Govt, Standard Chartered Bank hold virtual roadshow to woo investors

ISLAMABAD: The virtual investor roadshow arranged by Standard Chartered Bank, in collaboration with the Debt Management Office, Ministry of Finance and Revenue, marked a historic and unprecedented level of engagement with Pakistan’s investment narrative, said Advisor to the Federal Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad.

With 225 investors participating, this was among the largest, most diverse, and most institutionally-weighted investor interactions Pakistan has seen in recent years, and the first time such a broad set of real-money global investors engaged together in a single, curated forum at this scale, he said.

The advisor took to X, formerly known as Twitter and stated that the roadshow was led by Minister of Finance and Revenue, Muhammad Aurangzeb, alongside his team, who presented Pakistan’s emerging investment story anchored in macroeconomic stability, structural reforms, external validation, and a clearly improving outlook, while providing clear forward guidance on external market funding plans through forthcoming RFPs.

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The audience was dominated by foreign institutional investors, global asset managers, pension funds, insurers, sovereign-linked entities, corporates, HNWIs, and multilateral institutions, reflecting not speculative interest, but serious long-horizon capital evaluating Pakistan’s renewed macro and reform trajectory.

Foreign investors joined from all major capital regions (North America/US, Europe, Middle East and Asia-Pacific), signaling broad global interest. Importantly, the attendee list included some of the largest and most influential asset managers in the world, collectively representing over USD 35+ trillion in assets under management (AUMs). This level of participation is a powerful signal that Pakistan is attracting the attention of global real-money allocators, not merely opportunistic flows, he added.

Schehzad said that this level of participation reflects a clear shift in investor perception, driven by visible and credible progress: Macro stabilization has taken hold: inflation has declined, fiscal discipline has strengthened, external balances have improved, and FX markets have stabilized. Reforms are measurable and underway: tax modernization, energy sector restructuring, SOE reforms, regulatory simplification, and digitization are moving decisively from intent to delivery.

External validation is strengthening: IMF program discipline, multilateral re-engagement, and improving buffers are reinforcing credibility. Valuations remain compelling: Pakistan’s economy and markets remain undervalued, offering asymmetric upside as reforms deepen and confidence compounds.

The scale and quality of engagement, particularly from institutions that are highly selective and typically engage only when reform credibility is evident, makes this roadshow a breakthrough moment in Pakistan’s investor outreach. It signals that Pakistan is firmly back on the radar of the world’s most serious allocators, with growing conviction in a reform-led recovery and medium-term growth potential.

He further said that this was not routine investor engagement, it was a landmark signal of renewed global confidence in Pakistan. This marks the start of a sustained investor engagement cycle, led by the Finance Minister and his team, as Pakistan deepens reforms, strengthens buffers, and converts macro-economic stability into higher, sustainable growth and durable investable opportunities.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026