Pakistan plans investment forum alongside SCO summit to attract foreign investors

Profit reported that Pakistan intends to run a business forum alongside the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit scheduled for next year, with the aim of drawing foreign capital. Federal Minister for Board of Investment Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh said Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to attend. The proposed gathering would bring business leaders, investors and policymakers together to examine investment openings and partnerships.

Sheikh also said a Pakistan Tech Forum will be held in November, aimed at boosting investment in technology, innovation and business links. The remarks came during a meeting on Wednesday with Dr Li Kouqing, Deputy Director of the CAREC Institute, and Dr Ghulam Samad, Research Division Chief. Participants discussed economic cooperation between Pakistan and China and closer ties between CAREC Institute and BOI. Dr Li proposed investment promotion events in several Pakistani cities, and Sheikh welcomed the idea and pledged government facilitation.

Sheikh named technology, minerals, agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure as areas of opportunity, pointing to the country's large consumer market and workforce. Referring to a visit to the United States about three weeks earlier, he said several investors had shown interest in Pakistan. He stressed that a business-friendly climate, effective facilitation and international partnerships were needed to turn that interest into actual investment flows.