Inhospitable

Pakistan has been unable to attract many foreign investors due to a lot of factors. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about FDI is Reko Diq and how it was first scuttled, which resulted in the government of Pakistan being sued by the Tethyan Copper Company for denying them a mining lease. The company was denied the rights to extract copper and gold by the Balochistan government, which wanted the smelting and refining to be done in Pakistan in order to boost opportunities for the local population. International courts ended up awarding almost $6 billion in damages to Tethyan Copper Company.

Such controversies and disputes with foreign investors can be very damaging for an economy as starved of investment as ours. There needs to be a clear mechanism for foreign investment and we cannot simply change the rules once an investor has committed their money.

Murad Ali

Karachi