Mr. Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, President FPCCI, has emphasized that overseas Pakistanis are the biggest asset of the country as they not only send remittances; but, can bring large investments, expertise and international business linkages with them if provided the favorable and reliable environment for industrialization, investment and joint ventures.
Mr. Irfan Iqbal Sheikh noted that country’s remittances will cross $30 billion mark for the Fiscal Year 2021 – 22 and Roshan Digital Accounts (RDA) deposits have crossed $4 billion. Nevertheless, he stated, these are not the only realms where the overseas Pakistanis can are willing to give back to their motherland. They are willing to invest in manufacturing, services, health, education, retail and IT sectors of the country.
FPCCI Chief has proposed that tax holidays and incentives given to the export processing zones (EPZs) and special economic zones (SEZs) should not be time-bond vis-à-vis establishment of an industrial zone itself; but, should be offered to each industrial unit individually from which they start their productive utilization of the land. In this manner, EPZs and SEZs will remain attractive for the new industry until the entire industrial zones have been productively utilized and a simple policy shift can result in a lot of economic and industrial activity.
Mr. Suleman Chawla, Senior Vice President of FPCCI, called for a proactive role of Pakistani businessmen in Europe to help and facilitate create business-to-business and chamber-to-chamber linkages and foster economic cooperation.
Engr. M.A. Jabbar, VP FPCCI, has mentioned that Pakistani industry can greatly benefit from studying and adopting European standards of production, quality control, manufacturing technologies and European certifications with the help of governmental institutions in UK in particular and commonwealth countries in general.
Mr. Amjad Ali Syed, Chairman of the International Professionals Council UK, said that a number of well-established entrepreneurs and venture capitalists of Pakistani origin are willing to invest back in Pakistan and have mutually-beneficial joint ventures; as Pakistan is a developing country of 220 million people offering a lot of viable business opportunities. However, unpredictability in political environment, legal hassles and policy shifts need to be taken care of by the government – before any meaningful and wide-scale investments can take place; with an added advantage of expertise and international exposure of the overseas Pakistanis.
