ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum President (PBIF), Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry Businessmen Panel Senior Vice Chairman and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Friday said the government should ensure transparency in mega projects and ensure fair and equitable treatment to local and foreign investors.
Unbiased and even-handed treatment will help government win the trust of local and foreign business community, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that the trust of the local and foreign private sector was necessary to make these projects successful in the long run which will result in expanded production, more jobs and additional revenue.
He said that recently the government decided to make payments to five power projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor on preferential basis and kept them insulated from the infamous circular debt.
He said local investors who had established power plants were never paid in time and majority of them were still awaiting payments to the tune of billions.
Such decisions can be termed preferential treatment which is not good for the country and the business community, which is still willing to invest heavily in these projects, the former minister warned.
He noted that secrecy will never help promote confidence of investors in the economic corridor and other related projects which was set to change the fate of Pakistan by providing uncountable opportunities. Transparency will not only help investors to take critical and timely decisions but also improve the image of the country; while unnecessary confidentiality and non-disclosure can damage the projects, the veteran business leader observed.
Published in Daily Times, December 9th 2017.
