News
President for simplified investment procedure
RAWALPINDI, Sept 24 : President Pervez Musharraf has said that simplified procedure for facilitating investment on fast track basis will help early initiation and completion of projects both in public and private sectors. It will play a critical role in sustaining higher growth rate in the years ahead.
The President made these observations following presentations on simplified procedures for investment with a view to speeding up development and also bolstering foreign investment in next five years. He directed that a mechanism be worked out to further ease the process of investment.
He said the mechanism should facilitate the prospective investors to the maximum. He also called for an integrated approach by the Ministry of Investment and the infrastructure providers to smoothly carry out projects. General Pervez Musharraf commended the measures taken by the government in the last six years to materialize an investor-friendly climate in the country. He stressed upon the need to remove remaining bottlenecks for imparting a new vigour to the economy and averting any new losses to the exchequer due to cumbersome procedures. Presentations were made by Planning Commission and the Ministry of Investment on project preparation and approval process in the public sector and investment initiatives in the private sector.
Minister of State for Investment Umar Ghumman, later told newsmen that Pakistan was aiming at foreign direct investment around twenty-seven billion dollars over next five years. Minister for Investment Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Minister of State for Investment Umar Ghumman, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Akram Sheikh and Chairman Board of Investment Waseem Haqqi attended the presentation.
Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Akram Sheikh said the improved mechanism would see the processing of projects within two months instead of six months to one year as practised previously. Simplified procedure will be in place shortly, reducing PC-1 forms from fourteen to three to avert delays and ensure timely completion of the projects.