THE United Arab Emirates (UAE) has expressed its intention to invest $1 billion in Pakistani companies in various economic and investment sectors.
According to the Emirates News Agency, the move aims to explore new investment opportunities and areas for cooperation in projects across various sectors, so as to expand bilateral economic relations in the best interest of the two countries.
Pakistan is currently facing economic squeeze but the keen desire expressed not only by the UAE but also by China and Saudi Arabia to make substantial investment augurs well for the future.
The commitment made by the UAE assumes greater significance as it comes in the wake of an uncertain situation caused by continued political instability.
The UAE already has a visible presence in Pakistan and now the two countries have vowed to continue cooperation in various fields like gas, energy infrastructure, renewable energy, healthcare, biotechnology, agricultural technology, logistics, digital communications, e-commerce and financial services.
In fact, there are bright prospects for attracting investment from different sources as Pakistan is a huge market of 220 million people, is ideally located and a number of projects are being implemented with the active cooperation of China to develop infrastructure on modern line and resolve chronic problems of the economy.
The efforts being made by Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who reached out to the USA, Saudi Arabia and the UAE seeking their help in securing an IMF loan, have also sent a right message that all stakeholders in Pakistan are on one page as far as improvement of economy is concerned.
The situation can dramatically change if we also send strong signals about political stability in the country.
