ISLAMABAD: The Spanish envoy in Pakistan Carlos Cesar Morales called on Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar.
During the meeting the Finance Minister that the Spanish companies were eager to invest in Pakistan in view of the economic performance of the last two years which was acknowledged by international rating agencies as well as financial institutions.
He especially mentioned the fields of energy, telecom, tourism, information technology and environment in which the Spanish companies could be interested in investment. He further remarked that it was his mission to bring Spanish companies to Pakistan and would do his best to achieve this objective.
Mango, a leading Spanish brand, had recently opened its outlets in Pakistan while other Spanish companies like Inditex, which has the popular brand Zara, could also consider entering the Pakistani market. All this, he said, was due to growing middle class in the country with people having more disposable income.
He added that the perception about Pakistan was fast changing abroad and investors were showing keen interest to be here for developing business and commercial linkages. He said Spain was happy to see Pakistan re-emerge in the international capital markets.
The Finance Minister welcomed Spanish interest in investing in Pakistan. He said the government would facilitate all prospective investors in accordance with the existing regulations of the country.
The Finance Minister said that, as a priority, the present government had focused on re-building the economy and through continued reforms process had achieved economic stability.
All international rating agencies have accorded positive ratings to Pakistan which is now on the path to consolidating its economic gains, achieving higher growth and generating employment. He added that the government’s focus was also firmly on resolving the energy shortage issue and with concerted efforts the government aimed to add over 10,000 MW to the national grid by December 2017 that would plug the demand and supply gap. Fighting extremism and social uplift of the masses were also the two other areas where the government had paid full attention thereby achieving positive results.
