Pakistan's current investment policies have been tailor-made to suit foreign investor needs and its policy trends of liberalization, privatization and facilitation are its foremost cornerstones, said Admiral Shahid Karimullah, Pakistani Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. The ambassador was speaking at a press conference on the upcoming investment conferences on Oct. 20 and 21 in Riyadh and Jeddah, respectively. The investment conferences will focus on joint ventures, private partnerships and seeks to enhance business terms between individual investors. “There has been a decrease in the percentage of Pakistan's export all over the world. But it has increased to 26 percent in Saudi Arabia this year,” said Commercial Consul Hejab Gul. Around 1.4 million Pakistanis work in Saudi companies and other joint ventures in the Kingdom. He said a high profile Pakistani delegation led by the Minister for Privatization and Investment and a business delegation consisting of 140 people headed by Tanvir Ahmad Sheikh, President of Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries will visit the Kingdom. “The government of Pakistan is offering attractive investment packages for foreign investors with no restrictions of remittance of capital, profits and dividends,” Karimullah said. He said that the custom duty is not levied on agricultural projects and that the import plant, machinery and equipment for manufacturing projects have a low rate of 0-5 percent. “No government permission is required for manufacturing sector projects except for specified industries like Arms and Ammunitions, high explosives, radioactive substances and security printing, currency and mint,” Gul said. Saudi Arabia is one of the major export destinations for Pakistan with the Pak-Saudi annual bilateral trade touching over US$ 4 billion. Pakistan imports its major requirement of petroleum from the Kingdom. “Our investment policy provides equal opportunities for both domestic and foreign investors and there is no restriction on the extent to which foreign equity can be held in any business venture,” he said. There are more than 20 major joint ventures both in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. More than 300 Pakistani investors in the Kingdom have obtained license from Saudi Foreign Investment Authority (SAGIA) and have established companies in various fields of construction and services. The investment conference will commence on October 21 in the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industries followed by B2B (Business to Business) meetings and sector- wise group meetings between businessmen of both countries. The conferences seek to discuss business avenues in: cement, steel, light engineering, health, media and telecommunications, food and agriculture, travel and tourism, real estate, hotels, chemicals, chemical fertilizers, mining, petroleum, textile, garment industry, domestic appliances, automobile, computers, banking, investment, minerals, oil and gas exploration, power generation, ammunition, sports goods, construction, housing, builders and developers, pharmaceuticals, hospital supplies, petrochemicals, trading and contracting, and some others. __
