ISLAMABAD: Representatives of Chinese delegates and companies have shown keen interest in investment opportunities in different state owned entities of Pakistan.
Their interest was obvious from their active participation in questions and answers session after presentations on the second day of the five-day Pakistan-China Business Friendship Conference here.
The conference kicked off here with an expression of strong resolve to increase volume of bilateral trade to $13 billion this year on Monday. Business Opportunities conference is being organized by the Ministry of Commerce with the support of Board of Investment (BOI), Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and World Bank.
The most impressive and interesting presentation was given by Secretary Privatization Commission who highlighted major sectors as well as ongoing transactions of state owned entities which had been placed on privatization list.
The presentation covered that Pakistan was one of the first countries in the region to start the privatisation process. There have been some important privatisation successes in the industrial, telecom and financial sectors, since the start of this process in the early 1990s
The telecom and banking sectors in particular have become major contributors to the national exchequer
Moreover, proceeds of Rs 476 billion (over $9 billion) were raised from privatisation and transactions between 1991 and 2013. Privatization Commission received international recognition for privatisation transactions in the form of in 2014 and 2015.
These awards included award of ‘Issuer of the Year’ in 2014 given to Pakistan by IFR Asia, UBL transaction given ‘Best Deal’ award for Pakistan in 2014 by ‘The Asset’, one of Asia’s most prestigious corporate ranking journals, HBL transaction given ‘Best secondary placement / best privatization in the region’ award in 2015 by ‘The Asset’, HBL transaction given ‘Deal of the year’ award for Pakistan in 2015 by ‘The Asset’ as well as ABL transaction given ‘Deal of the year – highly commended’ award for Pakistan in 2015 by ‘The Asset’ . There are 18 ongoing transactions of state owned entrepreneurs which are likely to be privatized.
Second major presentation was by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC), titled Investment Opportunities and Incentives in KPK.
The presentation showed that the objective was to facilitate focused industrial growth, by developing modern industrial estates; leading to mass job creation, skill enhancement, increased productivity, contributing to the GDP, aiming to reduce poverty and gearing towards a prosperous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Major industrial sectors include food, pharmaceuticals, engineering, marble cutting and polishing, mosaic furniture, oil and gas, agriculture and construction material.
Similarly, profitable industrial sectors include exports of fruits, vegetables, dairy allowed in PKR to Afghanistan, ghee and vegetable oil quota increased to 1000 tons per month, marble cutting and polishing, oil and gas, oil refinery, pharmaceuticals, oower and energy and herbal medicine.
