President invites Stock Exchange to invest in Infrastructure Projects

KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari Saturday invited leading stock exchange members and investors to build infrastructure projects on build, operate, own and maintain (BOOM) basis by raising necessary equity through the country's stock exchanges.

The president made this suggestion during a meeting with a two-member delegation of Karachi Stock Exchange led by Aqeel Karim Dhedhi at Bilawal House, Karachi. Sindh Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah was also present in the meeting.

President's Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said that the president was of the view that a number of factors favoured massive investment in infrastructure projects at this time.

The president said that decline in inflation and crude prices provided a conducive environment for investment in infrastructure projects. He said that the government could not finance huge projects, because of equity crunch and this factor also offered an opportunity to investors to raise equity through stock exchanges for building infrastructure projects in a win-win scenario.

President Zardari said that through this scheme the investors owning the project would have a guaranteed profit over a very long period of time on the one hand and the country would benefit by putting in place new infrastructure of roads and bridges that would boost economic activity, on the other.

The president directed Provincial Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah to hold meetings with the stock exchange companies to fine-tune the proposal and prepare a workable plan.

The first meeting in the series in this connection will be held next week, Farhatullah Babar said.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011