LAHORE: Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi Sunday reaffirmed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s commitment to fully encourage foreign investment in Pakistan and provide all out assistance to investors especially those interested to pump money in the Special Economic Zones under CPEC.
He expressed these views during a meeting with Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) Chairman Mian Kashif Ashfaq who called on him.
The minister has said there are vast investment opportunities in Pakistan in the fields of energy, agriculture, health, education and construction for foreign investors.
Qureshi said the government is planning to envisage a comprehensive strategy in the wake of coronavirus pandemic especially in context of post corona era and would initiate economic diplomacy through activating all embassies to apprise foreign investors on lucrative business opportunities in Pakistan.
He said first phase of CPEC focused on infrastructure development and energy generation while in second phase industrial cooperation and socio economic development are our highest priorities.
The government has set up special economic zones and especially prioritised ones at the Allama Iqbal Industrial City under CPEC, the minister added.
He also appreciated Kashif Ashfaq for accelerating the pace of development on projects in the Allama Iqbal Industrial City and asked him to seek mutual cooperation from investors of the whole region, especially the landlocked Central Asian countries and Afghanistan, to benefit from CPEC.
“CPEC is a game-changer for the entire region and there is no restriction on any country, including the USA, to invest in the special economic zones, being established under CPEC,” added Qureshi.
FIEDMC Chairman Mian Kashif Ashfaq apprise the minister that this sole project would house as many as 400 industries besides giving employment to 2,500,00 people.
He said approximately Rs450 billion worth foreign and local investments would be pumped into this project and development project is being carried out on fast track.
FIDEMC always provided state of the art facilities to its customers besides resolving their issues through one window operation on top priority basis, Ashfaq said.
He said the investors’ confidence is getting restored after completion of M3 project, adding many European countries are keen to invest in various economic sectors of Pakistan especially in the newly launched state of the art the Allama Iqbal Industrial Estate with 10 years tax holiday coupled with an excellent and unprecedented package of incentives.
