Great Investment Opportunities in Pakistan
Despite the somewhat trying environment in Pakistan, according to Syed Yousouf Raza Gilani, the country’s Prime Minister believes that the country offers amazing investment opportunities for outside investors. Indeed, if you look at the stats, Gilani is probably not wrong. As he claims, the fact that over seven hundred companies have been making such investments in the country proves that it presents “lucrative opportunities.” Otherwise these companies wouldn’t be advancing. In addition, the PM claimed it was merely “propaganda” vis-à-vis his country’s security situation and that foreign businessmen should ignore this and instead choose to “invest in diverse sectors for securing tremendous dividends.”
Gilani Goes Gabbing
So Gilani went to France. Arriving two days ago, he is there to discuss defense and economic matters. There was also a signature on a Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries in an effort to develop a Joint Business Council that is meant to encourage “mutually advantageous trade.”
Despite what Gilani is saying however, there has been concern over rather pricey taxation for those investing in Pakistan. This was also discussed with Hina Rabbani Khar (Pakistan’s Minister of State for Economic Affairs) asking the French entrepreneurs who were voicing this complaint to “provide detailed proposals either directly to the government or through their embassy so that these might be looked into and considered in the next budget.”
Pakistani Perception Problematic
According to Gilani, there are huge misconceptions vis-à-vis what is really going on in Pakistan. He is not happy with how the media has been portraying things and urges them to refocus on what is actually going on with the country and the real issues it is encountering while at the same time battling the country’s problems of terror. As well, French potential investors should come see for themselves; visit the country and check out how investors succeed in Pakistan and have been doing so for years.
So there is a lot of good news in Pakistan. Despite what the media portrays and what we thus see on our TVs, when it comes to investment opportunities, rather than believe what we see/hear, if we are serious about making a rupee or two then we need to take a plane to Pakistan ourselves.