ISLAMABAD:Members of a trade mission from the United Kingdom met with senior political and business leaders of Pakistan here on Monday to identify new investment opportunities in the country.
The delegation, whose members represent financial and mining sectors of the United Kingdom, will hold several meetings over the next few days with key business and political leaders in different cities, according to a statement released by the British High Commission.
“This trade mission will explore, identify and commercialise untapped and underdeveloped mining opportunities throughout Pakistan by bridging the gap between London’s capital markets and Pakistan’s mining sector,” the statement said quoting one of the trade mission’s lead coordinators, Nadim Khan, who is a corporate finance partner at a UK law firm.
“We will be looking to provide Pakistan with access to world-class entrepreneurial support, significant foreign capital and technical expertise, which will hopefully provide a gateway for others to follow across other sectors,” Khan said.
The UK is the second largest overseas investor in Pakistan, with over 100 companies operating in the country in different sectors, including education, retail, pharmaceuticals, banking and energy.
Major British companies include Unilever, Shell, GlaxoSmithKline, Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays.
The statement said that generally, British companies reported a good return on their investments in Pakistan, as it was a relatively open economy with a pro-business regulatory regime.“A successful mission will contribute to the target of increasing bilateral trade to £2.5 billion by 2015,” Khan said. Bilateral trade between the UK and Pakistan in 2010 was £1.19 billion.
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکِستان) is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west,India in the east and China in the far northeast.[7] Tajikistan also lies very close to Pakistan but is separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor. Strategically, Pakistan is located in a position between the important regions of South Asia, Central Asia and the greater Middle East.[8]
The region forming modern Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures including theneolithic Mehrgarh and the bronze era Indus Valley Civilisation. Subsequently it was the recipient of Hindu, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, and Sikh cultures through several invasions and/or settlements. As a result the area has remained a part of numerous empires and dynasties including the Indian empires, Persian empires, Arab caliphates, Mongol,Mughal, Sikh and British Empire. Pakistan gained independence from the British Empire in 1947 after a struggle for independence, led by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, that sought the partition of India and the creation of an independent state for the Muslim majority populations of the eastern and western regions of British India.[9] With the adoption of its constitution in 1956, Pakistan became an Islamic republic.[10] In 1971, an armed conflict in East Pakistan resulted in the creation of Bangladesh.[11]
Pakistan is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of four provinces and four federal territories. With over 170 million people, it is the sixth most populous country in the world[2] and has the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia.[12] It is an ethnically andlinguistically diverse country with a similar variation in its geography and wildlife. With a semi-industrialized economy, it is the 27th largest in the world in terms of purchasing power. Since gaining independence, Pakistan's history has been characterised by periods of military rule,political instability and conflicts with neighbouring India. The country faces challenging problems including terrorism, poverty, illiteracy and corruption.
Pakistan has the seventh largest standing armed force and is the only Muslim-majority nation to possess nuclear weapons. It is designated as a major non-NATO ally of the United States and a strategic ally of China.[13][14] It is a founding member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation)[15] and a member of the United Nations,[16] Commonwealth of Nations,[17] Next Eleven economies and the G20 developing nations.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
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