ISLAMABAD, Feb 19: A prominent Saudi business group has decided to set up a steel mill in Karachi at a cost of $100 million, says the Chairman, Board of Investment (BoI) Waseem Haqqie. "A German company has also approached the government to establish a seamless pipe mill, which would roughly cost $50 million," he further stated.

Talking to Dawn here on Thursday, he said that Al-Tuwarqi group of Saudi Arabia has submitted its feasibility study to the ministry of industries and production to set up a steel mill, preferably during 2004.

"We are trying to facilitate both the foreign companies to set up their mills in Karachi within this year," he said adding that Pakistan Steel and other federal and provincial agencies concerned would extend timely infrastructure facilities like electricity, water, gas, telephone, etc., to both the mills.

These mills, he pointed out, would be set up near Pakistan Steel, and that the Sindh government was taking a lot of interest in both the projects. Responding to a question, he said that the visiting South Korean investors' delegation had shown its keen interest in making new investment in oil exploration, information technology and telecommunication.

He expected that South Koreans would make substantial investment as their initial response was very good about Pakistan's petroleum policy and present concessions being offered in this behalf.

Currently, he pointed out that about 28 petroleum companies were operating in Pakistan and were enjoying maximum concessions compared to other countries of the region.

"It is a high risk and a high return field, which is attracting a lot of foreign investors," he said. He said he could not, at this stage, say anything about the exact size of South Korean investment in the field of oil exploration. "But it seems to be quite substantial."

He said since the image of Pakistan was gradually improving, foreign investors were making new queries specially in oil and gas, information technology and infrastructure projects.

Talking about the investment conference held in Islamabad on Thursday, he said that the representatives of many foreign companies including that of Microsoft have shown their keen desire to invest in Pakistan.

"Chairman of Microsoft, Bill Gates is expected to visit Pakistan within this year or early 2005," he said. This conference, he said, was a follow-up of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's visit to Devos recently. He said he had read a paper in the conference inviting foreign companies to invest in Pakistan where new investment opportunities existed.