Lahore - Appreciating the improving law and order situation in the country, especially in Karachi, the OICCI members maintained a positive perception about the business climate of Pakistan in the annual OICCI Members Security Survey conducted by the Chamber in June 2016.

The survey was a follow up on the survey conducted in Q2 2015 to gauge foreign investors’ perception about the security environment in the country since 2013, after the launch of the Karachi operation and ‘Zarb-e-Azb’.

While the overall survey results were considerably positive for Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, especially with regard to security threats to businesses, the foreign investors were found to be concerned at the growing number of street crimes, especially in Karachi.

Nearly 90 percent of the respondents were of the view that general threats to business had reduced as compared to the situation prior to August 2013.

Compared to the survey conducted in 2015, 74 percent of the respondents this time noticed a reduction in security-related incidents including abductions/hostage taking and ‘Bhatta’ demands.

Most importantly, 87 percent of the respondents reported that their staff now felt more comfortable while commuting to/from the workplace.

Another significant feedback received from the 2016 survey was that more overseas Pakistanis were now travelling to Pakistan, and hardly any meeting was held outside Pakistan because of security concerns, a common cause of postponing meetings or shifting their venues prior to August 2013. Furthermore confidence level of overseas Pakistanis and expatriates has gone up according to 73 percent of the respondents.

Commenting on the survey results, OICCI President Shahab Rizvi has complimented the relevant authorities  throughout Pakistan, especially Sindh Rangers and Karachi Police for improving security environment, which led to an appreciation by the foreign investors.

However, despite improvement, Rizvi added, “The foreign investors do not take Pakistan’s security situation easy before starting business in Pakistan.”

OICCI is confident that due to continued focus of the government and law-enforcement agencies on improving country’s law and order situation, Pakistan will soon be able to attract even large number of overseas Pakistanis and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in addition to those coming under the CPEC projects.