LAHORE, Dec 18: Federal Privatization and Investment Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh has said the country will achieve the $3 billion foreign investment target during the current financial year. During the keynote address at the TIEcon Pakistan Conference here on Sunday, the minister said the foreign investment had increased from $322 million to $1.5 billion during the first half of the current fiscal, showing 70 to 80 per cent increase compared to investment during the corresponding period of the previous year.

He said large public-sector enterprises like the National Refinery Limited, the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation and the Javedan Cement had been privatized in the recent past while the Pakistan State Oil, the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited, the National Investment Trust and the Pakistan Steel Mills were to be privatized during the next few months.

He said the country had become investment friendly, as the government had decided to involve the private sector in the development process in view of the fast-changing regional and international economic scenario. The previous government had not been able to attract foreign investment, he added.

Poverty and unemployment, he said, were among the major problems being faced by the country and the government was making efforts to solve them. It had decided to restrict its role to policy-making and regulation and allow the private sector to play its role in rapid socio-economic development by opening the doors for foreign investment.

He said privatization had helped in increasing the efficiency of the public-sector organizations. It took years to procure a telephone connection before the telecommunication sector sell-off, but now it could be taken in just 20 minutes.