ISLAMABAD, Aug 27 (APP):Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday said the government was bringing in reforms and introducing incentives to attract investment of overseas Pakistanis.
He was speaking at the launch of the Roshan Apna Ghar scheme of State Bank here at a ceremony.
He said nine million overseas Pakistanis had as much money as the total gross domestic product of Pakistan.
Since his cricketing days he had interaction with overseas Pakistanis who were the biggest asset of the country but their potential was not fully utilized, he remarked.
Pakistan could greatly benefit from investment potential of expatriate community and from their technical skills, professionalism and expertise, he added.
He said, “We have to create an environment and give incentives so that top professionals return to Pakistan.”
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He said corruption was the biggest hurdle in attracting investment of overseas Pakistanis.
The government in the past did not focus on the welfare of these Pakistanis, he observed.
The Prime Minister noted that Pakistan had substantially improved its ranking among countries in the area of ease of doing businesses.
Imran said overseas Pakistanis wanted to build their home in Pakistan but land mafia was a nuisance for them as it illegally occupied their plots of land.
Under the Roshan apna ghar scheme, he said banks were guaranteeing the plots purchased by overseas Pakistanis.
He was hopeful that current account deficit gap would be filled by the investments made by overseas Pakistanis.
He said sustainable economic growth would be achieved with the money invested by the expatriates.
“We are reforming the system to bring in investment of the overseas Pakistanis.”
The Prime Minister gave away awards to top three performing banks including Bank Alfalah, Habib Bank and Meezan Bank for attracting investment of the overseas Pakistanis.
Minister for Finance Shaukat Tareen, Governor State Bank Reza Baqir and high level government functionaries attended the event.
Addressing the ceremony, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said that State Bank of Pakistan particularly its Governor Raza Baqir had shown great leadership to ensure the success of Roshan Digital Account which had attracted $2 billion from overseas Pakistanis.
He said the use of technology to bring all banks under one platform was the biggest challenge in the execution of RDA.
The finance minister said the multiple schemes had been launched for the overseas Pakistanis but the Roshan Apna Ghar scheme would prove to be a game changer. It would also help tap the remittances, he added.
State Bank Governor Raza Baqir said three banks had shown excellent performance for increasing the RDA deposits from $1 billion to $2 billion.
He said the Roshan Apna Ghar scheme would connect the overseas Pakistanis and address almost all the issues faced by them regarding real estate investment in Pakistan.
He said the expatriates would be free to either invest in the projects of their choice or those supported by the banks which would obviously give a sense of security to their investment.
Highlighting the contours of the scheme, the SBP governor said it would include tax deduction at source, fixed tax rate and standard rates for loans.