KARACHI: A majority of US businesses have a positive outlook on the investment climate in Pakistan, though half of them consider Islamabad’s negative perception as a serious challenge, according to a survey conducted by the American Business Council (ABC).

More than 65 per cent respondents of the survey indicated that they plan to invest in Pakistan over the next 12 months while 80pc were optimistic about the long-term economic and operating climate.

Announcing the results of the ‘Perception Survey’ on Wednesday, ABC President Arshad Saeed Husain suggested concrete government actions to make Pakistan a preferred investment destination. “International standing and perception are extremely important as Pakistan competes with other Asian players for FDI,” he said.

The survey allowed ABC members to rate their satisfaction on various economic, regulatory and political factors that affect the performance and growth of businesses operating in Pakistan during the ongoing fiscal year. Despite the security challenges, 80pc respondents are optimistic about the future in the longer run.

Husain said that a political, economic and social environment that is predictable over the long term does the most to strengthen confidence and forms the basis of a country’s development.

The business climate was rated on each of the various factors influencing it, including implementation and consistency of trade and competition policies, government development budget, domestic market, internal and external political climate and law and order.

According to the survey, law and order received the worst response, with 74pc of the respondents rating it poorly and 48pc feeling it had adversely affected business operations and investment plans.

For 2014-15, the vast majority of respondents rated the business

climate of Pakistan as satisfactory and 11pc marked it as poor. This is an improvement over 2013-14 when 44pc rated the business climate as unsatisfactory.

The overall positive perception of American investors reveals an expectation of some economic stability and an improvement in Pakistan’s economic environment.

The participants were also positive about the performance of federal ministries directly affecting business climate.

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs enjoyed a significant improvement in rating as 77pc of the participants described its performance as fair compared to 50pc in 2013-14.

Similarly, the Ministry of Science and Technology also showed a marked improvement with 74pc

of participants reporting the performance as fair and 20pc reporting it as poor.

In 2013-14, just 47pc rated the performance of the ministry as fair and 43pc rated it poorly.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play