LCCI welcomes Indian decision to lift ban on investments

The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) welcomed the Indian government decision to lift ban on investments from Pakistan and called for liberalising the visa regime to make the move more meaningful and result-oriented. According to the LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh, the Indian authorities should also grant multiple visas to Bona fide and legitimate businessmen so that they could be able to travel freely and without any hitches and hurdles.
He said that the move would further build the goodwill between the two neighbouring countries besides promoting Joint Ventures and paving the way for the transfer of technology as the two countries have their own strengths in different sectors and various areas.
The LCCI President said that the Indian decision makes the point that the Trade Diplomacy is working well and would soon be resulting in more such good decisions that would help bring the people of two countries further close. He hoped that the Indian Authorities would also consider lifting ban on Indian investors who want to invest in Pakistan.
He said that the trust level between the two sides will also go up further and help tackle the other issues being faced by the two sides from decades. "We hope this decision will be fruitful for the business community and the people of the two countries." "For a better economic future in South Asia, it will be a huge step when businessmen from both the countries can freely invest in each other's country." "Allowing our country to invest in India is a great confidence booster and will pave the way for more cordial bilateral relations", he added.
Commenting on the Indian government decision, the Convenor LCCI Standing Committee for Pak-Indian Trade Promotion and former Vice-President Aftab Ahmad Vohra welcomed this development. He emphasised the need for relaxing business visa procedure by the Indian government. Unless and until the business visa procedures are relaxed or longer duration visas are granted to the businessmen, the decision to grant permission to Pakistani businessmen to make investment in India would remain meaningless, he added. "If the businessmen cannot visit each other's country freely and frequently, how they would be able to do business or run a joint venture with peace of mind," he maintained.
Vohra also urged the Pakistan government to facilitate the businessmen otherwise the Indian move is bound to cause flight of capital to India as has been witnessed in the case of flight of capital to Bangladesh. He said that the Pakistani government would have to go extra miles to facilitate business doing people and if the energy and law-and-order situation remain the same, nothing would be able to stop flight of capital to the business friendly places.