LAHORE, June 24: Adviser to prime minister on finance Dr Salman Shah has said the government has not taxed the real estate business as it does not want to disturb the ongoing investment process.

Dr Shah told journalists after the signing ceremony of the strategic alliance agreement between Abacus Consulting of Pakistan and multinational human resource consultancy company Mercer here on Friday that it was necessary to maintain the tempo of investment as it was leading to economic growth.

The government had taken a serious notice of increase in cement prices and directed the industry to control it. The government would itself control the prices if the industry failed to do so, he said.

He said the foodstuffs import had been allowed from India temporarily to control shortages and overcharging on the one hand and improve the quality of indigenous produce through competition. The foodstuffs had already started arriving as the Indian government had not prescribed any conditions for export. Only the routes had to be decided.

About the National Finance Commission Award, he said the matter was now pending with President Gen Musharraf and he would take steps for resolving it.

Earlier, Dr Shah said human resource development was essential for Pakistan because it was its biggest asset. Good educational and vocational training facilities were necessary for human resource development because the competition in the market was not between the products but the people who made the products.

He said human resource development required special attention because the demand for skilled professionals would increase with the increase in foreign investment. Alliance of the world’s top company with a Pakistani organization would go a long way in meeting the deficiency in the sector. The private sector was the growth engine and the government was helping it achieve the objective through deregulation and privatization. The government had attracted a lot of direct foreign investment by privatizing the PTCL and National Refinery and would attract more by privatizing the KESC shortly, he continued.

He said the government was removing bureaucratic hurdles in investment through deregulation so that the businessmen could solve their problems themselves instead of visiting Islamabad for the purpose. Mercer regional head for Asia Pacific Ilya Dominic said Pakistan was well placed to attract foreign investment because of a stable political environment and growing business activity.

Mercer country head for India Sankar Ramamurthy said private and public sectors in Pakistan and India should adopt best global management practices and policies to train, develop and manage their human resources.