Chairman Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) Muhammad Zohaib Khan has termed the formation of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) a game-changer vis-a-vis foreign direct investment (FDI) and transformational in nature for the economy of Pakistan.
SIFC will comprise top leadership of both the government and the armed forces – and, will have apex, executive, and implementation committees. This is a brilliant, timely move; and, we hail both the civilian & the state institutions for their clarity of thought and coming together for the prosperity of the country, he added.
Zohaib Khan continued that investors, entrepreneurs, and business groups are not comfortable or encouraged by red tape; dealing with numerous licensing & regulatory authorities and inconsistency in economic & investment policies. They are accustomed to investment facilitation and incentivization through one-window-operations; and, these are exactly the issues SIFC is mandated to address.
It is pertinent to note that SIFC will focus on defense production; agriculture; mines & minerals, the energy sector, and the IT industry; with a target of $100 billion in FDI within a short span of three years. The penultimate goal is to reach $1 trillion in terms of nominal GDP by FY35. State apparatus will provide full-fledged technical and strategic support to SIFC to pave the way for the seamless functioning of the council.
Khan explained that licensing for setting up new industries or businesses may involve as many as 20 NOCs; up to 18 months and countless visits to various authorities; and, this unfortunate state of affairs requires one window under one roof to bring any substantial amount of investment into the country.
P@SHA Chairman highlighted the fact that information technology has been made a focus area of SIFC; and, Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and the state institutions have made it their resolve to promote information technology in the country to create employment; generate revenues and rapidly increase exports.
Zohaib Khan extended his full support – in the broader national interest – from the apex IT industry platform of P@SHA to facilitate the consultative process between all the stakeholders to capitalize on the IT industry’s enormous, untapped potential and assist SIFC through the same.
P@SHA stressed the fact that IT is one industry that plays a catalytic role for all the other industries through automation, digitalization, business process reengineering (BPR), artificial intelligence (AI), and bringing the operations of other industries to par with international best practices.
Therefore, IT will prove to be the productivity multiplier for the other four focus areas of SIFC, he added.
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This kind of productive growth in IT and industry is very need of our state. I wish all the best for this initiative.