KARACHI: More than three fourths (78 per cent) of American Business Council (ABC) members plan to invest in Pakistan over the next year and are optimistic about the long-term economic situation, according to the results of a perception survey conducted by the council.

The same survey conducted last year showed that 65pc of the members were interested to invest.

In the present survey, a vast majority of respondents rated the business climate of Pakistan as satisfactory while 8pc gave it a poor rating. This is an improvement over 2014-15 when 11pc of the participants rated the business climate as poor.

The perception survey allows ABC members to rate their satisfaction on various economic, regulatory and political factors that affect the performance and growth of businesses operating in Pakistan. The factors include implementation and consistency of trade and competition policies, government development budget, domestic market, internal and external political climate and law and order.

The members have, however, observed that the government’s tendency to introduce mini-budgets as well as sudden changes in policies or rules during the course of a fiscal year “negatively impact on the existing as well new investments”.

With regard to the performance of each ministry directly affecting business climate, the participants responded that overall trend reflects there was a slight improvement over the last year.

“Our members are positive and remain committed to Pakistan,” ABC President Sami Ahmed said. International standing and perception, he added, was extremely important as Pakistan competes with other Asian players to attract capital in the form of trade exports, human resources and most importantly foreign direct investment.

The ABC is one of the largest investor groups in Pakistan with 67 members. They operate in various sectors, including healthcare, financial services, information technology, chemicals and fertiliser, energy, food and beverage, oil and others.

Meanwhile, Consul General of Japan Toshikazu Isomura during his meeting with business leaders last week disclosed that Japanese companies and investors have started refocusing on Pakistan as a potential market for investment.

He acknowledged that Pakistan’s law and order has improved and the country’s economy has also stabilised. Mr Isomura said that already many Japanese companies have landed and started operating and more are on their way to bring fresh investment in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2017