— vows to come up with ‘out-of-box’ solution on power sector for public relief
— directs immediate, stern action against power stealers, defaulters
ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Monday said that Saudi Arabia will invest up to $25 billion in Pakistan over the next two to five years in various sectors, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar said on Monday, adding his government would also revive a stalled privatisation process.
The prime minister, in an interaction with foreign media representatives, assured that his government was exploring realistic options to come up with “out-of-box” solutions to provide relief to electricity consumers.
Kakar, speaking to journalists at his official residence, said Saudi Arabia’s investment would come in the mining, agriculture and information technology sectors, and was part of a push to increase foreign direct investment in Pakistan.
He said the government would make informed decisions to satisfy the masses on the issue of electricity bills without deviating from the country’s commitments with the international financial institutions.
Mentioning the issues of circular debt, power theft and taxes, the prime minister said the government would introduce short-term solutions to the issue without undermining the agitating people.
He assured that the caretaker government was mandated to facilitate holding the general elections as early as possible while observing the constitutional obligations.
He said the Constitution called for carrying out the delimitation of constituencies following the population census.
Prime Minister Kakar said without redesigning the government structure, the interim setup was mainly focused on rearranging the fiscal and monetary policies to build an edifice for economic revival.
Calling the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) a strategy for economic revival, he said it focused on agriculture, mines and minerals, defence production and information technology.
However, he also spelled out the economic reform agenda of his government, saying that the imminent steps included the privatization of two or more power distribution companies.
He said the reforms needed in taxation and power sectors, and his government would leave behind a basis for mid-level reforms.
Kakar said the government was pursuing a policy of doing the doable and providing a strategic direction to economic planning.
To a question, he said all the registered political parties would be provided a level playing field to contest the general elections without any discrimination.
However, he said in certain instances, political behaviour turned into vandalism and the country’s law was already in vogue to deal with such conduct.
Talking about the terror attacks by the TTP, the prime minister drew attention to the leftover military equipment by the United States and allied forces back in Afghanistan, which, he viewed, were becoming a threat to peace thus necessitating a coordinated approach to deal with the challenge.
He said the foreign forces left Afghanistan after losing interest but “we are here to defend our home, children, mosques and places of worship.”
He said the Pak-Afghan ties were deeply rooted in cultural and faith-based linkages as well as social integration.
Pakistan showed magnanimity to the Afghan refugees and the government was coming up with a policy to address the challenge of illegal immigrants, he added.
Responding to a query, the prime minister said the government had an “excellent working environment” with the Pakistan Army and both were working together, also for economic revival.
Prime Minister Kakar said regardless of any political association, the people of Balochistan welcomed every project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which had entered the second phase.
He reiterated the government’s resolve to go to any extent to protect the Chinese workers taking part in the CPEC projects.
Referring to the massive reserves worth $6 trillion of copper and gold in Balochistan, the prime minister said the Reko Diq project was about to start soon.
He called for all the stakeholders to formulate a model to explore the mineral-rich area to make the world see Pakistan through a different prism.
The prime minister expressed the hope that foreign investment projects worth $25 billion each from Saudi Arabia and the Middle East would realize in a time span of two to five years.
About the May 9 riots, he said the attack on the military installations was an attempt to create societal disorder, and that existential threat needed a lawful response and he supported the laws to curb such behaviour.
