High Commissioner Designate for Pakistan to Canada Mr. Ameer Khurram Rathore has said Pakistan is becoming an attractive destination for foreign investment because of the business-friendly policies and streamlining the procedures.
He made this statement while addressing a road-show organised jointly by the Pakistan High Commission in Canada and the Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited on ‘Investment Opportunities in Pakistan’.
In his opening remarks, Mr Ameer Khurram Rathore highlighted that the wide-ranging reforms introduced by the government have contributed in improving Pakistan’s global ranking in the Doing Business index from 147 in 2018 to 108 in 2020. Bloomberg news mentioned Pakistan’s Stock Market as Asia’s best performing Stock Market. The Annual Return of Karachi Stock Exchange is much higher than the other emerging markets.
He told the participants Pakistan’s economy had been progressing well, and had performed above expectations with all major macroeconomic indicators showing positive trend, even amid the Covid-19 pandemic. He said Pakistan’s economy had grown 3.94% in Fiscal Year (FY) 21, compared to a revised negative 0.47% growth in Fiscal Year 20. This has certainly been made possible with the exceptional handling of the pandemic by the present government, by reviving the economic activities along with accelerated vaccination process. Further, in recent months, the Year on Year inflation rate is also on a declining trend.
He also pointed out that on a cumulative basis, current account deficit in FY21 had fallen to only 0.6% of GDP, which was the lowest in the last 10 years, with exports and foreign remittances at all-time highs. The remittances sent home by our Pakistani brothers living and working abroad continue to surge, defying the economic slowdown resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. Contrary to expectation, remittances during the year showed a healthy growth of 27% to reach USD 29.4 billion. Due to limited pressure on the current account front, the foreign exchange reserves of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) jumped to USD 17.3 billion at FY21 end from USD 12.1 billion at the end of last year.
The High Commissioner told the participants Pakistan’s exports had also recovered greatly after the short downward trend during the pandemic, with almost 11% growth, crossing the USD 25 billion threshold. Different sectors of Pakistan’s economy are performing exceptionally well like the Auto Sector, Construction Industry, Mobile manufacturing. For the first time, the mobile phones manufactured within the country in 2021, have exceeded the number of mobile phones imported. So far, 26 companies have been issued Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) authorisation in Pakistan, enabling them to manufacture mobile devices in Pakistan. The companies include renowned brands like Samsung, Nokia, Oppo, TECNO, Infinix, etc. He hoped the road show would re-emphasize the potential of Pakistan as one of the most attractive investment destinations.
Ottawa,
September 01, 2021
Last modified: September 2, 2021
