BoI baits foreign investors with high profits, growth

LAHORE: The government on Saturday lured companies from Central Asian Republics (CARs) and Africa to invest in various sectors of Pakistan’s economy, promising investor-friendly policies, special incentives, and even easier access to landlocked states.

An invitation to this effect was made during “Pakistan Investors Meetup 2022”, organised by Board of Investment (BoI), focusing on CARs and African countries, at Expo Centre Lahore. The summit was attended by over 100 foreign delegates.

“Pakistan and Africa share many commonalities. Both have their geostrategic significance, which makes it convenient for investors to trade globally,” said Secretary BoI Fareena Mazhar in her keynote address to the conference.

“Similarly, Pakistan and the Central Asia Republics share religious and cultural cohesion.”

She said as people-to-people contact was an effective instrument for encouraging joint investment endeavors, this meetup would play a pivotal role in establishing and strengthening ties with the business community from the CARs and African continent.

Business communities from Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Cameron, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, etc attended the event.

BoI informed them that being at the crossroads between Central and South Asia, it was encouraging for Pakistan to successfully establish itself as a suitable investment destination and play a bridging role by providing easy passage to the landlocked CARs.

Also, BOI appreciated the speedy economic growth achieved by many African nations and expressed that African continent was currently at a critical juncture in its history, owing to its promising economic potential, which was paving way for Pakistan-African investment cooperation in various fields of economy.

Director General Investment Promotion, BOI, said Pakistan and CARs were signatories of various MOUs (memorandums of understanding) on economic and investment cooperation in several fields.

“Furthermore, inter-governmental joint economic commissions have also been established with regional countries and BoI is all set to jointly facilitate in materialising the envisaged joint benefits and facilitate mutual avenues of investment to materialise the protocols in letter and spirit.”

He identified agriculture, healthcare & pharmaceuticals, minerals, IT, engineering and tourism as potential areas of cooperation between two countries.

Deputy Chairman of Uzbekistan, Food industry Association, Fazlitdinov Sanjar underscored there was an immense scope of bilateral trade of agricultural products including cotton yarn.

On February 22, Chairman BOI, Muhammad Azfar Ahsan in a meeting with Ethiopian State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Redwan Hussien, and other officials stressed “Pakistan considers African economies to be one of the centerpieces of its Engage Africa initiative”.

Ahsan highlighted common areas of interest and potential of JVs between Africa Nations and Pakistan and underscored the need to establish a regular mechanism of interaction between business associations and chambers of African countries and Pakistan.

During the Pakistan Investors Meetup 2022, Director Investor Promotion, BOI, delivered a presentation to the delegates from Asia and CARs highlighting investment potential and opportunities of different sectors in Pakistan.

He told the meeting that BoI was also organising Pakistan Investment Summit, 2022, a two-day event on March 30-31 2022 in which more than 500 international investors were expected to attend.