He was speaking at the launching ceremony of Dr Mirza Ikhtair Baig's book "Shae Rug" here.
Shaukat said that the Finance Ministry has witnessed over 16.5 percent growth of the GDP for investment in the country and "we will exceed from this year's target".
"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is discouraging Pakistan from entering into the international bonds market, but we have successfully launch $ 500 million Eurobond in the United Kingdom," he added.
Shaukat hinted that the coming budget for 2004-05 would be investment-friendly and growth-oriented.
As far as the foreign direct investment is concerned, he said: "We suffered from many problems at one time, which includes political, law and order and others." "But, we have resolved all big issues like Legal Framework Order (LFO), secondly, the law and order situation is better than other countries."
He dispelled the impression that there is less flow of investment in the country, adding that investment growth is quite satisfactory and would further increase due to investment-friendly policies of the government.
Shaukat said a stable political system is catalyst for economy and by establishing National Security Council (NSC), it would help in further stabilising the political system in the country, consequently boosting the economy.
Pakistan is a country that have no street muggings and snatching with the visiting foreigners in the world, he said, adding that various African countries restrict visitors at their hotels and no one can walk freely on streets, even in some European countries.
He said the present government would not going to borrow more debts in the next year's budget, as we would finish the begging bowl culture in the new budget.
He recalled the achievements of the government in the last four years in economic sector. He said that economic indicators such as industrial growth, 14 percent increase in exports, 15 percent revenue growth, upward trend in stock exchange and potential progress in agriculture sector are hinting at an improvement in overall economy.
The services sector will also show its strength in coming days and would utilise its full potential, he added.
The biggest delta for growth is the construction industries and the government is concentrating on this sector, he said, adding that the cement industry is on 100 percent production capacity.
The vital strength of Pakistan is its human resource, which could not be utilised fully so far to its great potential, he said, stressing for full utilisation of human capital to further strengthen the economy.
There is an image problem in flow of foreign investment and we would have to work hard to improve the image abroad for attracting more and more investment, he added.
Shaukat, appreciating the efforts of author for covering domestic and global economic aspects, asked for further publishing of books on economic affairs to provide guidelines to the government to bring improvement in its economic policies.
Federal Tax Ombudsman former justice Salim Akhtar, National Bank of Pakistan President Ali Raza, former Interior Minister Moinuddin Hyder and others also spoke on the occasion.