Foreign direct investment amounts to $277.7mn in October

Islamabad : Pakistan received $277.7 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the month of October, compared to $115.3 million during the corresponding month of the last fiscal year.
While for the first four months of the current fiscal year (July-Oct) FY2017-18, FDI stood at $939.7 million which accounted for 74.4% above the inflows recorded during the same period a year ago.
China is the leading investment country with $631.7 million, up 224.6% from the same period in FY17. The Chinese firms invested large part of their funds in energy and infrastructure projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The net inflow of FDI from Malaysia stood at $107 million in July-Oct FY18 against $9.4 million during the same period last year.
French investors accounted for $38.0 million in FDI during the period under review.
Power sector received the biggest share of foreign funds, followed by construction, financial services and communications sector.
The inflow of direct investment in the power sector increased by 125.4% to $422.4 million in the four months of FY18.
The construction sector fetched $177.0 million in FDI compared to $31.4 million a year earlier.
Telecommunications bounced back compared to last year. The inflow of FDI in this sector rose to $64.9m compared to an outflow of $38.3m during the same period last year.
The financial business and oil and gas exploration sectors received $76.3m and $57.9m respectively during the four months of this fiscal year.
Brighter FDI prospects are expected in FY18 as economy appears to be expanding and work on certain electricity generation and development projects under CPEC remains on track, while the CPEC is shifting gears from short term projects to long term projects i.e. Industrial Cooperation under CPEC for which BOI is the lead agency.
BoI is closely working with Chinese experts from National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China for relocation of Chinese industry into Pakistan and industrialization of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) along-side CPEC.
The third meeting of Joint Working Group (JWG) on Industrial Cooperation was held on 09th November, 2017 while the 7th JCC is expected to be held on 21st November, 2017 in Islamabad. Huge Chinese investments are expected in these Special Economic Zones, which will be instrumental in attracting FDI from other countries as well.