In the wake of statements issued by the Board of Investment (BoI), asking state-run organizations— like the State Bank, the CBR, Wapda etc—to respond to investors’ approach, offering them services for promoting industrialization in the country, one can surmise that the endeavours of the top brass of the ministry of industry and production have not borne fruit to provide to investors the much publicized one-window facility at the country’s international airports.

The spate of statements had kindled a flicker of hope that this time the government would make it, where others in the past had failed. But the announcement has disappointed prospective investors that they will continue to suffer hassles before settin up their manufacturing units.

Our corporations, which have over-grown in size over the years under the Parkinson Law by expanding bases of their pyramids, would hardly deliver at the maiden call of investors. They would take time to scrutinize papers, affidavits and NOCs, through their acolytes, positioned in different sections. The scrutiny would lead to investors’ impatience, delaying approval for obvious reasons.

If the corporations do not channel documents through the expanded sections, the very rationale of the expansion tumbles down to an abyss. State organizations around the world formulate easy and simple investor-friendly rules to motivate them to invest liberally in their countries. But our state corporations on the other hand are hell-bent to position rocks on the route, framing complicated rules and exposing investors to intolerable stress.

Foreign investors also feel concerned about deteriorating law and order situation in the country. A piece, appearing in Washington Post the other day, saying that Pakistan ,”since 9/11 has become the world’s single largest haven of Islamic terrorists”, would further unnerve investors. But one cannot hold back the fact, that except for intermittent incidents as in Quetta or Karachi, the situation of law and order is not as bad as obtaining in other leading cities of the First World like New York.

The other factors that do not go well with the investors are the unwelcome visits by inspectors of labour and tax departments, the confounding rules and SROs, the delaying tactics employed through proverbial red-tapism, the bureaucrats’ unfriendly snobbish attitude, and the inadequate infrastructure of the industrial estates. A Qatari firm’s reluctance to reconsider its offer to revive 24-story National Indoor Sports Complex, west of Kandawala building, in Karachi on BOT basis’, over the movement of the project file for 15 months at a snail’s pace, amply illustrates the point.

While it could be difficult if not impossible for the federal government to set the direction of the corporations to behave and provide one-window facility to investors, besides instituting a mechanism to resolve their industry-related problems, it will be futile to wait for the advent of that hour, when all their problems will be resolved in one swing of the magic wand. Instead, the government should concentrate on track-two approach, which would attract investors —-foreigners, overseas Pakistanis and locals—- in large number.

Experience of other countries could be a good guide. A road-map, developed on the paradigm of Jubel el-Ali Industrial Estate of UAE and the success stories of one-time famous Asian Tigers’ of South East Asia, could be availed to prepare a viable scheme. To begin with, the government may set up a composite industrial estate, incorporating plus points of all these countries’ estates and streamlining our own procedural systems, providing power, water, gas and telephone connections to investors directly. These utilities could be had in bulk on the paradigm of Pak PWD, seeking power and water from the KESC and the KWSB in Karachi and billing the consumers of government quarters in their monthly salary slips. Similarly, DHA in Karachi bills its consumers after obtaining water in bulk from the KWSB.

Location of industrial estate is of utmost importance. Set up at a suitable site proximate to airport, sea port, and main national artery, the estate management, after overcoming teething troubles, should gradually ease out, transferring control of utilities to respective corporations. The entire estate should be provided with state-of-the-art roads and streets having concrete- lined covered channels, carrying on its sides power cables, gas pipes, water mains and telephones’ optic fibres, while the bottom availed to drain out storm water during monsoon seasons.

The other side of the roads and streets may be availed for deep sewage system to reduce its contamination with water mains. Such an arrangement was viewed under the road in proximity to Centrum edifice in Central London.

The visits of inspectors of all departments may be restricted to computer-drawn five per cent, following submission of simplified forms by investors, as has been done in the Punjab for labour department. Entrepreneurs have always availed every forum at apex level to draw attention to provincial and federal taxes, numbering not less than 34 and suggesting their amalgamation into two or three heads for the purpose of collection. Such action would reduce inspectors’ visits to estates, averting ugly incidents as happened in Kamoke the other day. A raiding team of sales tax department was beaten back, when it caused harassment to factory owners.

The other incentives like subsidized electricity, water and tax breaks for some years could be an added attraction to lure investors. Such incentives need be protected by a legal cover to prevent fondling by any succeeding government. The withdrawal of tax holidays by Nawaz regime, allowed by Benazir government for Gadoon Amezai Industrial Estate, is a case in point. The protective cover, provided by law or any other legal instrument, would strengthen investors’ confidence in the continuity of the industrial policy.

Foreign investors, earning foreign exchange from the export of their manufactured products, may be allowed to retain it in full after deducting forex, availed on importing any raw material. Similarly, local investors may be allowed to own up a percentage of foreign exchange, earned on export of their products abroad. The scheme of bonus vouchers’, introduced by the Ayub regime, was one of the reasons that led to rapid growth in industrial sector in sixties. The prime motivation behind the urge to industrialize is to augment employment avenues for the youth.

Output of the literate labour is said to be higher and better than the one produced by the uneducated and unskilled. To meet the need of the industrial estate, a polytechnic-cum-teaching institute, imparting teaching and training skills through condensed courses, would be a sine qua non for the state-of-the-art industrial estate in the country. It would train labour on requisitions received from factories for better and brisk output.

To set up an industrial estate of the state-of-the-art genre is not a child’s plaything. The estate of this magnitude would require huge funds. The question would arise, who would bell the cat.

The federal government is comfortably positioned resource-wise to finance the ambitious scheme with development funds, sought from some aid-giving agency, which will not demur to pick up the tag once it is convinced about its commercial viability. The government will have to make a smart move in this direction to prepare a feasibility report with due diligence to attract funding for its execution.

Once the execution work commences and the project is advertised abroad,investors are expected to scramble to be the first to secure allocation of suitable plots at ideal locations. The government will not have to recount incentives urging investors, assembling in international forums to reach for Pakistan for investment. The industrial estate, loaded with all facilities and pro-investor policies, would convey strong signals to investors to invest liberally in Pakistan.

The onward march of the WTO warrants, that we should have a world class industrial estate, installed with the most modern machinery, imported duty-free from abroad to produce quality goods, that would stand up to compete with the products, flooding the market from foreign countries from January 2005. Pakistan is not a solitary country in the world wooing foreign investment. Countries like India are opening up their markets for foreign investment. To brave the keener competition, the government will have to go an extra mile to establish attractive estate,attreacting foreigners for investment.