The Public Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) is tasked with establishing a legal and regulato­ry framework that enables public-private transac­tions, fostering private sector investment in public infra­structure and services. Recently, the PPPA enlisted Kearney, a consultancy firm with reputed glob­al expertise, particularly in the Middle East, to identify potential projects for investment and develop strategies for their implementation. Kearney has already engaged with 15 feder­al institutions and identified 97 priority proj­ects. The firm is also interested in supporting the privatization of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), en­hancing the regulatory framework for public sector en­terprises, and attracting more investors to Pakistan. This all sounds quite familiar, doesn’t it?

We also have the Special Investment Facilitation Coun­cil (SIFC), whose mandate is to attract investment into Pakistan with a vision of contributing to the country’s economic revival by significantly expanding investment from both foreign and domestic sources. The SIFC aims to draw investments from friendly countries—primar­ily in the Middle East—in targeted sectors through an empowered organization that acts as a ‘single-window’ platform for facilitation, improving the ease of doing business for potential investors in Pakistan’s economic revival. The SIFC was established to overcome bureau­cratic hurdles, structural inefficiencies, and other obsta­cles that inhibit investment in Pakistan.

Similarly, many consultants and advisors have been hired in the past—and paid in hard foreign currency—to improve the performance of SOEs, privatize entities like PIA and Pakistan Steel Mills, and enhance the effi­ciencies of DISCOs, which the government has now de­cided to privatize. Then there are departments such as the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), mandated to improve the country’s exports. TDAP regu­larly holds and participates in international exhibitions, yet, despite GSP+ status, textile exports have declined. Likewise, the Small and Medium Enterprise Develop­ment Authority (SMEDA) is supposed to promote SMEs in the country, but de-industrialization has been occur­ring for the past couple of decades. The government has also conducted roadshows in Europe and China to at­tract foreign investment, but aside from spending valu­able foreign exchange on these junkets, little of sub­stance has been achieved. Despite spending millions of dollars on consultants, exhibitions, and roadshows, there is little to show for the money spent.

Unfortunately, every government department is eager to attract foreign investment but shows little interest in facilitating local investors. Listening to local investors’ problems, helping them navigate the bureaucratic maze, providing a level playing field with safe facilities compa­rable to those offered to foreign investors, and ensuring basic infrastructure for setting up industries—these are all neglected areas. Local investors don’t need foreign consultancy or dollar-funded consultants to persuade them to invest in Pakistan; they simply need to be heard.

The real issue is that every government seeks a quick fix, a magic solution. Instead of addressing inefficien­cies, reducing bureaucratic interference, combating corruption, and hiring technocrats to do the job, new departments are created with overlapping scopes and mandates, which only increases inefficiencies and fur­ther complicates the investment environment. More­over, the government isn’t focusing on improving the general socio-economic indicators of the country, such as the rule of law, where the law is equal for everyone and the life and property of every citizen are protect­ed. Furthermore, the government needs to invest in ba­sic infrastructure, such as strategic roads and highways that connect industrial cities and regions, and provide utilities like electricity and gas at competitive rates. Without this basic groundwork, no matter how hard the government tries to attract investment through adver­tisements, roadshows, or tax breaks, no company that conducts due diligence will invest in Pakistan.

Ahsan Munir
The writer is a freelance columnist.