The event is organised by Euromoney Investment Inc and its local sponsors BMA, Citigroup, Standard Chattered, JS, BOI and MCB Bank. Around 600 delegates are participating and 160 are from abroad.
Shaukat Aziz told the participants that Pakistan's success story for a turnaround in economy is unique on various accounts. It enjoys an ideal strategic location with unique potential for attracting the investors. He cited a number of areas, which were open for investment and asked the investors to come and invest in Pakistan to get good dividend on their money. These were telecom, communications, agribusiness, retail and whole sale business, banking sector, infrastructure and livestock.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan travelled a long and hard journey during the last seven years to achieve financial sovereignty and its reforms' programme worked as a catalyst to help it emerge as a strong economy on the world map.
Shaukat was upbeat about Pakistan's future, said that in next few years he could foresee Pakistan as a stronger regional player, having a promising market for trade and investment.
He said that doing business in Pakistan was now much easier as all the departments including CBR were facilitating the investors and businessmen in identifying potential areas for investment. He said the reforms' agenda helped Pakistan change a peculiar mindset of the bureaucracy to make it feel that sovereignty and state interest were not fragile things, which one could steal away in a briefcase.
The Prime Minister also spoke on challenges confronted by Pakistan and said that like many other countries Pakistan also faces challenges and making all out efforts to improve the situation in different areas. He referred to infrastructure and other facilities, which play an important role in securing investment. He said Pakistan is a country of 160 million friendly people and asked the participants particularly the foreigners to move around and see Pakistan's its real image.
He said today Pakistan is open to all kind of investment and trade and its global partners have great confidence in its economic growth and prosperity. He referred to the increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) during the last few years in support of his arguments.
Later on, the Prime Minister told a questioner that any foreign company irrespective of its business concern in any other country including India could come to Pakistan and invest in any sector of its choice.