Cabinet approves Act: Foreign investment to be enhanced at G2G level

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Wednesday approved the Inter-Government Commercial Transaction Act-2022 to enhance foreign investment in the country at the government-to-government level.

The federal cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Parliament House, Islamabad, in which, the cabinet approved the Government Commercial Transaction Act, which was sent by the Ministry of Law and Justice and recommended it be submitted to the relevant parliamentary committee.

The meeting was told that this law will help in increasing the confidence of the foreign investors and raise foreign investment in Pakistan. The law will also support government-to-government (G2G) development agreements.

The meeting was further informed that for the first time in Pakistan, a government has taken steps to safeguard G2G agreements and taken steps to ensure transparency in this regard.

The federal cabinet reviewed the damage caused by the stormy rains in Sindh and Balochistan. The prime minister appreciated the efforts made by the Sindh chief minister during the rains in the province of Sindh, especially Karachi and Hyderabad, and the initiative to visit the affected areas to review the self-help operations.

The federal cabinet issued a notification for replacing the director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

According to the notification, the federal cabinet approved the appointment of Mohsin Butt as the FIA director general.

Mohsin Butt is a Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) officer in grade-22. Moreover, the federal cabinet also approved the appointment of Muhammad Tahir Rai as the National Coordinator of the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA). Tahir Rai was serving as the FIA director general.

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However, the schedule for appointing the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) was postponed.

The prime minister had constituted a six-member committee for the appointment of the SBP governor.

On the recommendation of the Ministry of National Health, the federal cabinet approved to increase the Maximum Retail Prices (MRPs) of 15 types of imported cardiac stents in proportion to the increase in the exchange rate.

The federal cabinet approved the decisions taken by the Economic Coordination Committee in its meeting held on 25-07-2022. These decisions include, (i) Approval of a supplementary grant for the financial year 2022-23 to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for organizing 75th Independence Day celebrations.

The cabinet appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in celebrating the Independence Day in a grand manner and praised the role of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in promoting the government policies in the best way.

(ii) Approval of the Compensation Package for the victims of the terrorist attack at the Confucius Institute, University of Karachi on the recommendation of the Ministry of Interior.

(iii) Approval to supply electricity to the export sector at 9 cents per unit from August 1, 2022, and (iv) Approval to supply RLNG to the export sector at $9 per unit from August 1, 2022.

The federal cabinet also approved 40 cases (including placement, removal and one-time placement) regarding the Exit Control List (ECL).

In the meeting, the issue of dismissing the review petitions filed against the Supreme Court judge, Justice Qazi Faez Isa was discussed. The federal cabinet agreed that unnecessary action was taken against Justice Qazi Faez Isa by misusing authority.

Further, the federal cabinet agreed to make the records in this regard public after examination. These revision petitions will be dismissed. The federal cabinet approved the formation of an inquiry committee in this regard, which will include representatives of all parties including Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Qamar Zaman Kaira, Federal Minister for National Food Security Tariq Bashir Cheema, and Federal Minister for Education Rana Tanveer. The committee will review the review petitions filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa and submit a report.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022