Foreign investors recognise improvement in security situation

KARACHI: The leading foreign investors in Pakistan have shown positive experience on security related matters and perception of the security environment in the country, especially after the launch of the Karachi operations and Zarb-e-Azb initiative, said a survey conducted by the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI).

The overall survey results were generally quite positive and revealed that the security environment all over Pakistan, especially in Karachi, had improved significantly during the period covered in the survey, that is January 2014 to April 2015, as compared to the corresponding period of 2012-13.

The survey reveals that 74% of the respondents experienced a reduction in security incidents, whereas 73% responded that their staffs now feels more comfortable in their everyday commute to/from the workplace as compared to 2013. Similarly, 68% of the respondents revealed that more overseas visitors, including the technical and professional staff, came to Pakistan during January 2014 to April 2015 as compared 2013 and that a very small number of management meetings were held outside Pakistan.

In a similar survey conducted in 2012, the OICCI members had reported that a large number of meetings were held abroad for security reasons. A very high percentage of the respondents reported that their employees now feel more secure in doing business and social engagements all over Pakistan.

The aforementioned results should be considered as thumbs up signal for the foreign investors to various initiatives of the government in tackling serious security, law and order situation that had arisen in recent years.

The OICCI survey also highlights considerable room for improvement to make the environment even more secure so that the travel advisory from various diplomatic sources should also change in line with the above perception of the OICCI members.

The poor security, law and order issues have been amongst the major challenges that have negatively impacted many aspects of the country’s economic activities, including a drastic fall in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow into the country, increase in cost of doing business due to large outlays on security related matters and, more importantly, its impact on the people of the country. The need for a robust security environment would be even more critical in the coming months as a large number of expatriate workers and technical staff would soon be coming to Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. One of the key drivers for success of the CPEC would be a sustained security environment.

Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk

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