Karachi (Commerce Reporter) Former Senior Vice President of FPCCI, Information Secretary of United Business Group and Honorary Consul General of Yemen in Pakistan, Dr. Mirza Akhtar Baig has said that it is necessary to attract foreign investors towards new investment in Pakistan. The caretaker government should include representatives of the business community in the Investment Facilitation Council, who want Pakistan’s economic development and have effective relations with global investment institutions. Along with infrastructure, electricity, gas tariffs should be reduced and interest rates should also be reduced so as to attract foreign investors to invest in Pakistan. Opportunities will be available. Dr. Akhtar Baig expressed these views during a dinner in honor of the officials and members of the Council of Economic and Energy Journalists (SAGE) at his residence. Akhtar Baig said in a media interview that electricity rates The contracts with the private power plants (IPPs) should be re-examined and the government should make new contracts on its terms, because these cancerous IPPs contracts can sink the power sector and the economy of Pakistan, so reform the power sector as soon as possible. He said that in the recent meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Electricity, it was revealed that in the current fiscal year 2023-24, electricity consumers will pay 1300 billion rupees in terms of capacity surcharge without purchasing electricity from IPPs. The government has already paid 8000 billion rupees as capacity surcharge to IPPs, while only last year 2000 billion rupees were paid, which is more than the army budget of 1800 billion rupees. In response to a question, he said that Rs. The decline in the value of the dollar is welcome, but such measures appear to be temporary, there is a need to strengthen the rupee and increase domestic exports to earn dollars, while also increasing the declining remittances. Dr. Baig said that the positive effects of the crackdown on the orders of Army Chief General Asim Munir are coming out, but it is necessary to take strict action against the electricity and gas thieves in the country because billions of rupees of gas and electricity are stolen in the country every year. is happening and if strict measures are taken to prevent it, the country’s coffers will start filling up. He said that the high production cost has hit the performance of local industries. The government must pay serious attention to this.
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