ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi urged all stakeholders to address the registration procedural issues and further simplify it for foreign companies to make Pakistan an attractive destination for business and investment.
“All stakeholders to address the procedural issues and facilitate foreign investors who wanted to open companies in Pakistan. Pakistan’s ICT sector had great potential and it was essential to encourage investment in this vital sector by effectively showcasing the opportunities available in the country, particularly to the Pakistani-origin IT investors based in the USA,” the president made these remarks during a meeting with Pakistani-American diaspora in the IT sector, via video link, at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Wednesday.
The meeting was attended by Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, Special Assistant to PM on CPEC Affairs Khalid Mansoor, Secretary Ministry of IT and Telecom Dr Muhammad Sohail Rajput, Chairman Board of Investment (BoI) Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, Secretary BOI Fareena Mazhar, Chairman Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) Amir Hashmi, Executive Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan Mrs Khalida Habib, and other senior officials of the government.
Ambassador of Pakistan in the United States Dr Asad Majeed Khan and members of Pakistani diaspora in the USA, including Dr Naveed Shervani, Moazam Chaudhary, Saleem Ahmad, Idris Kothari, Ahsan Sohail, Waheed Qureshi, Amir Khan, Ahmad Ayub and Faysal Sohail attended the meeting via video link.
The meeting expressed satisfaction over the progress made by the concerned government organizations in simplifying the registration process for foreign investors.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) informed that the registration process had been made easier via one-window operation and companies could now be registered online through the e-services portal of the SECP.
Chairman STZA Amir Hashmi apprised the meeting that his organization was in the process of developing technology clusters in line with best international practices enabling companies to invest in Pakistan’s ICT sector.
He further informed that foreign companies had committed to invest $570 million that would help generate 15,000 jobs in the country.
Advisor to PM on Commerce and Investment highlighted that Pakistan’s IT exports had risen by 36 percent during July-December 2021 and efforts were under way to further develop this sector to enhance exports.
Addressing the meeting, the president appreciated the measures taken by the SECP, the STZA, Ministry of IT and Telecom, and the BoI for facilitating and encouraging foreign investors to do business in Pakistan. He advised to further improve coordination between the relevant stakeholders to address the procedural issues that would help increase ICT exports and attract investments in Pakistan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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