Canada sets pace for more investment in communication

Federal Minister for Privatisation and Investment Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has underscored need to project abroad the aspects of liberalisation of investment policy, which is a part of greater economic reforms process being initiated in the country.
These observations were made with regard to the exclusive agreement signed between Comstar ISA Ltd, the leading satellite service provider in Pakistan and the Infosat Communications of Canada to install and operate the first Broadband Satellite Hub in Pakistan.
It may be mentioned that Infosat is a Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) subsidiary and the largest Broadband Satellite Operator in Canada. The initial investment from Infosat will be gradually increased. Infosat senior management visited Pakistan last year and held several meetings with top management of large corporations.
"Pakistan has been selected as the next Infosat destination because of its market potential, technology awareness, and the current investor friendly environment," said Mukhtar Raheemtulla, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Infosat.
Comstar President and CEO Sami Bajwa giving details of the project said the new Broadband Satellite Hub would provide low cost and high reliability high speed satellite connectivity throughout the country with a capacity of 18Mbps and several unique features the Hub will provide enterprise users in the country with true Broadband over satellite for the first time". Infosat also provides several other satellite services and operates thousands of satellite terminals world-wide.
"The Infosat expertise and experience of installing and maintaining thousands of VSAT Terminals worldwide will be critical to the success of the Hub in Pakistan," said Sami Bajwa.
The agreement reflective of growing confidence in Pakistan as a great market for value added communications services, is further established with the remarks forwarded by Canadian High Commissioner to Pakistan who acknowledged that Pakistan was a very good destination for investors.
High Commissioner David B Collins further said businessmen from his country would soon be visiting Pakistan to explore investment opportunities.
Federal Minister for Privatisation and Investment, Dr Hafeez Shaikh said the investment in Pakistan had risen sharply crossing 1.5 billion dollars mark in 2005, as foreign direct investment inflow from July to December 2005.
"Similar great acceleration has been experienced in privatisation as well," he said. Highlighting the salient features of the investment policy, Dr Hafeez Shaikh said the liberalisation had led to open up all the sectors in Pakistan to direct investment.
In addition to this, 100 percent foreign equity is allowed and no government permission is required except for few sectors. Sami Bajwa appreciative of Pakistan government policy said investors believed that there was still a large untapped market for broadband satellite services in Pakistan.
"We are very optimistic about several business sectors in the country in particular, Banking, Petroleum Distribution, Non Government Organisations (NGOs), and Oil and Gas exploration," he said.
"With the installation of the Broadband Hub and a strong partnership with Comstar, we are making a long-term commitment to the country and were confident that our success elsewhere can be replicated in Pakistan," he said.