ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has directed the
board of Investment to bring in his notice immediately any hindrance in
the process of new investment whether public or private.
The
5th Board meeting of Board of Investment was chaired by Prime Minister
Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat here,
The
Prime Minister observed that while revamping/updating the Investment
Policy 1997 it should be ensured to make it more practical by involving
private sector, provincial governments and all stakeholders. He was
pleased to learn that the provinces had been given representation on
the BOI Board at the Chief Secretary level and on the future Executive
Committee at a senior level.
The Prime Minister stressed BOI to
give special attention to bridge the gap between policies in the books
and their implementation in practice. The role of private sector in the
public-private dialogue and these Sectors Advisory Groups, he added,
must be facilitated as per policy of the government to promote
public-private partnership.
Earlier the Chairman BOI while
referring to the first meeting of Executive Committee formed on the
instructions of Prime Minister said that the prime function of the
Committee is to facilitate the BOI activities and launch the public
private dialogue (PPD) and develop target sectors, identify competitive
investment projects & consult on policy initiatives for improving
investment climate in Pakistan.
The Board members were informed
through a presentation that under the PPD three Advisory Boards for
selected sectors had been constituted for bifurcation of investment
sectors. The designated people were responsible to launch and steer the
public-private dialogue, identify target / priority sectors for public
private dialogue, create one sector advisory board for each target /
priority sector, create one sector office for each sector advisory
board under consultative wing of PPD, create one division office for
each target sector under implementation wing of PPD and to check the
flow of investment in assigned sectors.
The participants were
further apprised that the levy for liaison office ($3000 per year for
Regular Permission & $1000 for renewal), branch office ($2000 per
year for Regular Permission & $500 for renewal) and $25 for work
visa fee is mutually decided in the meeting of Executive Committee. The
decision was taken to generate the amount for Board of Investment to
provide better facilitation to the investors, the meeting was told.
The
presentation further mentioned that registration of foreign companies /
entities with BOI would be made to identify / track inflow of foreign
investment in the country and make their registration with BOI
mandatory to conduct business in Pakistan. The facility of online
registration through BOI’s website and the allocation of tracking
number to the users after submission of required information is a
positive step to attract the investment, he added.
The Board
meeting chaired by the Prime Minister approved all the agenda items
which included confirmation of minutes of 4th BOI Board meeting,
registration of foreign companies/entities with Board of Investment and
approval of decision taken by first Executive Committee Meeting of BOI.
Chairman, Board of Investment Saleem H. Mandviwalla led the
members of executive committee of BoI. Dr. abdul Hafeez Sheikh Minister
of Finance, Mr. Salaman Siddique, Chairman FBR, Dr. Nadeem ul Haq,
Deputy Chairman Planning Commission and President FPCCI were also
present on special invitation. The representatives of private sector
included Mr. Maqsood Ismail MD Candy land, Mr. Suhail P Ahmad CEO Thal
Engineering, Captain Aijaz Ali Faizi CEO vision Air, Mr. Asif Jooma CEO
Abbott Pharma, Mr Kaeem Siddiqui, President PMB Byco Petroleum
Pakistan, Mr Sajjad Gul CEO evernew Studio, Mr.Nauman Wazeer CEO FF
Steel Frontier Foundry, and Mr. Zahid Rafiq of Habib Rafiq. Online
