KARACHI: More than 65 per cent of the American companies have showed their willingness to invest in Pakistan, showing their confidence on the country’s economic policies.
This was revealed during a survey, conducted by the American Business Council (ABC). The most of the respondents of survey indicated that they plan to invest in Pakistan over the next 12 months while 80pc were optimistic about the long-term economic and operating climate.
Announcing the results of the ‘Perception Survey’ on Wednesday, ABC President Arshad Saeed Husain suggested concrete government actions to make Pakistan a preferred investment destination. “International standing and perception are extremely important as Pakistan competes with other Asian players for FDI,” he said.
The survey allowed ABC members to rate their satisfaction on various economic, regulatory and political factors that affect the performance and growth of businesses operating in Pakistan during the ongoing fiscal year. Despite the security challenges, 80pc respondents are optimistic about the future in the longer run.
Husain said that a political, economic and social environment that is predictable over the long term does the most to strengthen confidence and forms the basis of a country’s development.
The business climate was rated on each of the various factors influencing it, including implementation and consistency of trade and competition policies, government development budget, domestic market, internal and external political climate and law and order.
According to the survey, law and order received the worst response, with 74pc of the respondents rating it poorly and 48pc feeling it had adversely affected business operations and investment plans.
For 2014-15, the vast majority of respondents rated the business climate of Pakistan as satisfactory and 11pc marked it as poor. This is an improvement over 2013-14 when 44pc rated the business climate as unsatisfactory.
