KARACHI: Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum president Mian Zahid Hussain said on Friday that the government should do something about uncontrollable mafias, ensure political and economic stability, improve rules and regulations and make certain continuity in important policies.

He said that foreign businessmen had not been in a mood for investment, and so the government should postpone privatization of the Steel Mills and other bleeding enterprises and focus on bringing about reforms.

He said a rational price structure for electricity and gas was vital to attracting local and foreign investment.

He said though there had been an improvement in exports, yet a lot was still needed to be done to improve the confidence of the business community and that of the masses.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that many businesses had still been reeling due to uncertainty, supply chain disruption and other problems which had reduced production and profits.

He said the uncertainty caused by the virus was being augmented by political and economic instability which had reduced investment.

He noted that many countries were moving towards protectionism and frequent changes in trade policies that were keeping investors away.

Different countries had attracted foreign investment to the tune of $1.5 trillion during 2019, but it had been falling since then, and last year around 40 percent reduction was witnessed.

The fall in FDI was hitting the developing countries hard which were already suffering from reduced remittances and fallen exports, he said, adding that privatization had been stalled while many countries were struggling to keep their current accounts balanced to avoid bankruptcy.

The energy prices should be in line with the international and regional countries to boost production and exports, he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020