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Old Thursday, April 27, 2006
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Post Pakistan

1. THE LAND AND THE GOVERNMENT
Pakistan, a land of many splendors and opportunities, the repository of a unique blend of history and culture from the East and the West, the cradle of one of the oldest civilizations which developed around the Indus valley. It is the ninth most populous country of the world with 135 million tough, conscientious, hard working people, wishing and striving hard to enter into the 21st century as equal partners in the community of developed nations. It is located between 23 and 37 degrees latitude north and 61 and 76 degrees longitude East. Flanked by Iran and land-locked Afghanistan in the west and the Central Asian Republics and China in the north, Pakistan can rightly boast of having a significant location advantage with a vast, only partially tapped, market of 250 million people. The affluent Gulf states are just across the Arabian Sea to the South and provide an additional opportunity of a high consumption market.
The geographical location, with one of the highest peaks of the world in the North and vast plains in the South, offers and unusual diversity of temperatures ranging from sub-zero levels on the mountains in winter to scorching heat in the plains in summer, providing friendly habitats to exquisite ranges of flora and fauna and a large variety of agricultural crops used for both food and raw material for industries.
Pakistan, spread over a land mass of 796,095 square kilometers has vast, relatively cheap land for setting-up industries. The average office occupation cost in the prime business districts of the big cities is less than US$ 10 per sq. fit. per year, much lower than other countries of the region.

2. THE PEOPLE AND THEIR SKILLS
Used to living in an environment where it takes a considerable effort to provide for one’s family’s livelihood. Pakistan’s labour force has a reputation for being one of the most hard-working in the world. Pakistan labour is also one of the most inexpensive and offers very high return on investment. A large percentage of the labour force is skilled, both at home through a network of training institutes, employment in the Middle East and studying in the developed countries. The 36 million strong labour force includes a large, highly trained and experienced corps of professional managers, engineers, computer scientists, bankers and financiers, that is vital for the industrial and corporate environment.
Pakistan ranks amongst the top seven fastest growing economies of Asia. Except for the period of the fifties and the seventies, annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been growing at a rate exceeding six per cent per year. Although, agriculture is still the mainstay of the economy, its share in the GDP has declined over time to 24% but still employs 48% of the manpower. The growth of the manufacturing sector has averaged more than 8% over the last 40 years.
In manufacturing, cotton yarn and textiles is the leading sector, followed by the food processing industries, largely based on indigenous raw materials. The growing emphasis on the development of engineering, electrical, and non electrical machinery, automobiles and chemical industries and the rapid flow of an ever increasingly larger proportion of investment into these sectors has diversified the industrial output.
An outward looking industrial strategy with sufficient safeguards against deleterious imports, provides very profitable investment opportunities to both local and foreign investors. Private investors are encouraged in all types of manufacturing activities especially: hydel energy, transport and communications, cement and social services. An open economy and liberal environment have given a definite impetus to private sector investment.
Pakistan has a large market with a population of 135 million. The markets of land-locked countries of Afghanistan and those of the Central Asian republics can be effectively and conveniently catered for from Pakistan. The fact that Pakistan is a member of both the Economic Co-operation Organization (ECO) and the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) further expands the potential of the target market for enterprises based in Pakistan enabling the installation of efficient sized plants for almost any industrial activity.
Pakistan has a highly developed financial sector consisting of four public twelve private and twenty one foreign commercial banks, development financial institutions, investment banks, leasing companies, mutual funds and "Modarba" fund companies. The commercial banks have assets of over one trillion rupees of which about 80% are held by domestic banks and the rest by the foreign banks. Besides providing working capital and long-term financing to the investors, these banks offer a range of vital facilities, such as remittances of profits / dividends and foreign currency accounts. The specialized development institutions provide credit for investment in various sectors. Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad have developed stock exchanges with an aggregate capitalization of US$ 20 billion.
"Pakistan has adopted a liberalizing, market-oriented course and
declared the private sector the engine of economic growth."
* Report from the US Department of Commerce, 1994
"Pakistan has opened its arms to overseas investment with some of the most liberal economic policies yet seen in Asia. It has been rewarded with an inflow of foreign capital which is the envy of some of its neighbors."
3. BOARD OF INVESTMENT
The Board of Investment is the focal point of contact between potential investors and all Government agencies involved in the investment process and it responsible for providing advice to the government formulating investment policies, investor for expeditious completion of the project.
The Board of Investment works under the Ministry of Industries and is playing a pivotal role in the formulation of investment policies and investor facilitation in coordination with the concerned government agencies.
The Board provides all the necessary information to potential investors, both domestic and foreign. It assists investors in expeditious processing and implementation of their investment proposals and in coordinating with other government departments. The Board also extends advisory facility on issues relating to direct investment in business and industry anywhere in the country. The Board is responsible for a number of significant investment schemes which it designs to facilitate direct investment in priority areas.

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Sardarzada
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