Pakistan woos more investment

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)  Economic growth top priority; USAid, Abraaj and JS Group to invest $96m in capital markets Pakistan is in dire need of foreign investment to sustain balance of payments, generate additional resources for development and accelerate economic growth, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said. Addressing the second US-Pakistan business opportunities conference in Dubai on Tuesday, he said Pakistan's new government is keen to focus more with all trading partners for promoting bilateral businesses, trade and investment, particularly with the United States. "The US is our largest trading partner and also a source of potential investment. We appreciate US leadership and its policy on preferential market access to Pakistan. This is a relationship which must be marked by trade and market access in terms of economic cooperation rather than defined by dependence or by assistance," Dar said. The United States Agency for International Development, or USAid, also announced two awards of $24 million each to Abraaj Group and JS Group, who will match with the same amount to invest in Pakistan's capital markets. Arif Naqvi of Abraaj and Ali Siddique of JS Group received the awards from USAid Administrator Rajiv Shah. "Therefore, in total $96 million will be injected in the capital markets of Pakistan," Dar said. The finance minister said the government has laid out a comprehensive agenda of reform to reinvigorate the economy, spur growth, maintain price stability, provide jobs to the youth and rebuild the key infrastructure of the country. "We have given our economic vision in the recent budget and will start implementing it, which shall raise significantly the confidence of our development partners," he said. "We want to build an economy based on competitive advantage and market considerations that is not dependent on others except through trade and investment." Dar said Pakistan's prosperity requires an acceleration of economic growth, which currently averaging about three per cent annually, with a rapid generation of jobs, especially for youth to absorb annual additions to the workforce. "The Pakistani economy will have to grow at the rate of six to seven per cent per year and generate an additional 36 million jobs over the next 10 years," he said, adding that the private sector has to be the lynchpin of economic activities, sharing the larger share of economic functions. "We have introduced policy measures in the budget to address challenges facing the economy that are reduction of fiscal deficit, raising tax revenues, arresting inflationary pressures, and most importantly resolving energy crisis," he said. Dar said the new government is to create a more investment- and business-friendly environment not just by words, but by actions that will be observed in the days and months to come. "We are ensuring good governance at every level and are in the process of appointing top of the line professionals from the market to manage the affairs of our state-owned enterprises," he said. About the conference, he said: "I am particularly pleased to note the key areas that this conference is focusing on, namely energy, agriculture and textiles. All of them offer huge economic opportunities both for investment and trade." On the energy side, the minister said the government has taken a very bold initiative to settle the circular debt and is taking steps to ensure that it will not recur in future. "This one step should help raise the confidence of investors and process of investment in this critical sector should resume," he said. "We are also working to bring new power based on gas and coal and both of these we will initially import. These projects will result in significant business opportunities in Pakistan," he added.