Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif established a committee to resolve the issues of foreign investment companies, especially companies investing in Gwadar Free Zone, during a recent high-level meeting on investment at the PM office.
The newly established committee has been assigned the task to submit a detailed report and recommendations to the Prime Minister within ten days on how to increase the investment.
The PM said during the meeting, that all obstacles to foreign investment in the country should be removed immediately, and the Chinese investment companies should be facilitated on a priority basis.
Shehbaz Sharif further directed the authorities to resolve the visa obtaining problems for Chinese workers and to simplify the procedure. He said, “The visa procedure should be simplified and accelerated by removing the distinction between China Pakistan Economic Corridor (SPEC) visas and those of other companies in the visas of Chinese workers.”
The prime minster was briefed in the meeting on the companies interested in investing $10 billion in energy, infrastructure, railways, port infrastructure, and other projects. The meeting was told that an investment of $1-2 billion dollars is expected immediately in the first phase. Apart from this, these projects will not only create more than 45,000 employment opportunities but also improve Pakistan’s Ease of Doing Business Index.
The Prime Minister immediately issued instructions to the Board of Investment (BoI), the Ministry of Planning, and the Ministry of Finance to prepare a comprehensive plan for these projects with cooperation.
