ISLAMABAD: A private real estate investor has offered the federal government to invest in completing Islamabad City master plan as per the development plan of 1960, which will generate around $2 billion without any public expenditure.
The company namely Lamaison Developers (Pvt) Ltd presented the offer during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Board of Investment (BoI) which was held here on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti.
The committee was apprised by the Ministry of the Board of Investment upon the progress on the previous recommendations of the committee.
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Responding to the offer of the Lamaison Developers (Pvt) Ltd regarding the completion of Islamabad City master plan as per the development plan of 1960, the committee recommended that all stakeholders must be on-boarded upon the matter before any further discussion is held upon the matter.
The representatives of the Lamaison Developers pitched an investment project to the committee, which has the potential of generating a return worth $2 billion without any government expenditure. The committee members opined that any discussion upon the initiative should only be held with the consultation of the relevant stakeholders including the Ministry of Housing and Works, the FGECHA, the CDA, and the local administration of Islamabad.
The ministry appraised the panel that a one-stop shop initiative was being taken to facilitate investors and stakeholders in the procedure of investment in the Special Economic Zones. It was also mentioned that this initiative was awaiting approval from the Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases.
The ministry informed the committee that honorary investment counsels were being appointed in various countries on a pro-bono basis to facilitate in attracting investment. The committee was also informed that the “Asaan Karobar Bill” had been submitted to the cabinet for recommendations.
The committee members asked the ministry to share the bills with the committee. The ministry also on-boarded the committee upon the Pakistan Regulatory Modernization Initiative, which aims at re-engineering the business process to make it more efficient and investor friendly.
The committee was also briefed upon the creation of a business-to-business portal for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to assist investors. This portal is also linked to the Chinese Board of Investment. The ministry recommended the Committee to visit the portal, “Business-to-Business portal established by the Board of Investment”.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023