LAHORE: Because of non-conducive business environment, non-implementation of government policies and security concerns, not a single new foreign investor had entered the Pakistani market in the past few years, disclosed the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI).
Though business incentives in Pakistan were satisfactory but foreign investors were shying away and only existing investors/companies were expanding their operations, said OICCI President Atif Bajwa while talking to the media.
Recently reported by the State Bank of Pakistan, $615 million foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first eight months of this fiscal year was not even one per cent of the country’s GDP and well below Pakistan’s capability and past performance, he said. He added that despite very low recent FDI, the OICCI’s existing members were investing in excess of $1 billion annually in Pakistan, which had considerably dropped from around $5.5bn annually since 2007-08.
He said, “We represent 196 foreign investors with 35 countries who were operating in 14 key sectors of Pakistan’s economy.”
