ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Pakistan’s Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has lined up projects expected to attract around $40 billion in investment across mining, industry, railways, roads, maritime affairs, power, information technology, pharmaceuticals, health, tourism and food security, a Senate committee was told on Thursday.
SIFC officials told the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat that about 38 projects had been finalised, Business Recorder reported. Arab News reported that the council put identified projects at about $34 billion, with the pipeline rising above $40 billion once sectoral studies were included, led by energy and power at $19.3 billion.
$6 billion in refinery deals
The committee was told that the Brownfield Refinery Policy had been approved and that five refineries had signed implementation agreements involving proposed investment of about $6 billion. Officials also highlighted engagement with Chinese companies and investors from Qatar and Kuwait, and efforts to speed up approvals through single-window operations and easier visas.
Committee chairman Senator Rana Mehmoodul Hassan said obtaining no-objection certificates had been a major obstacle for investors but had improved since the SIFC’s intervention, and called for procedures to be simplified further.
Cost of doing business
Senators pointed to the high cost of energy and finance compared with regional economies, multiple regulatory requirements, tax notices, profit repatriation and smuggled goods as concerns for investors, and called for a coordinated relief mechanism with the State Bank of Pakistan to protect existing and future investment.
