Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Board of Investment (BOI) on Wednesday presented Pakistan’s Investment Strategy and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Projects at SDG Investment Fair 2021.
While Federal Secretary of BOI, Fareena Mazhar informed that BOI has a repository of over $14 billion SDG aligned projects in the sector of transport and communication, energy including renewable energy, water supply and sanitation, education, health care and information technology.
These projects will not only contribute to SDGs but will also support local employment generation and economic growth, said a press release issued by BOI here.
Board of Investment in collaboration with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and United Nation Development Program (UNDP) participated in SDG Investment Fair 2021 organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
The two-day virtual event from 13-14 April 2021, provided four developing countries the opportunity to present their investment ready projects to international global investors aand fund managers.
Secretary BOI, Ms. Fareena Mazhar represented Pakistan on the global forum.
While addressing the forum Secretary BOI, Ms. Fareena apprised the audience about Pakistan’s investment regime and facilitation and wide range of services provided by the Board of Investment to international and domestic investors including support with work visa and opening of branch/liaison offices in the country.
Highlighting the facilitation for investors under the ongoing reform drives namely Pakistan Regulatory Modernization Initiative (PRMI) and Ease of Doing Business (EODB), she stated that a company can now be registered in 24 hours and Pakistan is now offering online e- visa facility to more than 174 countries.
She further added that Pakistan has recently launched Single Window Company as part of compliance with trade facilitation agreement of the World Trade Organization which links over 60 government departments for acquiring necessary certifications online.
She added that this will facilitate speedy disposal of import and export transactions.
Pakistan’s tax and incentive regime was also part of the presentation where in Secretary BOI shared that the government is offering special incentives for projects related to technology, clean energy and social sector including housing & construction.
She mentioned that Pakistan’s financial regulatory structure is robust and facilitates priority sector investments through flexible support.
She said the investors were presented 8 SDG selected projects with high potential to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
The projects were from varied sectors including infrastructure, hydro power, medical devices development center, silicon solar PV panels fabrication, production of agriculture drones and smart farms, university technology parks and IT incubation centers across Pakistan, she said.
With a strong and developed supporting regulation for debt instruments, scrutinization of cash flows and capability of financial institutions to offer technical support to global financiers, Pakistan presents a secure and low risk investment environment.
