Pakistan Soon Recover From Economic Crisis: Zardari

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ABU DHABI: President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan will soon be able to recover from the economic turmoil. He invited the UAE-based Pakistani businessmen to invest in their homeland and offered them special incentives and a preferential treatment. “The government will prefer the Pakistani entrepreneurs to come and invest in various joint venture projects in Pakistan”, he said in an interaction with the Pakistani business community here on late Monday night. The President urged the businessmen to take advantage of the new democratic government’s investment-friendly policies by investing their capital in Pakistan, to help achieve increased socio-economic development and prosperity. He said Pakistan, with a population of 180 million people besides a large market, offers vast opportunities of investment in energy, financial services, housing, construction, agriculture, oil and gas, telecom and infrastructure development, with great potential in various untapped areas. He said the government was focusing on the improvement of law and order situation in the country, assuring the businessmen that their capital will be fully protected. President Zardari said the government fully believes in the policies of liberalization and deregulation and all the sectors of economy are open for investment. He referred to the ongoing privatization process in the country and said it was the PPP government which initiated the process in 1988 and all the incumbent governments continued to follow that policy, which led to major investments in diverse fields. The President said policy of privatization was aimed at minimizing the government’s role and encouraging private sector to come forward and play their effective role in the country’s industrial development. Zardari mentioned current economic crisis in Pakistan and said wrong and short-term policies of the previous non-democratic regime led to this situation, adding, however the present democratic dispensation was taking all out measures to put the country’s economy back on track. He said with the recent engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan will soon get the first tranche of credit facility and will be able to recover from the economic turmoil. It will also help strengthen the country’s capital market through revived investor confidence, he added. The President also responded to the queries of the businessmen and assured that their suggestions will be given due consideration. In response to a question, President Zardari said that the government was engaged with the political leaders of Balochistan province to ensure peace and security in the area for the setting up of industrial zones in Gwadar.

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