WASHINGTON: Pakistan's tremendous economic potential remains attractive for investors around the world despite international focus on security situation in the region, Islamabad's ambassador to the United States said.
Ambassador Husain Haqqani told CNBC channel that Pakistan is "far more stable than people give it credit for" in the midst of attention to security and political issues.
"Because Pakistan is a democracy, it is a fledgling democracy, there is a lot of noise. We are fighting terrorism and, at the same time, maintaining economic growth," said the envoy, who also underscored the vast investment opportunities existing in various sectors of the economy at a conference in New York.
Haqqani noted in the interview that Pakistan's economic growth is going to be "relatively down' this year, partly due to devastating floods last summer.
"But other than that, the economy continues to move in the right direction. We are on track for economic reform, (although) we will be affected by high oil prices (as) we are a major oil importer."
"As a country that is at war (against terrorists) and has a fallout from the war in Afghanistan, we are a country that gets more attention because of security and political reasons than for economic reasons.
"But the country's economic potential remains something that a lot of people are interested in."
Islamabad is working to change the unfair tax structure of the past through steps like introduction of a general sales tax across the board in the country to try to recover more money from people who are liable to income tax.
He said the Pakistanis living below poverty line and those living on meagre income cannot be expected to pay taxes and this way only those earning enough are left to pay taxes.
Just as America witnessed a long battle over federal income tax imposition at the turn of the 20th century, Pakistan is also going through a similar process.
"Give us some credit. We will get there. We understand that that is the way forward. You cannot fuel an economy, you cannot have federal spending without people being taxed. We have to find a solution to both (tax) resistance and evasion."
Responding to a question about Raymond Davis, who is under detention since he killed two men in Lahore in January, the ambassador said Pakistan believes in dealing with the issue in accordance with the law. In the context of resolution of the issue, he also noted the importance of respect for sentiments of the Pakistani people.
"The important thing to undersand is what Davis did is not conducive to good US-Pakistan relations" in the current environment, with a lot of disapproval of the United States.
In answer to another question, Haqqani felt that both countries are conscious that the relationship is the single most important relationship in that entire region right now.
"On that hinges America's success in the war against al-Qaeda and the Taliban and stability of the vast region," he said, hoping that controversy over one individual would not be allowed to undermine the relationship.
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