Dubai companies showering Pakistan with new projects: Gulf News
ISLAMABAD, June 30 (APP): More than anywhere else, Dubai companies are showering Pakistan with new projects, reports Gulf News.
In its report published on June 27 on "A magnet for investment", contributed by staff reporter Ivan Gale, said that IMF success story, in 2004 the country passed through the latest of several structural adjustment programs.
The same year, it raised $500 million through a Eurobond. In another progressive step, just months ago it adopted international arbitration standards in business disputes, the Gulfnews report added.
These efforts, the report said have invigorated the economy and created new business opportunities, says Professor Rodney Wilson, director of Durham University's Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies in the UK.
He noted its GDP growth rate has surged six to eight per cent in the last few years, creating a new dynamism in the region.
He noted its GDP growth rate has surged six to eight per cent the last few years, creating a new dynamism in the region.
Pakistan, the report said is perceived as an under-served market and a friendly place for Dubai companies to do business.
The country has undeveloped land suitable for large projects and a cheap labour market.
It added that as director of the Middle East and Central Asia unit for the IMF, Mohsin Khan is often privy to big deals brewing in Pakistan.
A month ago, he heard rumors that Dubai companies might invest there. But when Emaar and Limitless announced real estate projects valued at $40 billion (Dh147 billion) in early June, even he was taken by surprise, the report added.
"Most people thought the Etisalat deal in 2005 was big, and it was," he said. "But when you hear deals ten times that size, that's pretty astounding."
The Gulfnews further reported that a few years ago Pakistan wasn't a popular foreign investment choice for UAE companies.
In 1998 the country defaulted on an international loan, and was generally regarded as a risky country to do business, it added.
According to statistics by the State Bank of Pakistan, foreign private investment from the UAE into Pakistan tallied a modest $17.3 million in 2001-02.
But after making impressive strides reforming its banking sector and standardising business practices, Pakistan is showing a big green light which Dubai companies are finding hard to ignore, the report added.
http://www.app.com.pk/n43.htm