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Govt to encourage foreign investment: CE

RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: Chief Executive Gen Pervaz Musharraf has said that the government would encourage foreign investment and provide all possible facilities to the foreign investors as well as the overseas Pakistanis in this regard.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Overseas Pakistanis Science and Technology City (OPSTC) College of Computer Sciences here on Sunday, the chief executive said that he was proud of being here among those who had been contributing whole-heartedly to the cause of national building.

He said the government was pursuing the privatisation process of public sector institutions and would prefer the intending overseas Pakistanis in this regard.

Gen. Mushraff, who was accompanied by Punjab Governor Lt Gen Mohammad Safdar (Retd), Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, Corps Commander Lt Gen. Khalid Maqbool, said that the revival of economy and breaking the debt-trap were among the major challenges the present government was faced with. At present, he maintained, concerted efforts and hard work needed to achieve self-reliance.

"We also want to have good trade relations with the rest of the world as we believe that only an economically strong and a stable Pakistan can be invincible," he said and added that it was unfortunate that the successive governments had not been able to utilize the potential of overseas Pakistanis in the past.

The Chief Executive said that Pakistan could break its debt-trap, if all the remittances come through banking channels adding that overseas Pakistanis were a major source of country's finances in terms of remittances, that was why the SBP had decided to clear the transactions within 48 hours to facilitate them.

He said that $ 60 billion per annum are at the disposal of overseas Pakistanis, which they can invest in homeland to help the government in improving its financial position and put the country on the track of progress and prosperity. "If expatriate Chinese can build a new China, then why can't the overseas Pakistanis do this," remarked Gen. Musharraf.

He said the government would strictly adhere to the austerity measures to cut down the non-developmental expenditure. Therefore, he maintained, the government had decided to use commercial flights for foreign trips as his regime did not believe in taking big entourages abroad on special flights, putting burden on the national economy.

Giving a clean governance, he said and added that to the people is also a top most priority of the government, he said and added that for this purpose, the government had also decided to revitalise the public service commissions to implement its merit policy in letter and spirit.

To ensure people's participation in government affairs they were also pursuing its agenda of devolution of powers. "We want to give a neat and clean government to the masses," said Gen. Musharraf.

About defence, the Chief Executive said, "we do not want to be engaged in any race of arms. However, our armed forces are fully prepared to defend the country."

The chief executive also announced to give a piece of land for construction of a new camps of OPSTC College of Computer Sciences and said that modalities in this regard would soon be worked out.

He on this occasion also paid tributes to Dr. Nasim Ashraf, Director, Institute of Overseas Pakistanis (IOP) for his concerted efforts in facilitating US President's upcoming visit to Pakistan.

Earlier, OPSTeC Project Director and IOP Secretary General Engr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob in his address of welcome said that the 3.5 million overseas Pakistanis from three regions i.e. North America, Europe and Middle East were committed to assisting the government to get the country out of the economic crisis.

Mehboob said that expats yearly income was a $ 60 billion and they also collectively hold savings of $ 50 billion, and above all they were keen to play a vital role in the national development and progress of Pakistan.

He said it was heartening that the development of information technology ranked high amongst the pronounced priorities of the government. The successive governments, he added, failed to give a due national focus to IT development , while this industry in developing countries flourished due to their right share policies.

Mehboob said that India bags $ 2.65 billion for its software export, and its software industry growth rate stands at over 50 percent per year. But in Pakistan, he regretted, the annual software export stands at a meager $ 20 million, out of the total market of $ 100 billion.

The OPSTC is a manifestation of the overseas Pakistanis desire to play a crucial role in the development of IT in Pakistan. He said the proposed new campus of the OPSTC College is estimated to $ 4 million. A large portion of this cost would be contributed by the overseas Pakistanis. However, he said, the government should also come forward and provide what he called a 'token support' to all such projects.

IOP Chairman Sardar Yousuf Khan, Vice Chairman Saeed Iqbal Chaudhry, ZA Nizami of Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology Karachi, Dr. Nasim Ashraf, Regional Representative, IOP North America, Tariq Javed, Vice Chairman, IOP Middle East also spoke on the occasion.