LAHORE, Nov 24: Minister for Investment and Privatization Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh has said the country had attracted a record Rs290 billion foreign investment during the past two years and half and 70,000 people had acquired 950,000 shares under the Privatization for People Programme.
Speaking at the launching ceremony of Remy Montavon’s book Development of Milk District here on Thursday, he said only Rs6 billion foreign investment was made during the first six years. Phenomenal increase in foreign investment had been made possible due to the conducive atmosphere created as a result of government policies.
He said attracting foreign investment was not easy in today’s world. Pakistan had never been a favourite destination in the past no matter who was in power. It had been able to cross $1 billion foreign investment mark after 1990 due to elimination of bureaucratic interference. The investment had now exceeded $1.5 billion and more than 600 foreign companies were operating in the country at present because it had opened itself for business and offered good opportunities for earning profit.
He said privatization had been going on for the past 15 years but the Privatisation for People Programme had enabled the people to benefit from the process. The value of shares of public sector units privatized for Rs20 billion had appreciated to over Rs50 billion benefiting the holders.
He said the people did not take any interest in the privatization process in the past because they considered it a deal between the bureaucracy and the businessmen.
He said the process had been most successful during the past four years when organizations like the Karachi Electric Supply Company, National Refinery, Mustehkam and Javedan cement had been privatized. Pre-bidding conference for the privatization of the Pakistan State Oil was expected to be convened within four weeks. Privatization of Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Faisalabad and Hyderabad electric supply companies was also on the cards. Problems regarding PTCL privatization were expected to be resolved very soon, he added.
He said dairy sector in Pakistan had enormous potential for growth because it was the fifth largest producer of milk in the world and only 2 per cent was being procured for processing and packaging.
Punjab Planning and Development Board chairman Suleman Ghani said livestock sector development could play a significant role in poverty alleviation because 25 to 30 per cent small farmers were associated with it.
He said milk procurement starting from 120 tons a day in 1988 had increased to 219,000 tons with 13,500 farmers involved in the process.
He said the Punjab government was making efforts for creating a conducive environment for the growth of dairy sector. It was encouraging investment in research and farming to turn it into a dynamic sector. Livestock farms were being set up at Rakh Ghulaman and Klorkot with private-public partnership. A buffalo research centre was also being set up for boosting milk production. The federal government also planned model dairy farms starting from Sialkot.
Former finance minister Sartaj Aziz said Nestle had pioneered the development of dairy sector in the country. Around 290,000 tons of milk was being collected from 3,000 villages as a result.
He said milk was on top of the high value products for the farmers because it not only increased their income but also generated employment.
He said milk was a perishable commodity with a life of four to 12 hours. Its life could be increased through pasteurisation and UHT treatment. India had introduced the concept of milk fountains for selling chilled homogenized milk at affordable prices.
Book’s author Remy Montavon said per animal yield of milk in Pakistan was very low and could be increased through better quality fodder.
Syed Babar Ali proposed production of quality fodder and development of the road network in the rural areas to facilitate the growth of dairy sector.