Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Dr Salman Shah said on Friday that Pakistan expects 100 billion dollars foreign investment in construction and other sectors during the next ten years as its economy is growing on fast track.
"The construction sector activities in Pakistan are growing at a pace at Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and other parts of the country which requires a lot of investment in the sector," he told APP in a panel interview here on Friday.
Dr Shah said that government is also initiating low cost housing projects to overcome shortage of housing in the country. He added that foreign investment is rising and workers remittances have also increased due to prudent economic policies of the government.
He said that consistency and continuity of economic policies and investment-friendly policies bring pursued by the government during the past six years have restored the confidence of investors. "They are now keen to invest in various sectors of the economy."
Dr Shah said that 150-200 investors would attend the Overseas Pakistanis Investment Conference (OPIC) here from March 5. "The conference will bring more foreign investors and joint ventures in the country," he added.
He said that all sectors of the economy, including agriculture, are performing well and expressed the hope that Pakistan's GDP would cross seven percent during the current financial year. He added that financial sector investors are also taking keen interest in establishing banks and expansion of their network in Pakistan. Citing examples, he said that Standard Chartered Bank has purchased Union Bank adding that this is a long-term investment, which would benefit the country in the long run. Tamasec of Singapore Investment Company is also buying a bank, he added.
He said that private sector is participating in the privatisation programme of the country and making investments in large industries in the country. Dr Shah said that Emaar Group and Nakel groups are also investing a huge mount in the country's construction sector.
He said that one of the best companies in the world has shown interest in the purchase of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) company. There is no shortage of capital for investment in the country and he expressed the hope that huge investments would lead to further socio economic prosperity.
He said if Pakistan sustains its GDP growth at 7-8 percent, maintains consistency and continuity in the economic policies and invest more on the human capital then there is no reason for Pakistan to progress like China and east Asian countries. He said that few years back the foreign investment in Pakistan was only 250 million dollars and today it has reached to 6 billion dollars.
Dr Salman Shah said it is firm commitment of the government to reduce inflation as it is affecting the masses specially the poor segment of the society. He added that government is focusing on pro-poor economic policies and said that core inflation has reduced to 5.5 percent and food inflation is around 8 percent.
He said that government is also concentrating on the development of agriculture sector in the country. He regretted that after Tarbela Dam no major reservoir was built in the country. "Had we built more such dams in the past, Pakistan would have produced food enough for its own needs and also for export," he said. Dr Salman Shah said that Pakistan has advantage of being rich in water resources adding that Kalabagh Dam would benefit Sindh province the most.
He added that Pakistan will attract over 6 billion dollars during the current financial year and expatriates remittances have also registered 25 percent growth in the seven months of current financial year.
Dr Shah said that government has announced establishment of a special economic zone at Kala Shah Kaku (Punjab) covering an area of 3,000 acres for Chinese investors and their joint ventures. The advisor to the Prime Minister said that the government under a comprehensive plan is establishing special industrial parks, and business centers for industrialisation of the country.
Talking about government's efforts for the development of National Trade Corridor (NTC), he said this would be a major strategic initiative to improve logistics chain throughout the country adding that through provision of road infrastructure from Karachi-Khunjerab via KKH and Karachi to Gwadar ports would be modernised according to international standards to reduce cost of transportation. He added that through this project Pakistan would be able to save 7 billion dollars per annum.
He termed NTC programme as one of the biggest infrastructure development programme in the country's history adding that this would greatly benefit the people and improve their quality of life besides creating more job opportunities for them and would also play an important role in the socio economic development.
Dr Salman Shah said that in public sector development programme (PSDP) for the year 2006-07, the government has allocated Rs 435 billion, adding apart from it the higher education commission (HEC) would establish ten engineering universities in the country.
He said that government has also decided to bring improvement and quality in education system and a huge amount is being spent on human resource development sector.
Dr Shah said for skill development of the young generation and creating employment opportunities for educated youth, under the special directives of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, comprehensive training programme called National Vocational and Technical Education Commission (Navtec) has already been launched. He said there is shortage of skilled manpower with tremendous opportunities in various sectors including construction sector.
He added that under the programme, short courses and long term technical courses would be provided and skill training would be imparted to create employment opportunities within the country and abroad to at least one million people in next two years.
He said these persons will be given training in the fields of electrical, livestock, health, domestic appliances, construction, food preparation, domestic services, paramedics, beauty and health, livestock, agriculture and services sectors. Dr Salman Shah said that President and Prime Minister have directed central board of revenue (CBR) to take steps for the collection of more revenue to meet social sector development and infrastructure requirements for socio economic development and improving quality of life of the people by providing them maximum opportunities in the development process.
Dr Shah said that development of health, education and infrastructure sectors are top most priorities of the government adding that more funds would be allocated to these sectors in the forthcoming budget. He said that government is also focusing on improving the law and order situation so that these could not be a hurdle in the way of country's economic progress.