ISTANBUL: Pakistani officials on Monday briefed senior officials from the Friends of Pakistan forum on the ‘Malakand Pilot Project’, a report on the next summit of the forum and public-private partnerships to boost trade in Pakistan.
Minister of State for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar, US special envoy Richard Holbrooke and representatives of 20 countries and six international organisations participated in the meeting.
After the first session, Pakistan tabled the Malakand project. The participants were also briefed on a business leaders’ meeting held on the sidelines of the senior officials’ meeting.
Complete rehabilitation: Following the first session, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said that Pakistan was trying to engage the private sector of “friends” for a greater inflow of investment and to boost trade activities.
“We presented the Malakand project at the meeting, and told the member countries that the complete rehabilitation of internally displaced persons would take five years,” he said.
He said that socio-economic development was sustainable in Pakistan, and “we have made a comprehensive project which has drawn considerable support from the forum friends”.
Replying to a question, the spokesman said the current meeting was not aimed at raising funds, but to attract investment in short, medium and long term projects for the reconstruction of infrastructure in Malakand.
About investment opportunities, he said hundreds companies from the US, China, the UK, Turkey and several other countries were working in Pakistan and earning “huge profits”. He said not a single company has left Pakistan because of security concerns, as “the overall security situation has improved greatly”.
The spokesman said the meeting of business leaders had shown great interest in Pakistan’s energy sector.
Senior officials attending the meeting praised Pakistan’s strategy to overcome security and development challenges.
The meeting agreed that public-private partnerships would be strengthened within the framework of the forum.
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