The Engineering Development Board (EDB) has planned to organise a 2-day workshop on July 11-12, 2005 in Islamabad to encourage private sector and foreign investors for the investment in steel and construction sector, said a statement issued here, on Monday. The EDB Vice Chairman and CEO, Imtiaz A Rastgar, said that the workshop on 'Investment Opportunities in Steel Sector of Pakistan' would be held under the ministry of the Industries, Production & Special Initiatives, government of Pakistan to create awareness and prepare for the upcoming demand for steel.
He said that the demand for steel and its by-products was expected to be increased with the upsurge in the construction and allied business in the country.
The potential for steel in the construction and manufacturing sector in Pakistan was growing at a rapid pace, he added.
"The robust growth rate of 8.4 percent in GDP, no doubt is an achievement of the present government but achieving a much higher growth or sustaining the existing growth levels will be difficult if certain aspects of the economy are not given special attention, he said.
He added, "One such example is the steel sector of Pakistan, which feeds the engineering sector of the country."
"It may be noted that with growth rate of 12.5 percent in the manufacturing sector, 6.2 percent in construction sector and increase in Per Capita consumption of Steel to over 30 kg, the shortages of Steel are natural," he maintained.
"Even currently large quantities of Steel are being imported to meet local demand."
The government's resolve for more expenditure on development projects like dams, infrastructure would further trigger the demand for Steel thus widening the gap between demand and supply disproportionate price hikes, the EDB CEO added.
It is expected that this would adversely affect almost all the sectors of economy, particularly the construction and the manufacturing sectors, he said.
He said the situation was indicative of the huge investment potential in the Steel sector, therefore, the EDB had planned to capture these potentials through new investments in this sector.-PR
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