ISLAMABAD, Aug 4: The government has further liberalized the existing investment policy with a view to offering more concessions to the foreign investors.

"The investment regime needed to be further liberalized and now a condition of dilution to 60:40 within 5 years for the services sector, which was allowed 100 per cent equity, has been done away with", said Chairman Board of Investment (BoI) Waseem Haqqie.

He told Dawn here on Wednesday that foreign investors were now allowed 100 per cent equity right from the beginning. Similarly, he said that repatriation ceiling of profit of 60 per cent has been enhanced to 100 per cent.

Additionally, minimum limit of foreign investment of $300,000 has been revised downward to $150,000. "In fact we have removed some of the irritants and genuine problems of the foreign investors by further liberalizing our investment policy", said the chairman BoI.

Earlier, he said, it was a condition that the foreign investors would have to associate with them local partners having 60:40 per cent equity. This used to be resisted by a foreign investor who kept maintaining that if he could manage his 100 per cent equity, why should the government make it a binding on him that he must associate a local partner with him, Mr Haqqie added.

He said that foreign investors had been complaining of experiencing difficulties in finding out better local partners and that was why they were demanding that they should be allowed to have their 100 per cent equity for undertaking any business in Pakistan.

He said a number of foreign investors used to ask that their proposed businesses did not warrant the investment of $300,000, therefore it should be revised downward to attract investment.

"We thought it a genuine complaint and that was why it has been removed to facilitate foreign investment", he said. He said there was no condition of equity in infrastructure, information technology and telecom sectors.

"But this condition of 60:40 equity in the agriculture sector will stay", he said adding that since agriculture sector was important for Pakistan, the foreign investors will have to associate with them local partner to make any investment.

The chairman BoI said that the role of his organization was that of a facilitator so as to help attract foreign investment in various sectors. Responding to a question, Mr Haqqie said that since overall economic conditions have improved and better investment environment created, foreign investment was gradually picking up.

He said Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has increased from $322 million in 2000-01 to $950 million in 2003-04. He also said that foreign investment target of $1 billion was likely to be enhanced during 2004-05.