ISLAMABAD, Sept 27: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday said Pakistan had lot of potential in the area of hydrocarbons and would welcome foreign investors to exploit the full potential.

The prime minister was talking to a delegation comprising the Chairman, Kuwaiti Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company, Badar N Al-Khashti, and the Chairman and CEO of MOL, a Hungarian Company, Zsolt Hernadi, who called on him here at the PM House.

The delegation evinced keen interest in making investments in the oil and gas sector in Pakistan and the privatization of PPL and said they were encouraged by the favourable economic climate in the country.

The prime minister said Pakistan was strategically situated at the mouth of the Gulf and close to the Central Asian region and the government was contemplating to set up a mega oil refinery and would welcome foreign investors. This refinery, he said, would not only cater to the domestic needs but also export oil products.

Mr Aziz said the government had carried out broad-based economic reforms through privatization, deregulation and liberalization, forming the major planks of its economic agenda.

The reforms programme has enabled the government to achieve the growth rate of 8.4 per cent. He said Pakistan believed in providing a level-playing field to all local as well foreign investors.—APP