Pakistan has attracted over $16 billion in foreign direct investment despite a downturn in the world economy, said Federal Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, without divulging details of the breakup of the inflow, APP reported. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the International Business Conference and Exhibition organized by University of Management and Technology at the Lahore Expo Center Saturday, he said Pakistan is seeing a return of foreign investment, structural reforms implementation and improvement in the overall fiscal and monetary situation. While the country only attracted $2.4 billion as FDI in 2016-17, an amount that was 5% higher year-on-year, Iqbal failed to mention a timeframe for the $16-billion inflow. Estimates, however, suggest the minister’s number includes the inflow related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that is mostly not included in the official FDI figures released every month by the State Bank of Pakistan. Meanwhile, Iqbal urged the participants on strengthening academia-industry linkages, which according to him, would support economic empowerment and rapid development.
