Haroon Sharif (right), Minister of State and Chairman of Pakistan’s Board of Investment; and Abdul Razak Dawood, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Commerce, Textile, Industries and Production and Investment, during the interview at Pakistan Amb
Pakistan is set to present over 30 projects for Qatari investments which will be showcased today at Pakistan-Qatar Trade and Investment Forum being organised by the Embassy of Pakistan in Qatar.
“We have prepared a list of 30 projects which are large scale projects for investment from Qatar’s public sector while the opportunities for Qatari private businesses to invest in Pakistan are numerous,” said Haroon Sharif, Minister of State and Chairman of Pakistan’s Board of Investment.
Haroon Sharif and Abdul Razak Dawood, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Commerce, Textile, Industries & Production and Investment were talking to The Peninsula yesterday regarding Pakistan-Qatar Trade and Investment Forum. They will lead a delegation of Pakistani businessmen at the forum today at Four Seasons Hotel.
Dawood said that the visit of Pakistani delegation was in follow-up of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Qatar in January this year. “The visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan was very constructive and we left with a great sense of satisfaction,” he added.
Sharif said that there existed a lot of opportunities for Qatari businessmen to invest in sectors including tourism and hospitality, food, agriculture, technology, engineering, real estate etc. “In the forum, Pakistani companies will also discuss opportunities of investment in Qatar with Qatari officials and private business entities,” he added.
Dawood said that Pakistan would welcome Qatari investment in Pakistan’s power sector. “We have two recently launched gas-based power plants in Bhikki and Haveli Bahadur Shah that can be privatised for foreign investment,” he said, adding that both power plants with 1200MW power generation capacity were great investment opportunity for Qatar, the largest exporter of LNG in the world.
Dawood, who enjoys status of federal minister in Imran Khan’s cabinet, said that investment opportunities in Pakistan were in two categories. “In the category one, we are looking for investment from Qatari companies and Qatar Investment Authority and these projects are large scale projects and of strategic nature like in the power sector while for the private business entities of Qatar there also exists a wide range of options,” he added.
Regarding ease of doing business in Pakistan, Dawood said that Pakistan had introduced a number of incentives for foreign investors. “By making investment in special economic zones, investors can avail a number of concessions and lucrative incentives,” he added.
Sharif said that Pakistan’s tourism and hospitality sector was witnessing a significant growth and Pakistan’s new liberal visa regime for tourists would further augment the pace of growth. “This offers an opportunity to foreign investors to invest in Pakistan’s fast growing tourism and hospitality sector,” he added.
He said that Pakistan was set to showcase investment opportunities for Qatari public sector companies in three major sectors namely hospitality, aviation and real estate.
Dawood said that Pakistan government would soon announce an attractive package for overseas Pakistanis through which they would be able to invest in country’s tourism and hospitality sector and the government of Pakistan would ensure availability of finances for them through banks at lower interest rates.
Dawood said that Pakistan’s energy need was on the rise demanding more imports of LNG for which the country was developing two new terminals. He hinted that Pakistan could sign new pacts with Qatar for more LNG import in future.
Sharif said that after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Qatar in January, Board of Investment was in constant touch with Qatar Investment Authority and was proposing different strategically important projects to Qatari side. “Things are set to move to next transaction level very soon,” he added.
Sharif said that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPEC), one of six corridors under China’s One Belt One Road initiative, would prove as a magnet to pull investors from the region and world to Pakistan.
