By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi Monday said that Pakistan was focusing on the optimal utilization of its geo-economic location to attract foreign investment as well as advance the goals of national economic development.
The president, in a meeting with a delegation of the American Business Forum (ABF), led by its President Vaseem Anvar, which called on him here, said that Pakistan had designed its economic policy in a way to provide a comprehensive framework for creating a conducive business environment to encourage foreign direct investment.
He said that Pakistan had introduced a liberal investment regime and was actively working on further improving the ease of doing business to attract foreign investment.
He said that the US businessmen needed to take benefit of the investment-friendly policy to invest in various sectors of Pakistan’s economy.
In order to financially empower women and differently-abled people (DAPs), the president urged the members of the delegation to work for the skill development of women and DAPs and provide them jobs in their respective firms based in Pakistan.
The delegation members said that their key objective was to provide a platform to American companies for business expansion and enhance foreign direct investment.
They said the ABF was playing a key role in promoting trade and investment, which was vital for the economic development of Pakistan.
The delegation made various suggestions to further improve the ease of doing business in the country.
The members of the delegation also apprised the president about their problems, who in response, assured them that the organizations concerned would be asked to facilitate them and address their issues.
Earlier, President Dr Arif Alvi Friday emphasized the need for accelerating the process of the digital transformation of parliament by equipping it with the latest IT tools to make it more efficient.
The president, chairing a meeting on President’s Initiative on Cyber Efficient Parliament, asked the authorities concerned to prioritize the deliverables of the project and take timely decisions to avoid any further delay.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Chairman Senate, Mirza Muhammad Afridi and other senior officials of the government.
The Steering Committee of the Project updated the meeting on the current status of the project and various processes involved in it.
It was informed that the Committee had seriously been working to implement the project within a given time frame.
Underscoring the importance of the project, the president said that e-solutions would significantly enhance the efficiency of parliament as well as help in the quick disposal of the legislative business.
He stated that steps were being taken for the digital transformation of the government departments to bring transparency and improve governance and responsiveness of the government institutions.
