Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Punjab in Pakistan, addresses a press conference at the Emirates Hotel Towers in Dubai. Sharif is leading a business delegation to promote investment opportunities in his province. Image Credit: Javed Nawab/Gulf News
Dubai: Pakistan's Punjab province has a great potential to provide cheaper options to meet the food requirements of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said Chief Minister of Punjab, Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif.
"I invite businessmen, traders and investors including Pakistani expatriates, UAE nationals and others to invest in Punjab as we offer attractive projects especially in the fields of agriculture, energy, livestock and poultry," Sharif told a press conference in Dubai on Saturday.
Sharif is leading a delegation of more than 100 Pakistani businessmen and government officials to lure investments from the UAE. The visit aims to promote business, trade and commerce and explore areas of mutual investment, joint ventures and public private partnerships.
Bilateral relations
He will also address the Pakistan Investment Conference today at the Emirates Tower which is being held to attract investment from the UAE and to further enhance bilateral trade relations between the two countries. The conference is being held by the Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) in cooperation with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the International Business Forum.
Allaying fears about law and order and militancy which had been keeping potential foreign investors away from Pakistan, Sharif said that his government in Punjab was fully focused on the issue of militancy. "I assure you that investors are our masters and we will protect their lives and properties more than our own lives," he said.
Sharif said he believed they had to focus on investment and business ventures, as well as fighting militancy, as economic prosperity was a key to peace in a country.
He also claimed to have eradicated the menace of red tape and corruption which hampered investments in the past.
"I am here as the corporate manager to sell Pakistan's plans and projects," he said, adding that Punjab Board of Investment and Trade served as one window operation to facilitate investors. He personally supervised its operations to ensure transparency, he said.
Sharif is known as a tough administrator who is determined to fight corruption and bad governance.
Perks and privileges: incentives on offer
- 100% foreign equity is allowed
- Advanced tax ruling
- International arbitration enforcement guide
- All economic sectors in Pakistan open to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
- Equal treatment of local and foreign investors
- No government sanction is required
- Only 5% custom duty on import of parts not available in Punjab
- Zero sales tax on import of machinery
- Initial depreciation allowance at 50% of plant, machinery and equipment cost
- Wide network of export processing zones and industrial estates
- Bilateral investment treaties with 48 countries
- Avoidance of double taxation treaties with 52 countries
- Import of raw material for export manufacturing zero-rated
- Remittance of royalty, technical and franchise fee, capital, profits and dividends allowed
— Source: Punjab Board of Investment and Trade
