Pakistan needs $110b private sector investment in 5 years

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan is in need of substantial private sector investment requiring approximately US$ 110 billion over the next five years to cater the infrastructure necessities for growing population.
Advisor to Ministry of Finance on Public Private Partnership Ghulam Murtaza Satti said this during an investor’s forum arranged by Infrastructure Project Development Facility (IPDF) here Friday.
He said that elected government was fully cognizant of the importance of public private partnership and laying emphasis for which IPDF was a focal entity. He highlighted the key issues including employment generation, economic empowerment and additional use of existing infrastructure associated with the economic development of the country. He further said that the public private partnership had also got support of the international institutions like, World Bank and Asian Development Bank to carry out its policy.
Satti said that IPDF took special care of the appropriateness of the transaction structure and sizing of the project to the right demand transaction suitability by taking into consideration the concerns of the investors and the lenders. He assured the investors that their concerns would be allayed while drafting concession agreements for the infrastructure projects.
The investors said that there should be consistency and continuity in the policy of the government for the success of programme and also demanded legislation to cover the loopholes. They quoted examples of Lahore Faisalabad Road on BOT of Punjab government and Lakpass Tunnel Project on BOT of NHA. In both of the projects, government has backed out and is reluctant to abide obligations of the government/public institutions stipulated in the concession agreements, as the government changed.