Private sector has to take responsibility for becoming competitive in the world market rather than depending on incentives. Omar Ayub Khan, Minister of State for Finance and Chairman Competitiveness Support Fund, said.
While sharing views with the members of Overseas Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) on the role of private sector in improving Pakistan's competitiveness. He stressed upon identifying the areas of competitiveness and suggested investors to look upon the country's rural areas, which were main contributors in economic growth.
He said the government had achieved economic results and was committed to making Pakistan one of the world's truly competitive economies. Country's economy had shown great resilience and continued to maintain high level of economic growth despite the devastating earthquake and the significant increase in international oil prices, he said.
The minister said that the government had successfully navigated a very difficult impasse in the growth of economy through responsible fiscal management and disciplined implementation of structural reforms.
He said that to sustain high growth and building a strong and competitive Pakistan it was required to have increased investment, improved business environment, smarter management, stronger infrastructure and more educated and sophisticated workforce.
The ministry of finance has focused primarily on providing a stable macroeconomic environment that has created necessary conditions for growth. It has encouraged other ministries to improve the business environment and sponsored the CSF, he said.
The CSF, an initiative of Pakistan government and United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to improve Pakistan's overall global competitiveness ranking from 91 to among top 70 by 2010, he said.
He said the country was facing problems on many fronts like energy, intellectual property rights, infrastructure etc. The government was committed to build all proposed dams that were vital for agriculture and energy requirements, he said.
OICCI President Zubyr Soomro said that overseas investors were contributing over 11 percent of the GNP of the country and about 32 percent of the GDP of the manufacturing sector.
The OICCI also contributing 20 percent of the total tax revenue and directly employ about 100,000 people, he added. He said that the chamber's primary function was to promote the commercial, industrial and financial interests of foreign investors engaged in Pakistan. The chamber also engages the government to facilitate their understanding of the needs of foreign investors and their contribution to the national economy, he said.
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