Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Saturday said the government is providing attractive facilities to both local and foreign investors, to increase employment opportunities in the country and allowing the private sector to play its role in the economic development.
The Prime Minister was talking to Bashir Tahir, Chief Executive of Abu Dhabi Group who called on him here at the Prime Minister House this afternoon. Shaukat Aziz said during the recent years thousands of jobs have been created because of increase in investment in different sectors.
He said this public-private partnership will lead to improved quality at lower rates and private sector would be given more incentives to create an atmosphere of competitiveness.
He said due to sound macroeconomic management and structural reforms, economy in Pakistan is on a high growth path and is improving the standard of living of the people while reducing poverty.
He said the strong and sustained economic growth over the last several years is underpinned by our economic philosophy based on deregulation, liberalisation, and privatisation, wide-ranging structural reforms and consistency and transparency in our policies. Prime Minister said that Pakistan and the UAE enjoy close and special relations, which are rooted in common faith and values. He said the MoUs signed during the recent visit of Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum would pave the way for the future collaboration and co-operation between the two countries.
He said the MoUs were signed by big companies from Emirates who will invest in the fields like tourism, real estate and port management. He said that these projects will increase economic activity in the country in addition to creating thousands of jobs.
The Prime Minister said several investment opportunities exist in the country especially in the fields like engineering, agri-business, real estate, construction, tourism, IT and telecom sectors.
He welcomed the interest of Abu Dhabi group in increasing its investment in Pakistan and said that increase in investment from UAE would have a good rub-off effect on other investors as this will give the message that business opportunities in Pakistan are attractive in addition to proving that Pakistani market is providing good returns to investors.
Bashir Tahir said the investor-friendly climate in Pakistan is very conducive for foreign investors and Abu Dhabi Group, already one of the biggest foreign investors in the country with interest in telecom, real estate, tourism and banking sectors, would like to further expand its investment.
He discussed the implementation strategy of future investment projects of Abu Dhabi group in Pakistan and regarded his meeting with the Prime Minister as very productive. He said that UAE' s investment in Pakistan would bring the two nations more closer.