Sharif urges HK’s businessmen to invest in ‘rising, secure Pakistan’
hong kong — Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said Pakistan was emerging as a rising and secure country, on the track of sustainable growth due to its liberal investment policies.
“Today I present to you a rising, confident and secure Pakistan — a country full of vigour to make its mark in the world,” the prime minister told Hong Kong’s top businessmen and corporate leaders at the Pakistan Investment Forum on Wednesday.
The event themed ‘One Belt, One road’ was organised by China Innovative Finance Group Limited and Consulate General of Pakistan.
The premier invited Hong Kong businessmen to invest in Pakistan and take advantage of its strategic location, rich human and material resources, political stability and attractive investment policy.
He said despite numerous challenges, Pakistan was becoming an emerging economy and a destination that no global player could afford to miss.
He said Pakistan with its sixth largest population in the world, 80 million middle class and attractive investment environment was a destination for investors.
He said there was no minimum requirement for the amount of foreign equity and the investors could repatriate 100 per cent profits and dividends.
The prime minister said the consumer market in Pakistan was growing at a very fast pace, adding the consumer demand for automobiles, housing and electronics was thriving and providing considerable returns to the corporate sector.
He mentioned that the services industries particularly telecommunication, hospitality and online-retail were fast growing into attractive areas for investment. PM Sharif said from a 3 per cent GDP growth before 2013, the country was projected to achieve 5.5 per cent this year, and 7 per cent in two years.
He said Pakistan’s Vision 2025 served as a comprehensive strategy for achieving sustainable growth and mapped the country to join the top 25 economies in the world leading to Upper Middle Income country status by 2025.
The premier said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was a key regional initiative for connectivity and shared prosperity of nations.
He said CPEC was a core component of ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping designed for regional integration for peace and development.
He said Pakistan strongly favours synergising energies in the region to support this project and emphasised for not indulging in negative publicity for the betterment of common man. Sharif said his vision was to empower the people through economic development.
He said CPEC had the potential of bringing improvement in the lives of people, in addition to its projects related to energy, road and rail infrastructure, industrial parks and economic zones. — APP