LAHORE (March 04 2010): The province of Punjab is one of the most attractive business destinations in the world because of 100 percent foreign ownership, the easiest business start-up and for having one of the largest consumer base in the region. This was the crux of the presentation given at a conference on "Investment Opportunities in Punjab" jointly organised by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) here at LCCI on Wednesday.

The conference was jointly chaired by former LCCI Senior Vice President Abdul Basit and Provincial Secretary Commerce and Investment Fazal Abbas Maiken. A number of LCCI Executive Members including Nasira Taskeen, Mian Zahid Javaid, Dr Shahid Raza and Shakil Ahmad also spoke on the occasion.

There was a consensus among all the speakers that any investment in the province was bound to earn rich dividends for the investors as all the sectors in the province are open for Foreign Direct Investment and both the locals and the foreigners are treated equally. They said that the repatriation of the profit was guaranteed by law while the international arbitration was enforceable through local courts.

They said that huge business opportunities are available in a number of sectors including transport, infrastructure, mines and minerals, housing and urban development, livestock, agriculture, textile, power, health and education. Elaborating their point, the speakers said that both the foreign and local investors could put their money in the livestock and dairy sector because Pakistan was not only the fourth largest milk producing country in the world but the local breed in the Punjab particularly was resistant to disease and environment stress. The province also has world-renowned Neeli Ravi Breed of Buffaloes and Sahiwal cattle.

The Punjab also has a number of High Return Opportunities in Halal meat processing, frozen food, dried meat, processed products, milk production plants, modern storage, commercial farms, milk chillers and cold chains. They said that in the field of agriculture the province has no match as it has world's largest irrigated land mass having a four-weather season and a variety of major crops. Punjab also enjoys a competitive advantage in several manufacturing areas, most notably textiles. Inexpensive and easily available raw materials and labour contribute to the competitive advantage and to the potential returns. A wide network of industrial estates available in Punjab to set-up industrial plants.

Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI former Senior Vice President Abdul Basit said that there is a huge potential of agriculture sector in Pakistan as well. The sector continues to be the single largest and dominant driving force for growth as well as the main source of livelihood for 66 percent of Pakistan's population. Butt, he said, it has always faced two major problems: first, the productions per acre are lower than many countries.

Secondly, around 40 percent of the total production is wasted in the form of post-harvest losses due to lack of preservation and these two are the core areas where investment can be made.

He said despite the fact that we are the fourth largest producer of milk in the world but are unfortunately preserving a little amount of this heritage. He said that these losses are obviously due to insufficient utilisation of biotechnology in these sectors are also required latest techniques being used in the world, thus the private sector must come forward and look for new ways and means of fully utilising this beneficial technology for more and more production in various agri sectors, he added.

The organisations who took an active part in the conference were Punjab Board of Investment and Trade, Punjab Agri Marketing Company, Punjab Industrial Estates, Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Company, The University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, The University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Four Brothers Group, The Livestock and Dairy Development Board, Punjab Agricultural Research Board, and Agriculture Development Services.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2010