She said the major rationale for providing generous incentives and encouraging investments in electric vehicle technologies in Pakistan is the ability of such technologies in curtailing the oil import bill, which was currently the largest import commodity being imported into Pakistan.

Underlining some of the incentives in the electric Vehicle category, she said the government has reduced Customs duty on electric vehicle-specific parts, reduced rate of value-added tax and sales tax, as well as Customs duty on the import of electric vehicles.

The BoI secretary said Pakistan was a promising regional hub and an important destination for trade and investment, adding that a wide-based population pyramid and an expanding middle-class further make it a robust consumer market for foreign investors.

She appreciated the UAE government for organising the Dubai Expo 2020, which is the largest meeting place, offering countless opportunities for all to interact and explore new vistas of mutual cooperation, including trade and investment opportunities.