PHOTO: CREATIVE COMMON
The differences led to the resignation of Haroon Sharif who just a few months back had been appointed BOI chairman by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“I have decided to step down due to personal reasons,” Sharif confirmed to The Express Tribune. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has replaced three secretaries of the BOI in the past nine months.
PM Imran was scheduled to chair first meeting of the BOI board in the last two and a half years on Wednesday. But the PM Office cancelled the meeting on Tuesday evening. At least three members of the board told The Express Tribune that they were on their way to Islamabad when they received a message for cancellation of the meeting.
Officials said differences had surfaced between the BOI management and the new economic managers on the issue of arranging a meeting of the World Bank country director with the prime minister. The World Bank country director’s meeting was scheduled for May 27 and BOI’s board meeting was scheduled for May 22.
A pre-World Bank meeting session was held at the PM Office on Tuesday where the BOI management and the adviser to PM on finance expressed their reservations about each other, the officials said.
They said the Q-block was of the view that the BOI management had bypassed it in arranging the meeting.
Delay: SEZs unlikely to be ready for investment for two more years
The PM Office has also delayed the May 27 meeting between the World Bank country director and the premier, the officials said. Now, the World Bank meeting will not be arranged by the BOI.
The PM Office did not respond to a question on the reasons for cancelling the BOI board meeting.
There were also differences between the BOI management and the PM Adviser on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood.
In this background, the BOI had arranged first meeting of the newly constituted board of the BOI aimed at taking certain crucial decisions on investment offers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the sources said.
After delaying its approval four times, the federal cabinet three weeks ago approved the reconstitution of the BOI board, which is headed by the prime minister.
There was a 10-point agenda for the meeting. The BOI had planned to give an update on the investment status of Saudi Arabia, China, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and discuss matters that were required to streamline these investments.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman had announced $20 billion in investment during his high-profile visit to Pakistan, a major chunk of which would go into an oil refinery.
The BOI board meeting was set to take a decision on whether to set up a project management unit to fast-track Saudi investment in the oil refinery.
Sources said the BOI had also sought the PM’s decision on Qatar’s investment in Pakistan’s airports. They said the aviation ministry was not willing to accept Qatar’s offer and the matter had been referred to the BOI board for decision.
The progress on PM’s ongoing initiatives like the ease of doing business, amendments to the Special Economic Zones law and investment strategy was also on the meeting agenda. The board was also planned to discuss PM’s Naya Pakistan Housing Programme, the tourism initiative and Pakistan Diaspora Bond. The revitalisation plan of the SEZs and prioritised SEZs being planned under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were also on the meeting agenda.
The BOI had prepared a plan for bringing reforms for investment promotion. These include arbitration law, visa regime and reducing process of work visa, urgent security clearance and airport entry passes for the investors.
Foreign direct investment in Pakistan dropped 52% to just $1.37 billion in first 10 months of the current fiscal year against $2.84 billion in the same period of previous year.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 23rd, 2019.
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