Peace, security and liberal economic policies are a key to create investment-friendly climate in the country. Malaysia was reeling under utter poverty until early 80s, but is now ranking 6th in Asia and 20th in the world and its development rate is higher than the countries like Australia, France and South Korea. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is also keen to develop Pakistan into an economic tiger but fine words butter no parsnips. During his stay in Davos, he has invited the Swiss and international businessmen to invest in energy, telecom, infrastructure, urban development, agro-industry and textiles sectors in Pakistan which offers exciting opportunities for investment. He said that Pakistan is a business friendly country where the foreign investors feel safe and secure as the country is modern, progressive and forward-looking. However, back home, a disaster struck the nation in Charsadda in which dozens of innocent human lives fell prey to terrorist activity.
Though the overall situation in Pakistan is normal, may be better than many apparently peaceful countries, but isolated incidents of terrorism send wrong signals to the world. If prime minister wants development of the economy, he should liberalize the financial and economic policies, relax tax system and simplify the procedure for foreign investment. However, the prime minister should also strictly control the extremist elements in the country no matter they are religious or non-religious. The trouble makers should be fixed with an iron hand. The other big hurdle in the development of the country is corruption, especially in the official cadre. Pakistan is listed in one of the most corrupt countries in the world and it is a stigma on the face of the nation. The prime minister says that investment incentives are diverse and business friendly in Pakistan and the primary objective of the government is to create an environment conducive for investment inflows. He says that the government offers a liberal investment policy, which allows 100 percent equity ownership, full repatriation of capital, tax-breaks, and customs duty concessions on import of machinery and raw materials. No one can challenge the sincerity of the prime minister, but his chief of staff, Ishaq Dar, should have to be proactive and put the house in order before inviting the foreign investors.
As a matter of fact, Pakistan is a home of 180 million people and is 26th largest economy of the world by purchasing power parity, 44th largest economy by gross domestic product and the 10th largest country according to the size of workforce with over a half of the population consisting of young generation. The country offers vast economic opportunities for the local and foreign investors, if the government streamlines its administrative affairs.
