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Pakistan's economic policies are admirable as these are producing positive
results and raising image of the country in the comity of nation, said Lord
Mayor of London Alderman John Stuttard while speaking at a breakfast meeting
while leading a delegation of senior Executives from Financial Banking and
Education sectors here today.
He said Pakistan has initiated very impressive economic reforms program and we
applaud measures taken for corporate governance, which were producing positive
results. He said Pakistan managed to achieve very impressive progress on
economic front during last seven years as it attained top position among
progressing economies of the South Asia and found a place among top 10
emerging economies of the world. "The World Bank has disclosed that Pakistan's
economy is progressing well and it managed to find top position among emerging
economies in the Asia and has been included among 10 top economies of the
World", he added.
Political stability, continuity and consistency of policies were the important
factors in achieving adequate progress and development in the Pakistan, he
observed.
He said "we also admire performance of Karachi Stock Exchange which is
encouraging corporate sector for promotion of economic activities". He applaud
the privatisation policy and said we had also initiated this process after
through study of 20 years, he added and stated that the recent listing of MCB
and OGDCL on London Stock Exchange through GDRs have raised the profile of
Pakistan and the respective entities.
" We can have more relations between UK and Pakistan", adding Lord Mayor said
a large number of Pakistani are living in United Kingdom and effectively
taking part in the economic activities and contributing in the development
process. "We can further expand relations with enhancing understanding and
cooperation in various fields", he stated.
Commending Pakistan's policy towards fight against terrorism, he said it is
playing role of front line state
against terrorist activities in the world. "All of us should make concerted
efforts to combat terrorism and eliminate this menace from the society", he
added.
Federal Minister for Privatisation & Investment Mr. Zahid Hamid in his welcome
remarks said having common interest and views on various issues Pakistan and
United Kingdom were enjoying very close and deep-rooted relations. He
said the government of Pakistan has initiated a process of Structural Reform,
Capital Market Reforms, Deregulations and Privatisation, Liberal Investment
and improved governance for strengthening of economy, reducing poverty for the
improvement and betterment the people.
Owing to prudent policies the GDP registered continued growth during last
seven years and attained 6.6 percent DGP growth during last year and over
seven percent is expected during current fiscal
year.
Three pillars of Pakistan's economy deregulation, liberalization and
privatisation have yielded encouraging results, he said adding, exciting
investment opportunities exist in an environment of level playing field for
both local and foreign investors, effective regulatory framework with liberal
policies have made Pakistan an attractive destination for investment, which
has also given boost to the investors confidence.
Giving details of the achievements, Zahid Hamid said that Pakistan's
investment friendly policies have yielded record results as witnessed during
the last FY 2006, which touched the record level of US $ 3.5 billion and
during the first half of the current fiscal year 2006-07 the upward trend was
continuing with US $ 3.3 billion, which would set another new record.
He urged the delegations to benefit from the investment and privatisation
opportunities in various sectors of the country like Oil & Gas, Power,
Financial Business, IT & Telecom, Agriculture, Chemical, Infrastructure and
Privatisation.