ISLAMABAD: Amid Prime Minister Imran Khan’s high expectation with the Board of Investment (BoI) to fetch more and more foreign investment in the country, another BoI chairman has said goodbye to his office.

BoI chairman Zubair Gilani, who resigned from his office on Monday citing personal reasons, could serve as the chairman of the board for eight months.

Mr Gilani is the third BoI chairman in a row who has resigned from the post.

According to the Prime Minister Office, Mr Gilani quit the post due to some personal reasons.

A source told Dawn that his resignation has been accepted. Mr Gilani was appointed BoI head with the status of a minister of state in July last year by PM Khan. Mr Gilani was the third BoI chairman who quit during the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government. Before him, Naeem Zamindar and Haroon Sharif had left the office.

Razak Dawood rejects reports Zubair Gilani left job over differences

Before Mr Gilani, Mr Zamindar was the BoI chief who had been reappointed to replace former chairman of the board Haroon Sharif.

Mr Zamindar was actually appointed by the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government and he was reappointed by the PTI government to replace Mr Sharif.

On Sept 14, 2018, the federal cabinet approved the appointment of Mr Sharif as the BOI chairman.

When contacted, Razak Dawood told Dawn that Mr Gilani resigned because of personal reasons and there was no truth in media reports that he had differences with him. “Mr Gilani was a good and hardworking man and I liked him,” he added.

Asked if Mr Gilani was working under some pressure, he said it was the part of BoI chairman’s job that he always remained under immense pressure to bring more and more investment.

The resignation of Mr Gilani on Monday was not a surprise move for the prime minister’s adviser as he said that he had found a new man for the job. He was, however, reluctant to disclose the name of the new BoI chairman. “We have picked another person and the media will soon be told his name,” he said.

Asked if the departure of Mr Gilani will affect the government’s efforts to attract foreign investment, he said: “Nobody is indispensable in this world; if today I quit, someone else will replace me.”

Mr Dawood agreed that the targets for BoI were very difficult to meet and that could be one of the reasons for Mr Gilani’s resignation. “If a person is bent upon leaving his office, how can I hold him,” he added.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2020