President General Pervez Musharraf has asked investors attending the World Economic Forum here to benefit from Pakistan's investment-friendly climate which includes robust economic growth, aggressive privatisation policy, improved governance and strong commitment to stamp out extremism from the society.
Speaking at a working dinner, hosted by the World Economic Forum on Thursday, the President said that the four years of robust economic reforms have pulled Pakistan's economy out of turmoil and placed it on the path of robust growth.
The President recalled the state of the economy he inherited in 1999 and the shocks it suffered in the shape of global recession, drought, September 11, 2001 events and the 10-month military stand-off with India.
Foreign exchange (reserves) were merely 300 million dollars, inflation was high, exports were dwindling and debt-servicing liabilities were eating 64 percent of the total annual budget. The country was on the verge of being declared a defaulter state.
But, he said, the economy was now stable and at a take-off stage with all macro-economic indicators showing upward trend.
He said there was no risk of default any more, forex reserves were enough to foot 12 months of import bill.
The GDP growth was 5.1 percent last year and likely to grow to 5.5 percent during the current fiscal year, he added.
The President said inflation remained low at 3.3 percent and the country's exports and revenue grew by 70 percent during the last three years.
As a result of debt restructuring, the debt-servicing liabilities came down to 31 percent, he said and hoped it would be further brought down to 22 percent.
Fiscal deficit, that was 8 percent of the GDP, has been reduced to 4.6 percent and efforts were on to scale it down to under 4 percent of the GDP next year, said the President.
Musharraf told the gathering about the unrivalled incentives offered to the foreign investors.
Foreign investors are now allowed to hold 100 percent equity and there were no restrictions on remittance of profits, dividends and repatriation of capital, he added.
He outlined efforts to reduce the role of red-tape and remove bureaucratic delays by way of giving complete autonomy to the various regulatory authorities and restructuring of the Central Board of Revenue to reduce its contact with the people and curtail the discretionary powers of the organisation,
President Musharraf said that the trend of positive developments in the economy was continuing with rising exports and revenues.
The exchange rate has remained stable and credit rating gone far high from the rock bottom.
He said strong actions are being taken to eliminate extremism from the society and further improve the law and order in the country.
The President said that now there was a need to take these gains down to people through poverty alleviation, human resource development and through creating more jobs opportunities.
President Musharraf pointed out that the investors in the past shied away from Pakistan due to its weak economy and for wrong economic decisions.
But, he asked investors to come to Pakistan and see for themselves the gains made during the last four years.
He also listed efforts to reduce the cost of business in Pakistan by way of curtailing interest rates on borrowing. The President said that there was liquidity in the banks and local credit was also available to the foreign investors.
President Musharraf also referred to Pakistan's strategic location saying -the country was fast emerging as the "economic crossroads" of Gulf, South Asia and Central Asia.
With its positive economic indicators, he added, Pakistan was now poised to benefit from its strategic location and become an attractive and secure destination for foreign investors.
The President also underlined the country's aggressive privatisation policy and identified IT, telecommunication, infrastructure, tourism and building and construction as main areas of focus.
He further hoped that with the peace returning to South Asia, there will be more avenues for commercial activities in the region.
Comments
Comments are closed.