ISLAMABAD, Sept 7: India has given three specific proposals to invest about $1 billion in Pakistan in the fields of information technology, services sector and the marble industry, it is learnt. Informed sources told Dawn on Wednesday that the Board of Investment (BoI) has also been formally approached by the Indian burgeoning private sector to undertake joint ventures with its Pakistani counterpart in various fields.
However, the Indian government and the Indian businessmen were informed to seek No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the foreign office and the interior ministry to make any investment in Pakistan.
In principle, the sources said, Pakistan could not say “no” to any Indian investor wishing to invest in Pakistan as the present investment policy allows all foreign investors to make investment or enter into joint venture with their Pakistani counterparts.
However, Pakistan government wanted New Delhi to first make tangible progress on political issues to allow greater trade and investment activities in this part of the world.
According to the sources, Indian businessmen wanted to hold an exhibition in Pakistan to promote their marble machinery which will follow announcements for making investment in the marble industry.
Similarly, Indian businessmen have submitted proposals to invest in the IT and services sector besides undertaking joint ventures in various fields including textile and leather industry.
The sources said that a number of prominent Indian business groups have started asking their government to settle political disputes with Pakistan so that increased trade and investment activities could be made possible between the two countries.
“Pakistan has conceded a lot in terms of signing more and more Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) and now India should also reciprocate otherwise it would not be possible to have increased economic cooperation between the two countries,” a source said.
He said Pakistan would have to ask its officials to “go slow” in dealing with economic issues with India if New Delhi continued to avoid settling political issues. Fears were also expressed that once Pakistan allowed Indian investment, Indian businessmen would rush and might create problems for the local industry. “But we cannot really stop any Indian to invest here or buy any thing as per our investment policy and WTO new rules,” he said. Nevertheless, he added that Pakistan government could not continue to unilaterally extend favours to India in the absence of certain progress achieved on political front.
The sources also said that the meeting of the working group of Saarc states, fixed for October 3 in Dhaka, has been delayed for one week. It was now likely to meet on October 7 to finalize various issues prior to the summit meeting scheduled for October 9 in the Bangladeshi capital.
The sources said that meeting of the working group was postponed due to some differences particularly between India and Pakistan on the avoidance of double taxation, investment and arbitration and South Asia Free Trade Agreement (Safta), which has to be made effective from January 2006.
“Both Pakistan and India have differences over tariffs”, a source said adding New Delhi was reluctant to remove a number of tariff barriers that delayed the scheduled meeting of the working group.
