President Asif Ali Zardari wants give a corporate image to Pakistan

President Asif Ali Zardari wants to give a corporate image to Pakistan and he himself is visiting different friendly countries to win their confidence. “The ministry has been created to (realise) his vision and ensure return of investment. We are not seeking any financial relief directly and this was not the thrust of President Zardari’s visits to different countries. We are immediately looking at deferred oil payments from Saudi Arabia and UAE to get some economic relief”, Federal Investment Minister, Senator Waqar Ahmad Khan said in an exclusive interview with the Gulfnews.com.

Senator Waqar said that Pakistan is creating a special task force to protect investment and provide security to potential investors in the country.

The Task Forces, he said comprises officials from the ministries of interior, defence, investment and finance.

He added the task force will “protect investors round the clock”, Senator Waqar said the new Ministry of Investment has been created to safeguard investor interests.

He unveiled his plans to lure investment to bail out Pakistan from the economic crisis.

He said the target is to get US $20 billion in foreign investment by the end of 2009.

Replying to a question, he said for protection of investors and their investments, the government is aware of the security concerns and that is why “we are creating a special task force to protect investors and [their] investment”.

When asked that how much investment is needed to boost economic activity and how much he expects to receive in one year?, he said “We need more than US $ 40 billion of investment and our target is to get US $20 billion investment by the end of 2009. We are very optimistic to achieve it”.

Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan said that “Our president is concentrating on good governance and to facilitate the investors, we have proposed to the government that the Ministry of Investment will be the facilitator [of projects] and for inter-provincial coordination, federal government coordination and for the coordination of information before an investor comes into the country to ensure a successful trip.

“It is a win-win and we mean business”, he remarked.

Replying to another question, he said that continuation of policies has been a major concern for investors. Now we have a democratic government and we have proposed legislation to ensure continuation of projects even if there is a change of government.

The Minister for Investments said that Pakistan, currently, is the best place to invest. What is happening in the world is not happening in Pakistan because our economy is not highly governed by debts and we do not have a liquidity market.

He added that Pakistan’s infrastructure interests still have high returns.

“We are not worried about the meltdown in the world”, he remarked.

When asked about priority areas for investment, the Minister said that Pakistan is open for investments in any field.

“But our priority areas are oil and gas, energy, food, agriculture, information technology and infrastructure”, he remarked.

Regarding the incentives being offered by Pakistan to the investors, he said that hundred per cent repatriation of money has been ensured.

He added that special commercial zones have also been created for investors.

“We also give five-year tax exemption for investors and ten years of tax exemption to investors who help us set up a commercial zone. There are also customs duty and general sales tax exemptions on certain items”, he remarked.

He said “We are also looking for investors who are able to enhance our existing infrastructure. We are the fifth largest milk producer in the world but 70 per cent of it does not reach the market. We need people to exploit this huge market. We are also focusing on public-private partnerships to develop our infrastructure”.

Regarding the your specific plans of the government to attract investors, he said that government is working on rebuilding the image of Pakistan.

He added that a massive media campaign will be launched soon to lure investors.

Senator Waqar said that the new Ministry of Investment would ensure quick and safe investments.

“We will ensure one-window operation as all problems an investor faces will be solved by this ministry. We have already introduced a toll free number for quick response and to avoid red-tape. In future, there will be no problems for investors”, he remarked.