LAHORE-The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Sunday welcomed rise in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and called for more aggressive efforts to maintain the good momentum. LCCI President Kashif Anwar, Senior Vice President Zafar Mahmood Chaudhry and Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt said in a media statement here that rise in Foreign Direct Investment is an encouraging sign for the economy. They said that the net Foreign Direct Investment in the first four months of the current financial year (July-October 2023-24) stood at $524.7 million, exhibiting an increase of 7 percent as compared to $488.9 million in the same period of FY 2022-23. There is a need for concrete efforts to enhance the level of FDI in the country.
The LCCI office-bearers said that Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) can play an instrumental role in materialising the signed agreements with UAE and Saudi Arabia for bringing investment in diverse sectors of the economy. Going forward, stability in macro-economic policies, and focus on competitive business regulatory environment, particularly related to taxation and cost of doing business can play a pivotal role in enhancing foreign direct investment in the country. The LCCI office-bearers said that Pakistan has the potential to attract FDI worth billions of dollars in various sectors of economy like energy, agriculture, tourism, health, mines and minerals, precious stones, information technology and various others. LCCI President Kashif Anwar suggested that the government should persuade the investors for taking over the those state-owned enterprises which are not performing well and turned these into profitable. At the one hand, it would reduce the burden from national exchequer while give revenue and generate employment opportunities at the other.
The LCCI office-bearers suggested that Pakistan’s foreign missions abroad would have to play a key role to attract foreign investors. Foreign investors should be informed that Pakistan has lucrative opportunities for investment in various sectors of economy. They said that the countries, which have signed Bilateral Investment Agreements with Pakistan, have meager share in total foreign direct investment in Pakistan. They said that the government has to target these countries for marketing the investment potential of Pakistan. They said that there are almost same countries which are investing in Pakistan since long. They said that the new countries must be targeted to attract FDI in Pakistan.