KARACHI, Nov 27: Federal Finance Minister Dr Salman Shah has said that Pakistan will continue to register growth despite recent political developments and its fallout on the country.

He was speaking at a luncheon meeting hosted in his honor by members of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Karachi, a representative body for foreign investors in the country.

Dr Shah discussed investment outlook for Pakistan in the coming years and described it as very positive.

He highlighted the achievements of the government, which he said made great progress under the leadership of President Musharraf.

The finance minister stressed that the country was able to attract huge amount of investment over the past few years due to which the foreign reserves stood at record levels of about $14 billion.

He assured the members that recent economic growth which the country had witnessed in the recent past would continue and that the government was “very keen on continuation of economic activity.”

“Consumer economy has brought boom in the country and the future outlook is positive and the rural economy is now ready to take off in a big way,” said Dr Shah.

Pakistan is considered as third largest growing economy in the Asia Pacific region, he added.

Zubyr Soomro, President of the OICCI, appreciated the efforts made by the government in attracting foreign investment in the country and also highlighted the fact that it was only possible due to consistency in economic polices.

He commented that all political parties wishing to contest the forthcoming elections should go to people with their agenda for the economy as this would help long-term investment prospects.

He added that the Overseas Chamber would be happy to host interactive sessions for political leadership wishing to interact with member companies on economic issues.

OICCI is the oldest Chamber of Commerce of Pakistan. The Chambers’ primary function is to promote commercial, industrial and financial interests of foreign investors engaged in Pakistan.

The OICCI has 171 members, representing all major sectors of economy. A recent survey conducted by KPMG indicated that the OICCI membership contributes over 14pc of the GNP of Pakistan and approximately 32pc of the GDP of the manufacturing sector. Between them, they contribute 33pc of the total tax revenue of the government, and directly employ approximately 100,000 people.