June 20, 2003	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 19, 1424

KARACHI, June 19: The Federal Minister for Privatization and Investment, Dr Hafeez Shaikh on Thursday called upon Microsoft to enhance level of investment in Pakistan, says a press release.

Addressing as the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the three day-long Pakistan Developer Conference (PDC) 2003, organized by Microsoft Pakistan, Dr Hafeez Shaikh said the country had immense business opportunities and a vast and capable human resource pool. He appreciated the interest Microsoft is taking in the country.

The Minister said that the government has taken many steps to further encourage the participation of multinational companies. “The government has removed hindrances which were holding foreign parties from investing in Pakistan”, he said.

He further added, “the challenge in information technology is to participate in the mainstream. Pakistan should not be left out of the IT revolution.”

APP adds: He said the foreign investment in July-May of the current fiscal year had more than doubled as compared to that of last year.

Mr Shaikh said in the first 11 months of the current fiscal the foreign investment went up by 125 per cent. Last year it was around $220 million and this year it was expected to cross $750 million.

However, he said, “we are still to undertake a lot of hard work in this very sphere.”

The Minister said that everyone including President General Pervez Musharraf at the top was focusing on investment and had stated that he would be a bridge between the business community and the government.

He said that one of the purposes of President General Pervez Musharraf’s visit to the four countries was to generate business and investment.

He said that an investment conference had also been planned to try and get some top quality players into Pakistan.

He said even during his visits to Britain, US and Germany the President would be talking of attracting investment into Pakistan.