Pakistan stands at 128th place out of 189 economies in the world Ease of Doing Business index. Among the emerging economies, Ghana stands at 70, receiving our $4 billion direct foreign investment in 2014 and China stands at 90, attracting $128 billion. Foreign investment plays a pivotal role in economic development of a country by not only bringing business and technology, but also provokes local trade and business activities. It also sends a positive message to the world that the country is a promising destination for doing business. Every successive government in Pakistan has tried its best to attract foreign investment but failed to pinpoint the bottlenecks in the way of the economic development.
Pakistan has always remained a promise land for multi-national companies from the early years of independence to today. However, the energy sector – from exploration of oil and gas to electricity generation — remained the major beneficiary of the foreign investment. There are various fields of economy where foreign companies can invest and get huge profit margin such as transport and communication sectors. A bullet train from Lahore to Karachi can earn billions of dollars annual profit while establishment of tax free zones in industrial cities can also attract massive foreign investment. According to news reports, various Chinese companies were ready to invest billions of rupees in textile sector as well as in coal electricity generation projects, but red tape and commission mafia foiled their plans. Despite grim situation of the country’s business climate, a large number of multinational companies are already operating in Pakistan, showing the fact that Pakistan is better destination than India and Bangladesh which stand at 140 and 170 respectively. At a time the government is building massive infrastructure in Pakistan in the form of Pak, China economic corridor, a special policy framework should have to be devised to set industrial cities along the corridor and motorways.
The establishment of Pakistan stock market will also attract foreign investors whereas industrial cities of the country, like Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Hyderabad, Peshawar and Quetta should be attached to it. The small investors in these cities deserve opportunity to invest in the stock market. Apart from giant multinational companies from France, United Kingdom, US, Japan, Norway, Germany and Netherlands, small investors in these countries also seek opportunities to invest in foreign countries and Pakistan can be presented as the destination of choice. The formation of a national coordination council is the need of the hour, involving all the political leadership of the country. Once politicians ignore petty differences, no one will stop Pakistan from becoming an economic tiger.
