JEDDAH - Saudi construction firm Al-Qarnain Group unveiled plans to spend up to $1 billion in Pakistan over the next five years, Arabian Business reported.

The company said it would start with $400 million investment, adding that it will focus on energy, building and construction, hospitality and the car industry.
The firm said it also plans to build an independent power plant with a production capacity of 150-200MW and is also interested in producing solar panels, installation and back up services. Other areas of interest include low cost housing schemes, it said.
CEO Eyad Al Baaj said that Al-Qarnain has formed a joint venture cement company with the Pakistan’s Dandore, which will boost production capacity from 350 metric tonnes per day to 7,500 metric tonnes.
INP add from  Islamabad:  Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), chain of US based restaurants, has denied the reports regarding wrapping up its business in Pakistan amid security threats due to protests against anti-Islam film.
The KFC spokesman Christopher Fuller said that on Youm-e-Ishq e Rasool, KFC restaurants in Pakistan remained closed as a precautionary measure. It should be mentioned that earlier, a foreign new agency had reported that KFC had announced to shut all franchises across Pakistan over attacks on American products across the Muslim World.
The administrator of KFC in Pakistan Rafiq Rangoonwala denied the reports and said that the fast food chain was not closing its business in the country. He said that KFC is based on 100% investment from Pakistanis, adding that the restaurants would be reopened after monitoring the law and order situation.
 On Friday unidentified miscreants attacked a number of restaurants during protests.