ISLAMABAD: Incentives-based transparent policies have helped restore the confidence of international business community to invest in Pakistan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Monday.

In a meeting with VimpelCom CEO Jean-Yves Charlier at the Prime Minister’s House, the premier said the recent launch of third-generation (3G) and 4G mobile technologies had revolutionised the telecom sector.

“We are encouraging the telecom companies to expand their outreach to far-flung areas of the country so that majority of the people benefit from the technology,” he added.

He said Pakistan offered an ideal environment to telecom sector as it had one of the largest number of cell phone subscribers.

“Our government believes in open and transparent business policies so that both local and foreign investors are further motivated to explore the business opportunities.”

Describing Pakistan’s telecom industry as “promising and vibrant”, the CEO of VimpelCom, parent company of Mobilink, appreciated the business-friendly policies of the present government.

He said teledensity in Pakistan was one of the highest in the region which made the country a favourite destination for foreign investors.

The meeting was also attended by Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rehman Khan and senior government officials.

In a separate meeting with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Mr Charlier said that since its inception VimpelCom had invested $5 billion in Pakistan and delivered services to 38 million customers.

He said the merger of Warid Telecom with Mobilink, if approved, would open a new window of opportunity for enhancing investment and employment generation in Pakistan.

Mr Dar, appreciating the economic contribution of VimpelCom, said Ms Rahman had come up with a comprehensive telecom policy which not only encouraged foreign investment but also envisaged to extend IT and telecom facilities to the underserved and far-flung areas of the country.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2016