The World Bank is ready to provide technical and financial advisory services to the public and private sector by assisting local and foreign companies to venture into manufacturing and agribusiness in Pakistan.
A delegation of International Finance Cooperation (IFC), a member of World Bank Group, called on Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, Industries, and Production, and Investment Razak Dawood, to deliberate upon the issues pertaining to manufacturing/export sectors in order to revitalize the economy of the country, said a press release issued by the Ministry of Commerce.
“Pakistan has taken various effective steps to improve trade procedures by establishing better trade facilitation regime,” Razak observed.
The IFC team was headed by Regional Industry Director of Manufacturing, Agribusinesses and Services Asia and Pacific Ms. Rana Karadshseh-Haddad, who apprised the adviser that Pakistan is a priority country for projects in agribusinesses and services and the IFC has undertaken various projects to attract investment in these areas.
Razak highlighted huge business potential in food processing, power, textile, leather and rice sector. He urged IFC to provide necessary assistance to public and private sector companies.
He informed the delegation that major companies, both local and foreign, are interested to invest in different projects. Companies like PepsiCo and Cargill have already started to invest in food processing business in Pakistan.
Pakistan has launched a program titled Regulatory Guillotine to remove two to three regulations every month to ease out business activities, the adviser added. He added that Pakistan has taken various steps to improve trade procedures by establishing a better trade facilitation regime.
Moreover, the adviser also informed the delegation about the enormous investment opportunities in technology upgradation for the value-chain of the textile sector as textile manufacturers are using very old technology which is hurting their competitiveness in the global market.
Other than that, Pakistan has taken a strategic decision to increase its share of renewable energy from four percent to at least 20 percent of total energy-mix which offers massive investment opportunities in power sector, said the adviser.
He urged IFC to aid Pakistan for better allocation and utilization of resources to uplift the economy.
