DAVOS: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan was being now on the track of sustainable growth and was “ready to do business with the world”.
“Offering attractive investment policies, Pakistan is a destination that no global player can miss,” the prime minister said in his address to leading businessmen at a dinner hosted by Abraaj Group late Wednesday.
The prime minister said the strategically located Pakistan was now politically stable, with sixth largest population in the world, 80 million middle class and blessed with rich human and natural resources.
“I invite you to take benefit from the economic revival of Pakistan and enjoy the first mover’s advantage,” the prime minister told the audience comprising top business leaders gathered here for the 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum.
Nawaz Sharif said his government was working to ensure rule of law in the country while making the democratic institutions stronger and more relevant in all aspects of governance.
He said coming to the World Economic Forum was a great opportunity to meet global thinkers, policy makers and business leaders who shape the future of the people.
He said without peace and stability, development remained an elusive dream and stressed the need for collaboration and cooperation to meet the challenges.
“Without inclusion and partnerships, we cannot make any headway. This is the approach I believe we need to take at global, regional and national levels in order to not only solve our problems but also to create an environment in which the world economy can rejuvenate and revive,” he said.
He recalled that since assuming office in 2013, his government effectively tackled the challenges of economy, severe energy shortages, inflationary pressures, exchange rate volatility and a precarious security environment.
“Today, our government has managed to stabilize the economy, despite unfavourable global economic conditions. We first set out to improve the macro-economic outlook and sustained our efforts in spite of strong challenges,” he said.
The prime minister said economic conditions in Pakistan were improving continuously and from a 3 percent GDP growth before 2013, it was projected to achieve 5.5 percent GDP growth during the current year.
He said in last three-and-a-half years, the government initiated much needed reforms that aimed at sustainable economic growth and development.
He mentioned that focused was laid on technology, energy, modern infrastructure and a thriving investment climate besides reduction in bank interest rates and exemptions.
Nawaz Sharif said the government also launched the most successful counter-terrorism operation anywhere in the world and dismantled entirely the network of terrorists in two years.
“Pakistan is an inclusive, tolerant and forward looking society. Pakistan is as safe as any other place in the world,” he said.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the government had launched a series of pro-poor initiatives in health, education and social protection.
He said his government realized the fact that nations rise when they ascribe to a shared vision of their people for prosperity and development.
He mentioned that Pakistan’s Vision 2025 served as a comprehensive strategy for achieving sustainable growth and mapped the country to join the top 25 economies in the world leading to Upper Middle Income country status by 2025.
He said the economy was targeted to grow over 8 percent between 2018 and 2025 while maintaining a single digit inflation.
“Over the past three years, we managed to bring down the fiscal deficit from 8.6 to 4.2 percent, increase tax to GDP ratio from 9.8 to 12.4 percent and investment to GDP ratio from 14.9 to 15.2 percent,” he said.
He said inflation which touched 1.6 percent in October 2015 was now contained and had remained well under 3 percent since then, besides industrial sector registering growth at 6.8 percent.
The Prime Minister mentioned growing consumer market and expanding for US and European products, liberal investment policies, incentives to attract new capital inflows including tax exemptions, tariff reductions, infrastructure, and investor facilitation services.
He said Investment Policy (2013) focused at reducing the cost of doing business in Pakistan and Special Economic Zones to attract foreign direct investment, all protected by legislation.
The Prime Minister told the businessmen that there was no minimum requirement for the amount of foreign equity, investment or upper limit on the share of foreign equity allowed except in the airline, banking, agriculture and media sectors and foreign companies were allowed to repatriate 100 percent profits.
He mentioned that Pakistan Stock Exchange had been created to lower fragmentation of the market and bring it at par with global markets.
He said the bench mark index PSE100, crossed 49,000 in January 2017 and was touching new heights, adding that recently, 40 percent strategic shares of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) were sold to a Chinese consortium.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan was the fourth largest milk producing country with third largest livestock population in the world with significant potential for setting up processing units for local consumption and exports.
He mentioned that the recent decision of Dutch leaders in this sector to invest US $ 460 million in a local food and dairy processing industry was a testament of our potential.
He said China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was a key regional initiative for connectivity and shared prosperity of nations.
Pakistan, located at the intersection of three engines of growth in Asia, South Asia, China and central Asia is uniquely positioned to become a hub to connect a population of over 3 billion in these regions, he added.
He said CPEC would connect the port of Gwadar to Kashghar, and would also provide connectivity to Central Asia.
He mentioned that international economic agencies were upgrading ratings for the financial and economic stability of Pakistan, including Standard & Poor and World bank.
The Prime Minister said at WEF at Davos, the countries need to think hard and must prevent globalization from being trashed because of rising surge of negative publicity and shrill slogans of nationalism and protectionism.
“We in the 21st century cannot abandon our commitment and attachment to the core principle of representative democracy and a market economy,” he said.
Investors at the event spoke high of the success of the Pakistan ‘s economic policies. Mustafa al Wadood Managing Partner of Abraaj Group said his company had invested over US $ 700 million in financial, consumer and energy sector.
He said the present government has doubled economic growth, halved fiscal deficit, while the country’s stock exchange was amongst the top five in Asia.
Michael Renee of McKinsey and Company spoke of the stability of Pakistan’s economic policies and said improved security was now a big attraction for foreign investors.
Jay Collins, vice President of the Citibank said his bank was proud to be amongst the top banks serving the country’s public and private sector. He said the bank raised US $ 2.5 bln worth of strategic transactions for Pakistan and the foreign companies.
He congratulated the Prime Minister on his economic success and progress and building reserves.
He said the FDI and partnership with China was great and said there would be a surge in economic growth with the One Belt One Road project.
Nitten, President of Unilever said his company has built a large business base in Pakistan and said it had a continued commitment. He said Pakistan ranked among top 20 business friendly countries.
Arif Naqvi CEO of Abraaj Group said Pakistan was a country that was on the move, with a fantastic potential. He said this government had done more to provide a business-friendly environment.
