LAHORE: The Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) and Grace Refinery Limited have signed a memorandum of understanding, under which the later would invest $5 billion in Punjab.
The signing of the MoU once again underscores the growing importance of PBIT under the leadership of its Chief Executive Officer, Amena Cheema, who has completely revamped the agency since taking office last year.
The six-person delegation of the Grace Refinery was led by their Chairman S. M. Ghaus and also included Chief Executive Officer Uzma Bashir and Project Director Brig (r) Shehzad Akhtar. PBIT Chief Executive Officer Amena Cheema welcomed the delegation and briefed them on the way forward with regard to their investment plan. Speaking on the occasion, the PBIT CEO said that all the credit for this latest achievement and the overall economic turnaround in Punjab goes to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for his visionary leadership.
Over the past few months, the PBIT CEO remained in close contact with Grace Refinery, holding several meetings and video-conferences with the management of the Refinery and their consultants in UK to convince them to invest in Punjab. The Grace Refinery communicated their intention to invest in Punjab earlier this week. After the decision, a meeting was held at the PBIT office in Lahore and an MoU was signed between the PBIT and Grace Refinery. Under the MoU, the PBIT will act as a one-window facilitator for Grace Refinery to provide all the necessary support and facilitation to them in setting up their operations in Punjab and Pakistan.
