Pakistan to attract investment of $60-70 bln: PM

Islamabad: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said that an estimated foreign investment of US$60 to $70 billion was expected in next three to five years under the government’s new initiative of Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

Besides, he added: “The government had also received pledges and promises of another similar amount of investment”.

Now, we have to design and submit our projects as there is a huge appetite to invest in the country, he said while talking to senior journalists and news anchors here on Thursday.

Replying to a question, the prime minister stated that government was considering various options to provide relief to the people.

He continued to say that media should propagate hope among the masses as the country’s future was very bright.

Citing the example of $700 billion worth of Reko Dik gold and copper reserves, the prime minister said the country had huge potential of natural resources that would change the fate of the people of the Pakistan.

“We took the initiative of SIFC to realize this potential and we are moving towards the right direction so far as the scientific methods and financial models are concerned,” he remarked.

PM Kakar maintained that although the core responsibility of the caretaker government was to facilitate elections across the country but in the meantime, it would also try to improve the taxation mechanism and address other economic challenges.

Replying to another query, the prime minister said: “People were leaving the country for their better future, therefore it should not be considered as brain drain”. This brain drain, he said would prove to be the economic asset and they would contribute in Pakistan’s economy in future.

He continued to say that economic migration was not a new phenomenon in past as well, people had lust to go abroad for their better future.

In recent days, Anwaar added there was no all of a sudden collapse of social or state structure in the country. “All professionals, doctors, nurses, and the society overall was functioning at a relatively normal pace”.