ISLAMABAD: The country’s leading investor and former president of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan has said that Saudis are ready to invest here, we need to do joint ventures with them. There is no shortage of investors in Pakistan, but local investors need to be given confidence.
Sardar Yasir Ilyas said during the reception given in honor of the Council of Economic and Energy Journalists (CEEJ) delegation that many sectors were represented in the Saudi delegation visiting Pakistan, the largest representation from Saudi Arabia. Al-Tamimi Group, my father is the president of Al-Tamimi Group, Saudi investors are very interested in investing in the agro sector, but the cost of production in our country is very high. Regarding food products, there is a wide range of exports to the Saudi retail market.
There are opportunities, Saudi Arabia also has a big meat export market, we have to compete with big competitors. Former president of ICCI Sardar Yasir Ilyas said that the biggest difficulty for foreign investors is devaluation, the government cannot guarantee the currency’s valuation will go up and down, the solution is that the government should give tax exemptions for 4 to 5 years.
He said that the foreign investor cannot invest full capital, the government should give such a scheme that local financing is also available for the foreign investor, while the interest rate also needs to be reduced.
Yasir said that in Pakistan, in the bank If you can earn 20% by saving money, then why do you need to do business, but this is not a sustainable solution, the Saudis are very active for investment in Pakistan, now we have to follow up on these things, the difference between the current and the previous government is this. They are following up and we are seeing the results.
Sardar Yasir further said that our current foreign exchange reserves are insufficient, the debt burden on our country is very high. He also said that SIFC is a one-window operation, land is being offered under SIFC, no group can take land by itself, land will be given under SIFC, land will be acquired in Pakistan.
It is the most difficult and dirty thing to do, we should export 100 billion dollars worth of agro products to the world, we need to increase our production, 30% of our mangoes are wasted and we do not have modern cold storage facilities while our fruits The diet is unique worldwide. Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that the recent visit of the Saudi delegation is a credit to the governments of both countries.
We are exporting only 500 million dollars to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has changed completely in the last five years. Saudi Arabia has a vision of 2030. Extensive While Saudia is doing a lot of work on tourism and industries including IT, Saudia has given tax exemption in neon for 30 years.
