KARACHI, Jan 21: Two major international conferences on promotion of investment in Pakistan are to be held next month in which leading investors and fund managers from various parts of the world are expected to participate.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is organizing the ICC Regional Foreign Direct Investment Conference in Karachi on February 17 to 18. The other conference is being organized by the oil giant Shell Pakistan in Islamabad.

“The main objective of the conference is to bring together business leaders, policy makers and legal experts to interact and examine necessary reforms for integrating regional and global economics,” a letter of the ICC, received by the FPCCI, said.

The ICC feels that the interest of foreign and local business leaders and policy makers have increased since September 11 incident.

Planning of the conference was initiated in the year 2000 with the theme: “An Emerging Crossroad for Trade and Investment.”

The Shell Pakistan Limited (SPL) has also planned to hold an investment conference in February in which prospects of further expansion and privatization in the oil and gas sector will be discussed, the sources said.

Mining, oil and gas sectors have been preferred areas for foreign investment in Pakistan. Oil and gas sector has attracted around one billion dollar investment in the last 10 months.

“Foreign investment is expected to come in 2002 as Pakistan has gained fame and foreign investors are now talking about the country after September 11 and India-Pakistan stand- off,” Head of Research, Invest Capital and Securities, Mohammad Sohail said adding that oil and gas sector may lure more foreign investment like last year.

In stock markets, foreign investment may come from the Arab countries and from the Middle East as compared to the United Kingdom, the US and Japan as these countries are facing an economic slowdown.

The government is making efforts to persuade foreign investors to invest in Pakistan, but efforts have remained unsuccessful, says the State Bank’s annual report 2000-2001.

Total foreign investment in 2000-2001 plunged by $361.4 million from $543.4 million in 2000-2001.