ISLAMABAD: Observing a nationwide labor strike today (Saturday) over inflated electricity bills, interim Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar described the matter as a “non-issue” and insisted that it was being raised by some politicians. Parties are a “tool” in their election campaigns
“It is not a very serious issue, but political parties are in an electoral mode and are using it as a social issue,” the interim Prime Minister told senior journalists and news anchors on Friday.
“I understand their position,” he added. “If I were to run in the elections, I would have done the same thing too.”
On the other hand, the Prime Minister’s remarks that consumers “have to pay the bills” have added to the frustration of people who have taken to the streets and burned the inflated bills. Therefore, it is expected that a successful strike will be carried out today.
Responding to a question on the issue of use of free electricity, Mr. Kakar said that the government had officially approached the Army and claimed that the armed forces – Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force – were not using a single unit of free electricity and their bills were low. It is paid from the allocated financial budget.
The SIFC is expected to attract up to $70 billion within five years
However, Mr Kakkar said Wapda employees were using the free electricity units and their usage would be rationalised, especially for higher-ranking officers, some of whom were getting huge amount of free electricity.
Foreign investment
He said estimated foreign investments are expected to range between $60 billion to $70 billion in the next three to five years under the government’s new initiative of the Private Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). He said the interim government had also received pledges and promises for another similar amount of investment.
He added: “We now have to design and present our projects, as there is a great appetite for investment in the country.”
The SIFC was formed in June this year to frame economic policies “to ensure policy predictability, continuity and effective implementation of economic recovery.”
Citing the example of Ricoh Deck’s $700 billion gold and copper reserves, the Prime Minister said the country has huge natural resource potential that will change the destiny of the people of Pakistan.
He said SIFC is the entire government project and there is nothing to hide. He added: “This is a transparent intervention that has already begun and has a total potential of between $5 trillion and $6 trillion.”
The Prime Minister stressed that Pakistan has vast areas of land that can be used for agriculture and can meet half of the food needs of the Asian population. He also claimed that the country has enough water to irrigate the barren lands across the country.
Likewise, he said that information technology, tourism and defense production also have huge potential that can be exploited for the socio-economic development of the country.
Diplomats briefed
Later, a detailed briefing was given to diplomatic missions on investment options so that they could “encourage their countries” to tap into Pakistan’s rich resources in a bid to attract foreign investment into the country.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the participating diplomatic missions have been asked to brief their countries and encourage them to benefit from the promise of Pakistan becoming a resource-rich country.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Government Effectiveness, Dr. Jehanzeb Khan, made a “detailed presentation to inform the diplomatic community about the establishment of the Council and various aspects of it.” He particularly highlighted investment opportunities in Pakistan in four main areas: information technology, agriculture, power and energy. Mining.
He said the International Finance Center was recently formed “to serve as a single window platform to accelerate decision-making and promote and facilitate foreign direct investment in the country.”
Faced with economic challenges amid an “excessive” delay in reviving the IMF programme, civilian and military leaders laid out an “economic recovery plan” in June to tap “untapped potential in key sectors” and attract foreign direct investment.
Published in Al-Fajr, September 2, 2023