WNAM REPORT: Pakistan needs to address the systemic barriers affecting foreign investment, exports, ease of doing business and technological development in order to unlock its economic potential, said Sardar Masood Khan, Former Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States, China and the United Nations, and former President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing at Center for Law and Security (CLAS) on Pakistan’s economic and investment landscape, Sardar Masood Khan said the decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) remained a major challenge, particularly when compared with regional economies such as Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, where investment trends had shown stronger performance. He said Pakistan faced several structural challenges that needed sustained attention.
He pointed to weaknesses in industrial production and value chains as key constraints on exports. Without sufficient domestic production and exportable surpluses, he said, Pakistan could not significantly expand its exports. He also highlighted intellectual property protection and the broader ease of doing business as areas requiring serious improvement.
Sardar Masood Khan said frequent changes at the top levels of institutions could create difficulties when policymakers and administrators lacked sufficient familiarity with the sectors they were responsible for managing. He stressed the importance of institutional expertise and leadership with a clear understanding of commerce, trade, investment and economic policy.
He said Pakistan’s international reputation had also been affected over several decades, particularly by the consequences of the war on terror and the conflict in Afghanistan. During the same period, he noted, several regional countries, including India, China, Malaysia and Indonesia, had made significant economic advances. Pakistan therefore needed to strengthen its economic image and present its investment potential more effectively to international businesses.
Sardar Masood Khan also highlighted the presence of international enterprises and multinational companies operating in Pakistan, saying their activities demonstrated that opportunities existed despite the country’s challenges. He emphasized the need to better capture and reflect such investment and business activity in Pakistan’s broader investment picture.
Discussing technology and startups, he referred to the growth of Pakistan’s technology ecosystem since 2018, including a significant rise in startup investment around 2020 followed by a subsequent decline. He said Pakistan also possessed considerable potential in freelancing and the digital economy, provided the necessary infrastructure and policy environment were strengthened.
He identified corruption, complex taxation, policy and political instability, limited access to finance, inadequate education, bureaucratic hurdles and weaknesses in governance as important challenges affecting competitiveness and investment.
Sardar Masood Khan stressed that Pakistan’s complex environment also contained significant opportunities. Raising awareness, strengthening institutions, developing relevant competencies and promoting informed policy debate, he said, could contribute to addressing the country’s economic challenges and building a stronger foundation for sustainable growth.
