Islamabad: (Parliament Times) The President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Masood Ahmed Khan has said that Azad Kashmir offers great investment opportunities to foreign investors in hydropower, minerals, tourism, handicrafts and other sectors.
“The government of Azad Kashmir will welcome foreign investment from Pakistan and other friendly countries wholeheartedlyâ€, the AJK president Masood Ahmed Khan said this while talking to a delegation of Chinese investors who called him here on Wednesday. Khan said since the region was hit by a deadly earthquake way back in 2005 there were a number of Chinese companies which have already been working in Azad Kashmir on different reconstruction and power generation projects.
He told the Chinese investors that since Chinese have been working in the region over past several years they would have no problem whatsoever to work in the region. The Chinese investors Mr. Lee Jiang and Chawopong told the president that they have already visited many areas including Bonair, Hassan Abdal and Mansehra recently and took a detailed review of extraction and processing of the natural resources present in these areas. The visiting delegate said that they were told that there were abundant resources of Marble, Coal and Salt in the region and they want to visit these areas so to take stock of the situation. For this purpose, they said that a formal request has been made to the government of AJK.
The president advised the delegates that it was better that they should meet relevant authorities as well as the people who were working in this particular field to get adequate information. The president told them that with a view to provide jobs to educated youth the incumbent government was keen to promote and encourage foreign investment in the region.
The Chinese investor’s delegation was accompanied by Asif Luqman Qazi and Mr. Ahsanullah Khan. Ahsanullah Khan who has a vast experience in mineral exporting said that he has worked in Neelum valley and there were abundant resources of White Marble in district Neelum. He said that if white marble was extracted skillfully the export volume of Pakistan would be double as there was a great demand of Kashmir white granite and marble abroad. He said that the process of issuing NoC should be made easy and less cumbersome in order to facilitate the visit of investors who have expressed their desire to invest in the region.
In order to attract foreign investment he suggested that the government of Azad Kashmir should organize Kashmir Investment Conference in Islamabad in which local and foreign investors should be invited. He said that there was a need that the AJK government should establish its own investment board so that decisions regarding the foreign investment could be made independently in a transparent manner.
Appreciating these suggestions the President AJK assured the deletion that the suggestion would be presented to the government of Azad Kashmir.
