Saudi Arabia aims to invest heavily in Pakistan over the next five years, with plans to invest twenty billion dollars during this period. The Saudi delegation is engaged in consultative discussions with authorities on investment in various sectors. The sectors Saudi Arabia is interested in investing in include agriculture, trade, energy, IT, minerals, transportation, defense, environment, and industries. Saudi Arabia is also prepared to participate in projects related to the search for gold and copper in Pakistan, which will increase the country’s revenue.
Pakistan has vast prospects for domestic as well as foreign investment, and many companies from different countries are interested to benefit from these opportunities. However, due to political and economic instability, they are hesitant to pursue investments here. At the governmental level, there are also flawed policies hindering their acceptance. But the economic situation in the country has become so serious that immediate actions have become imperative. The current coalition government has prioritized its economic agenda in this regard and has begun to take rapid steps in that direction.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is currently in Washington with a delegation where he is holding discussions with not only US authorities but also with the IMF and other international financial institutions. A delegation led by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal was on a visit to Pakistan to discuss investment in various sectors.
The visit of the Saudi delegation and the negotiations with government officials will increase confidence among people for investment, and many agreements will be finalized during the upcoming visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in May. Under these agreements, Saudi Arabia will become a part of several economic projects in Pakistan, creating a new environment for development and increasing employment opportunities in the country.
In such circumstances, if Pakistan succeeds in obtaining investment from Saudi Arabia and other friendly countries and sources, it will pave the way for economic progress. There will be an increase in employment, a decrease in inflation, and assistance in poverty alleviation. The government will have to play its role with complete coherence in this matter. China is already implementing economic responsibility projects, which require special attention to their security.
Pakistan is currently going through economic recession and is resorting to new loans to repay existing foreign debts. Now it is clear cut that Pakistan badly needs foreign direct investment(FDI) for economic growth and first of all she has to put own house in order. There is a pressing need to address corruption and smuggling, which are draining a significant portion of the resources. Only from petrol smuggling, the national treasury incurs an annual loss of two billion dollars.
If Pakistan wants to take advantage of the foreign investment, then she has to remove bottlenecks in the system and would have to bring some legislation to introduce a business friendly atmosphere and offer some special concessions to the investors such as providing cheap energy resources. The government would have to carry out the most difficult job and that is to control abandoned bureaucracy and law enforcement agencies for bringing foreign investment into the country.