NEW YORK - Pakistan’s economy has made remarkable advances, with a liberalized investment sector and improved security environment, Consul General Ayesha Ali told Pakistani-American businessmen on Thursday.
“Our investment regime is the most liberal in the region,” she said at a meeting aimed at promoting entrepreneurship in Pakistan for economic development in the country.
“We offer an open admission policy for investment in majority of sectors that does not require pre-screening and approval for entrants,” Ms. Ali added.
The event was jointly organized by the Pakistan consulate in New York and the Organization of Pakistani entrepreneurs of North America (OPEN).
Founded in 1998, OPEN has grown to eleven chapters in the U.S, U.K. and Pakistan, with leading entrepreneurs, business leaders and corporate professionals as its members.
The consul general briefed the gathering about the investment and business opportunities in Pakistan and promised every possible help to overseas Pakistanis to do business in their motherland. The consulate, she said, was geared to facilitate their work.
“Led by our dynamic Prime Minister, Mr. Imran Khan, our economy is very much on the mend and there is no dearth of good news when we talk about economic stability and future economic outlook,” Ms. Ali said.
“Our government’s economic policies have already started showing positive results and there is significant improvement in our economic indicators.” She said that the broad economic goals of the government included sustainable and inclusive economic growth; industry innovation and infrastructure development.
“Our special focus is on increasing investment in Pakistan to transform the business environment by providing efficient, convenient, transparent and integrated services to investors,” the consul general said. “We aim to enhance the investment to GDP ratio from existing level of 15.4% to 20% of GDP in the coming years.”
Imran Husain, president of the tri-state chapter of OPEN, said he found today’s interaction very useful. OPEN, he said, provides a platform to connect with each other and exchange information for mutual benefit.