KARACHI, Jan 20 South Korean business giant Lotte Group has so far invested $800 million in Pakistan and is planning to make new investment in energy, food and tourism and other areas.

This was stated by president Lotte Pakistan PTA Ltd Asif Saad while addressing a press conference along with chairman Board of Investment (BoI) Salim Mandviwala at the PTA plant at Port Qasim on Wednesday.

He said Lotte Pakistan was installing a 40MW power plant at a cost of $45 million. Its PTA plant will use 30MW of power from this plant and provide the surplus 10MW to Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC), he added.

Mr Saad said that PTA plant was saving huge foreign exchange for Pakistan in the shape of import substitution. The annual production of the plant is 500,000 tons of PTA), an essential raw material for textile industry, he added.

BoI chairman said that the visit of Lotte Group's delegation, consisting of its president and six CEOs of various subsidiaries, gave a message across the world that Pakistan was a safe place for investment. He hoped that soon, more such big business groups will be making investment in Pakistan.

Mandviwala pointed out that Lotte Group was ready to make heavy investment in food, beverages, hotel, tourism, power and oil and gas sectors of Pakistan.

He said that the delegation will call on Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Islamabad on Thursday. —APP