Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz said on Saturday the government''s policy of deregulating the telecom sector has resulted in record high expansion and massive investment in the sector. "Today''s Pakistan has 32 million mobile phone subscribers and 20 percent tele-density which is highest in the region," he said.
Shaukat Aziz was talking to Sheikh Adil Almisehal, who called on him here at the Prime Minister House this evening. Almisehal, a Saudi Arabia based company is one of the three shareholders of Wah Nabel, which is running three companies in Pakistan.
PM said, Pakistan owing to its investment friendly policies, the level playing field provided to the investors and the reduced costs of doing business, is fast becoming a destination of choice for foreign investors, as the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is expected to reach 3.5 billion dollar by the end of the current fiscal year, highest in the country''s history.
He said that the increased inflow of investments is driven by the wide-ranging structural reforms, sustained economic growth and consistency and continuity of the government policies.
He said the driving principals behind the reform agenda were deregulation, liberalisation and privatisation. These coupled with transparency are the hallmarks of the government polices, he added.
He emphasised the need for public private partnerships and said the role of government is to open the doors of opportunity and create an atmosphere, which ensures ease of doing business. "The investors are our growth partners and the government is facilitating investments which will lead to more job opportunities, technology up-gradation and more exports from Pakistan", the Prime Minister said.
Sheikh Adil Almisehal said, Pakistan because of its economic landscape offers great opportunities to foreign investors. He said his company is satisfied with the performance of its business and is planning to expand its area of operations.
Said Saudi Almisehal Group will be investing in telecom, engineering, communication, ship building and construction sectors in Pakistan. The meeting was attended among others by Minister for Defence Production, Major Habibullah Warriach (Retd), Ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Islamabad, Ali S Awadh Asseri and others.