ISLAMABAD - Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has held meetings with representatives of two leading French automobile manufacturers, Renault and Peugeot, in Paris.

He briefed them about the recently announced automobile policy of the government of Pakistan which has given attractive incentives and concessions to foreign investors, according to an official handout released by Ministry of Finance here.

Chairman BoI, Ambassador of Pakistan to France and French Ambassador to Pakistan were also present during the meeting.

Dar emphasised that with the resurgence of Pakistani economy in the last three years, manifested in macroeconomic stability, sustained GDP growth, and stable exchange rate and increasing consumer spending, there is a strong demand for new cars in the country. He invited them to set up their manufacturing plants in the light of the new policy and growing demand. The senior executives of both Renault and Peugeot lauded the remarkable turnaround in Pakistan's economy and expressed serious interest in investing in the automobile sector in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Ishaq Dar also addressed at the Foundation of Strategic Research (FRS), a premier think tank of France, in Paris. He said that tough and deep rooted fiscal, monetary and economic reforms have paved the way for economic turnaround in Pakistan which led to the improvement of fiscal and monetary indicators of the country, recognized and appreciated by credible international rating agencies.

In his talks on the theme, “Pakistan and Economic Turnaround Story”, Ishaq Dar said the owing to the prudent and farsighted reforms introduced by the government for revenue generation, tax collection, infrastructure development and increased budgetary allocation to social sector, the country had recorded the highest GDP growth of 4.7 % in the last eight years, and is fully set to achieve 5.5% GDP growth during the current financial year and 6% -7% GDP growth in the coming years.

He added that renowned international economists and institutions, while acknowledging Pakistan’s economic turnaround, have termed it the tenth fastest emerging market of the world and have predicted Pakistan to be the 18th largest global economy in 2050. Finance minister said that he would like this time frame to be reduced by half.

Expressing his grief and sorrow over the loss of innocent lives in recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Nice, he said that Pakistan is itself a victim of terrorism for over a decade having suffered immense human and financial losses. He informed the audience that since June 2014, Pakistan has launched the zarb-e-Azb Military operation which has broken the back bone of the terrorists’ organizations and their networks.

He said that we are fighting this war to restore peace in our country and for the regional and global peace.

The minister said that Pakistan is committed to build and maintain peaceful relations with all its immediate neighbors and rest of the world.

He said Pakistan is ready to talk with India to resolve all outstanding issues including the dispute of Jammu and Kashmir.

 He drew the attention to the recent human rights violations by the Indian security forces in Indian Occupied Kashmir on the unarmed and innocent Kashmiris to curb their right for exercise of self-determination. He called on France to play its due role as permanent member of UNSC to urge India to resolve the issue of Kashmir in accordance with UN SC resolutions.