Pakistan invites Austria to invest in CPEC SEZs
Islamabad: Pakistan has invited Austria to invest in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) being built under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, in Pakistan-Austria meet-up organized by Board of Investment (BOI), invited the Austrian investors for investing in local market, including country’s energy sector.
The Adviser informed the potential Austrian investors about incentives in the CPEC SEZs with overall objective to accomplish economic and industrial development goals.
The Adviser to PM on Commerce and Investment briefed the audience about Pakistan’s liberal investment regime in detail.
He shared that the performance in large scale manufacturing, construction, and export sectors of Pakistan is encouraging.
The Adviser welcomed Austrian investors to Pakistani market and discussed opportunities available in Pakistan’s textile, engineering and energy sectors.
He stressed that there are immense opportunities for collaboration in the areas such as sugar production, beverages and milk products, plastics, synthetic filaments, made-up textile goods, clothing and accessories, leather goods, shoes and cotton and assured the investors of full support from the government of Pakistan.
Presentations were delivered by Pakistan Public departments to highlight the visiting Investors on government policies and incentives.
Minister of State and Chairman BOI, Muhammad Azfar Ahsan while addressing participants on the occasion stressed that Pakistani and Austrian business communities have always enjoyed fraternal bilateral relations.
He said that Austria has been an important development partner and there is a need to further strengthen business and investment relations to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes by focusing on regular exchange of trade and investment delegations to explore all untapped areas of potential cooperation,he added.
The Chairman BOI apprised the participants on several investment opportunities in Pakistan including energy, financial services and power generation equipment.
He underscored that despite promising potential for bilateral economic engagements, investment cooperation has reduced over the years.
Hence it was time to focus on business to business (B2B) interactions, especially in sectors such as Energy, Railways, Engineering, Construction, Information Technology and Tourism sectors, he added.
Elaborating on Pakistan’s potential in petroleum and energy, Ahsan mentioned that Pakistan was blessed with one of the world’s best locations for solar power and wind power generation and some foreign companies are already successfully working in these areas.
He remarked that a new Petro-chemical policy is being formulated which will open new vistas of investment.
The Chairman BOI shared that Board of Investment, being the apex promotion agency of Pakistan is mandated to facilitate industrialization, materialize export potential, encourage diversification in knowledge-based sectors, and enhance a new level of global economic connectivity through effective policy advocacy, investment promotion and facilitation.
As Chairman BOI, Ahsan assured of his assistance to the Austrian investors and said that he was positive that B2B discussions will facilitate cooperation in engineering and energy sectors between Pakistani and Austrian businessmen and serve as a fruitful platform for matchmaking and handholding of Austrian companies with their Pakistani counterparts.
Business delegation from Austria and notable members from Pakistan’s Private sector participated in the event.
Minister of State and Chairman BOI, Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, Vice President of Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Carmen Goby and Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg were keynote speakers at the event.
