AMMAN — Pakistan has launched its ‘Economic Outreach Initiative’ and undertaken a paradigm transformation in its foreign policy, moving from geo-politics-dominated to geo-economics-dominated foreign policy. The idea behind this transformation is to explore and connect the economic potentials of Pakistan with the rest of the world, according to a statement issued by the trade and investment section of the embassy of Pakistan in Amman.
اضافة اعلان
Private sector stakeholders have become larger and more influential and are pushing states to think beyond politics and work for economic interests, the statement said.
Pakistan, while being situated at the crossroads of central Asia, the Middle East and South Asia, offers very unique opportunities for trade, investment, tourism, education, logistics, among others. Recognizing this massively-untapped economic potential, China has invested billions of dollars in Pakistan via the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a major component of China’s “One-Belt One-Road” project (OBOR).
The CPEC is meant to increase regional connectivity between Asia and Europe to widen commercial avenues, and includes mega projects in different sectors: roads, railways, energy, agriculture, water, and industrial infrastructure. In addition, China is encouraging many of its businesses to have manufacturing operations at the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) being constructed across Pakistan under CPEC.
Regional political developments are further aiding the economic environment, especially after the end of war in Afghanistan and a more sustainable indigenous government coming to power in Afghanistan. China and the interim Afghan Government are also planning to extend the CPEC into Afghanistan, which will facilitate and enhance links to central Asian republics, thus further enhancing the economic potential of the region as a whole.
Pakistan has highlighted the following priority sectors for foreign direct investment: food processing, logistics, textiles, automobiles, information technology, housing and construction, and tourism and hospitality. A comprehensive incentives package for investment, available on
https://invest.gov.pk/incentives-database, in these sector has been approved. Even a detailed list of recommended projects for foreign direct investment is available on
https://project.gov.pk/pmis/#/.
In the services sector, the potential is even bigger, particularly in tourism, ICT, finance and environment. Pakistan’s information and communication technology sector is among the most booming sectors. The country has a population of 220 million, 162 million cellular subscribers, 71 million 3G/4G subscribers, 73 million broadband subscribers, and three million basic telephone subscribers. In order to widen and strengthen IT-related infrastructure, Pakistan has established software and IT parks in major cities.
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