Foreign investment
Foreign investment
Editorial
Editorial

Off and on, there are frequent calls or a reiteration from the Government leaders and officials inviting significant investment in Balochistan claiming better opportunities as the province is rich with natural wealth. Meeting with Denmark’s envoy to Pakistan Mr. Rolf Michal on Thursday Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Aliyani said, Balochistan was a suitable region for energy production hence we need international investment in province’s energy sector.

Off and on, there are frequent calls or a reiteration from the Government leaders and officials inviting significant investment in Balochistan claiming better opportunities as the province is rich with natural wealth. Meeting with Denmark’s envoy to Pakistan Mr. Rolf Michal on Thursday Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Aliyani said, Balochistan was a suitable region for energy production hence we need international investment in province’s energy sector.

“Many European Countries including Denmark have been producing energy through modern technology thus Balochistan Government wanted to uplift its energy sector with assistance of Denmark.” CM Balochistan said while talking to Mr. Rolf Michal. He said, Balochistan has vast investment opportunities while Balochistan has established provincial energy company in order to facilitate foreign companies, “Balochistan Government has decided to conduct an International Investment Conference in order the confidence of foreign companies.”

Danish envoy has expressed keen interest regarding investment in Balochistan pledged to persuade Danish investors to invest in Balochistan. Baluchistan’s economy is doomed if we depends on provincial resources for future development or trying to meet the needs of the growing population, particularly the educated youth coming out of the educational institutions in tens of thousands after every academic year. The Government of Pakistan will have to come forward in boosting the provincial economy with a stimulated economic growth in a big way taking the country out of the present economic mess.

The economic stimulus should come earlier before the country is gripped in much bigger and unforeseen crises, both political and economic, or the hostile western countries started waging economic war against Pakistan for one reason or the other. It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to help build a decent infrastructure for future economic development by building roads, highways, technical training centres at large scale for developing human resources, providing communication, electricity and natural gas in all four corners of Balochistan.

Without the basic infrastructure, the special economic zones will be meaningless and they will be useless in economic terms. Balochistan had experienced this by establishing Industrial Estates in the past. Most of the Industrial Estates established in various parts of Balochistan proved failure and it failed to boost industrial and economic development in a significant way. The basic deficiency of the provincial economy is that the Government had failed to develop a decent infrastructure for future development in most parts of Balochistan.

In absence of water, power, gas, roads, communication and an efficient and skilled manpower, hardly any investors will come to Balochistan. There are zero incentives for the investors to make any investment in any part of Balochistan, barring the Hub Sub-Division of Lasbela District for its proximity to the port city of Karachi. Earlier, Balochistan Government sign MoU with Fatima Fertilizer for investment in provincial mineral field. Balochistan is facing shortage of skilled work force and qualified group of officers to run the administration.

There is dire need to meet the requirement of the society in Balochistan by training and educating more and more people for public service. Not only the new batch of officers should be recruited on priority basis and but also the services of the Executive Officers should be utilized in the greater interest of the society in general besides protecting the interest and carrier of the officers.

Balochistan needs a very big team of competent and honest officers to run the huge economic projects under the discipline of the Balochistan Government disallowing the foreign exploiters in the garb of investors to loot and plunder the resources of Balochistan. The Government will have to provide a suitable environment for investment by overcoming all the difficulties and impediments in the way of economic development.

The Government will have to find a political or amicable solution to the on-going Baloch conflict so that the international investors should enjoy the confidence of the local people also. The assurances from the Government leaders and functionaries are not enough. Such assurances will not motivate the foreign came to Balochistan.