LAHORE: Pakistan’s economy has remarkably been improved and law & order situation is much better than presented by foreign media.
Japanese Ambassador in Pakistan, Hiroshi Inomata, said this while addressing the Pakistan-Japan Business Forum on “economic relations between Pakistan and Japan” at a local hotel. He said that trade and investment between the two countries was not enough and this needed greater attention.
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He unhesitatingly announced that since 2013, there had been improvement in security and government incentives and would help promote Japanese investment in Pakistan, Yet the media perceptions both in Pakistan and his own country, were giving rise to wrong perceptions. Recalling that Pak-Japan ties had a long history and the Japanese investment in Pakistan till financial year 2012 had amounted to US $818 million. Automobile topped the list. A total of 73 Japanese companies, 45 of which located in Karachi, 7 each in Lahore and Islamabad, had been working since long.
However he felt that some negative influences were being exerted by security situations, lack of energy, and infra structures and inconsistent government policie. However some improvement were noticeable since last year, which is a good omen for Japanese companies to look for investing in this country. He said till 2012, Rs1,273 billion had been injected by Japan in Pakistan economy. This included Rs970 billon loans, Rs249 billon grants, and Rs48 billion for technical support. Projects being finance by Japan included Ghazi Barotha dam, hydel power plants, Indus Highway, Kohat Tunnel, Mehran Highway.
Welcoming the formation of Pakistan-Japan Business Forum, he observed it 127 member companies were doing excellent job. Government to government level policy making institutional arrangements were made but somehow not many meetings to help derive the maximum benefit from that could be held.
