The Ministry of Industries and Production has, reportedly, conveyed its deep concern to the relevant quarters on several occasions that the industrial sector is unlikely to flourish until law and order situation improves.
An official, who requested anonymity, told Business Recorder on Thursday that it was a fact that the law and order situation in the country had worsened due to the ongoing war on terror but, at the same time, investors were earning a profit due to liberal economic policies of the government.
The President of Overseas Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) recently revealed that 18 multinational companies were considering winding up their business in Pakistan due to kidnapping of foreigners and unrest in the country.
The Board of Investment (BoI) has contacted the OICCI and guaranteed extra security to the investors to ensure that they did not become victims of some specific incident of law and order. The BoI, however, has not bothered to update its website and continues to display five key reasons for investing in Pakistan despite the fact that none of these reasons is relevant to Pakistan today.
According to the BoI website, current investment policies have been tailor-made to suit the investors' needs that support policy trends that have been consistent, liberal, with de-regulation, privatisation and facilitation being its foremost cornerstones.
All these have little relation to ground realities today. Foreign investors are briefed by their own missions, stationed in Pakistan, and with the United Nations categorising Islamabad as Category 3 security risk whereby families are not allowed to reside in Pakistan. It is unlikely that foreign investors would consider this a safe destinations for their money.