KARACHI
Foreign investors operating in Pakistan have expressed satisfaction over the security environment in the country, a survey revealed on Wednesday.
The Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), the collective body of top 200 foreign investors in Pakistan, released the results of its latest Annual Security Survey 2021. The survey was conducted from May 21 till June 21, 2021.
Around two-thirds of the OICCI members have their head offices in Karachi with operations across the country. Compared to the security situation in the middle of 2020, the overall security environment, according to 2021 OICCI Survey, has improved, especially in Lahore (according to 61 percent of the respondents), KP (59 percent), rest of Punjab (53 percent) and Karachi (51 percent).
However, some of the members expressed concern regarding the growing street crimes, especially in Karachi.
OICCI President Irfan Siddiqui said: “The positive perception of the security environment by the leading foreign investors operating in the country, is a matter of great satisfaction and also conveys a positive message to [the] potential investors.”
The OICCI president said the foreign investors have appreciated the continuing focus of the law-enforcement agencies in improving the security environment, one of the key components for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country.
Security remains one of the top three concerns for 62 per cent of the respondents, a marginal improvement over 70 per cent respondents in the 2020 survey.
It is highly encouraging that despite the Covid-19-related travel restrictions since March 2020, the visit of foreign nationals to Pakistan for the OICCI members business continued during the last one year, though at a lower frequency.
The foreign business visitors were mainly from China, the UK, US, Germany, Japan, the UAE (where regional headquarters of several member companies are located), as well as other European and Asian countries.
In terms of serious crimes, 87 percent respondents indicated either a decrease over the last year or ‘not an issue’ in Lahore and 75 per cent respondents indicated either a decrease over the last year or ‘not an issue’ in Karachi. Similarly, 89 percent, 75 percent and 73 percent respondents indicated either a decrease over the last year or ‘not an issue’ in KP, Quetta and the rest of Balochistan.
For street crimes, 17 percent respondents in Karachi, compared with 7 percent last year, indicated significant increase over the last year, while up to 5 percent respondents in the rest of the country (Lahore, Islamabad, Quetta, and Peshawar) indicated significant increase.
M Abdul Aleem, CEO and secretary general of the OICCI, said: “[The] OICCI is encouraged with the continuing improvement in the overall security assessment of the foreign investors, which will help further boost the potential foreign direct investment in Pakistan.”
“Going forward, we are confident that the law-enforcement agencies will soon be able to also control the recent spike in street crimes and will further reinforce the positive security environment in the country.”
The OICCI 2021 Security Survey was responded to by over two-thirds of the over 200 members and the respondents included chief executive officers and senior management of the member organisations.
