Pakistan to welcome foreign investment in power generation: PM

ISLAMABAD : Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said that Pakistan is open to business and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which is fully protected under the country’s laws. “Almost all sectors of our economy allow FDI and there is no discrimination between foreign and local investment as no government sanction is required in either case”, the Prime Minister added.
He was talking to a delegation of the ESSAR Group headed by Shashi Ruia and Ravi Ruia. The ESSAR Group is one of the largest corporate houses of India with an enterprise value of $ 15 billion.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan offers a liberal and attractive package of incentives as 100% foreign equity is allowed and there are no restrictions on remittances of royalty, technical and franchise fee, capital, profits and dividends.
He said since Pakistan is deficient in electricity, it would welcome investment in power generation especially in developing the Thar Coal reserves.
Other attractive areas of investment include telecom, steel, real-estate, construction and electronics, the Prime Minister added.
He said Pakistan is surplus in cement production and would like to export it to its neighboring countries.
The Prime Minister said he would soon announce the government’s power policy which would contain incentives to attract foreign investment.
Shashi Ruia informed the Prime Minister that his Group has an investment of $ 40 million all over the would and would be keen to invest in energy, steel and shipping sectors.
Besides Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the meeting was also attended by President of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) Tariq Saeed and Vice President of SCCI Iftikhar Ali Malik.