Minister highlights investment avenues

  Federal Minister for Board of Investment Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh attended a dinner hosted in his honour by Pakistan American Congress President Dr Ashraf Abbasi in Houston, Texas, where Pakistani-American community leaders, business personalities, professionals and entrepreneurs were also present. Speaking to the media, Qaiser Ahmed said that the interaction provided an opportunity to discuss Pakistan's economic development, investment climate and avenues for stronger business and investment linkages with the United States. The federal minister said Pakistan was witnessing increasing interest from investors internationally and the government was taking measures to further improve the investment environment. The country offers opportunities across a wide range of sectors, including IT and IT-enabled services, food processing and agriculture, textile and value addition, automobile, logistics, tourism and hospitality, housing and construction as well as other industrial and services sectors. He particularly highlighted the potential of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) as platforms for industrial investment, manufacturing, exports and employment generation. "SEZs provide investors with dedicated infrastructure, streamlined regulatory and administrative processes and facilitation mechanisms," he said. Under the SEZ framework, eligible developers and enterprises can avail themselves of a one-time exemption from customs duties and taxes on imported capital goods, along with income tax exemption up to 2035, subject to the applicable legal provisions.