After Pakistan and China have signed landmark agreements worth $46 billion, a majority of the US businesses is also taking interest to invest in Pakistan. However, according to a survey conducted by the American Business Council, many US businessmen still consider the country’s negative perception as a serious challenge to attract foreign investment. The survey indicates that more than 65 percent US businessmen want to invest in Pakistan within the next one year while 80 percent are optimistic about the long-term economic and operating climate in the country.
Arshad Saeed Husain, the council president, in announcing the results of the Perception Survey, suggests various concrete measures to make Pakistan a preferred destination for investment. He says that international standing and perception are extremely important as Pakistan emerges as a serious challenger to various Asian countries in attracting foreign direct investment. The survey allows the ABC members to rate their level of satisfaction on various economic, regulatory and political factors that affect the performance and growth of businesses in Pakistan during the current fiscal year. The survey says that 80 percent respondents are optimistic about the future in the long run despite the security challenges. Husain also says that a political, economic and social environment forms the basis of the country’s development which is predictable in the long term due to confidence of the foreign investors in the pace of development in Pakistan. The survey rates the business climate on the basis of government policies, development budget, domestic market, internal and external political climate and law and order. The law and order situation received the worst response, as 74 percent of the respondents rated it as poor and 48 percent felt that it had adversely affected business operations and investment plans in the country. However, a vast majority of respondents rated the current business climate as satisfactory and 11 percent marked it as poor. This is an improvement over 2013-14 when 44 percent rated the business climate as unsatisfactory.
The US investors expect economic stability and an improvement in economic environment in Pakistan as a prerequisite for investment. The participants of the survey were positive about the performance of the federal government which directly affects the business climate. At least 77 percent of the participants described the performance of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs as fair compared to 50 percent in 2013-14. The Ministry of Science and Technology also showed a marked improvement with 74 percent of participants believing the performance as fair and 20 percent as poor. The problem is the world media shows Pakistan as the worst place on earth to live but in fact the country is largely peaceful and security is may be better than some western countries.
