LAHORE, March 7: Foras Investment Company, a subsidiary of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) is planning to set up 200 companies in 57 member countries of the OIC over a period of five years.

"Under a ten-year Muslim Ummah Development Plan, Islamic chamber has set up Foras (the Arabic word for opportunity) to accelerate the process of economic development across the Muslim Ummah," said Chief Executive Officer of Foras Investment Company Hatim Jamil Mukhtar while giving a briefing to a select-gathering of businessmen at the FPCCI zonal office here on Wednesday.

Mr Hatim said that Foras created with a paid-up capital of $100m, would set up five sub-holding companies with headquarters in Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Istanbul, Cairo and Dakkar (Senegal) to expedite the process of company formation in all the 57 countries of the Muslim world.

Foras chief said that the paid-up capital of the company would soon be raised to $200 million from the present level of $100 million, hoping that the seed money provided by the Islamic chamber would help accelerate the process of investment all over the Islamic world.

He said that the company had started work on the preparation of investment road map for 10 Muslim countries, including Pakistan. Mr Hatim said that the steps being taken by the ICCI and Foras would lead to the formation of economic consortium of the Islamic world.

He said that the companies were set up for the promotion of diverse fields ranging from bio-technology to information technology and infrastructure.—APP