PM woos Turkish investors with lucrative opportunities – EQ Mag
Shehbaz tells potential investors to ‘be ready with your coffers open’ for 10,000MW solar project saying ‘my investor is my master’
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday made a pitch to Turkish entrepreneurs to invest in a 10,000-megawatt solar power project for Pakistan, saying “my investor is my master”.
The premier sought the investment while addressing a meeting of the Pakistan-Turkiye Business Council in Istanbul, where he reached later for a two-day visit.
He told the investors that his government was resolved to cut down “very expensive” imports of oil and petroleum products, on which $27 billion was spent last year. “We simply can’t afford this.”
So, he explained, his government had invited foreign investment at a conference in Islamabad around a month and a half ago for a 10,000MW solar power project. The PM had given approval for the execution of the solar project in September as part of measures to reduce the import bill.
“It’s not just a paper, or a talk, or a feasibility,” he said about the project. “I, along with my colleagues, … am committed to this philosophy that we shall implement this scheme in letter and spirit with our own resources, with investment from Turkiye, from China, from Saudi Arabia, from Qatar, from the UAE (United Arab Emirates), from the United States of America, from wherever.”
He assured the investors that the Pakistani government would create a conducive, enabling and friendly environment for them to invest in the project.
“Please try to understand that past is past, and we are walking into the future with a sense of great understanding, learn our lesson from the past. We will move forward with this commitment that my investor is my master. And that’s what I believe – not from today but from ages – and that’s what we are going to implement in times to come,” he convinced his audience.
“Please be ready with your coffers open,” he urged them, announcing that his government would be organizing a special conference for “my Turkish brothers and sisters” where a presentation would be given on the plan for the project. He also assured the investors that speedy payments to them would be ensured.
“It will be a complete departure from the past. Within 60 days, Turkish, and of course all international investors, will be paid without recourse to any third party,” he said, adding that the payments would be speedy and transparent. The premier said that he believed it would be a “gateway for a new order in Pakistan” and allow the country to save billions of dollars by cutting down on fuel imports.
“Please trust me, trust my words. Come to Pakistan and, I will show you that, God willing, we will be great partners in this great investment portfolio, which will be a win-win situation,” he urged the investors. “You will get very nice profits and we will benefit, getting energy from the sun.”
Shehbaz also assured them that the bidding process would be transparent and fair and bureaucratic delays. He also asked the Pakistan ambassador in Istanbul to facilitate the Turkish investors in coming to Pakistan.
Source: minutemirror
