Bahrain plans investment in mega projects of Pakistan

Bahrain has unveiled plans to undertake major investment in Pakistan, and boost trade manifold. This was announced during His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s just-ended visit to Pakistan — the first in 40 years.

The announcement came on the back of similar plans unveiled only weeks ago, by the visiting top leadership of the UAE, GCC, Turkey and D-8 Muslim countries spanning from Nigeria to Indonesia.

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A worker collects a liquefied petroleum gas sample for testing at the Dakhni Gas Processing Plant, operated by Oil and Gas Development, in Jand, Punjab. Pakistan will welcome Bahraini investments in mega projects in the field of energy, downstream oil industry, port development, mining and minerals, infrastructure building and the financial sector. — Bloomberg

President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, besides a large number of top corporate executives, investors, industrialists and financial market leaders are upbeat about the Bahrain, UAE and other Muslim countries’ plans for investment in Pakistan and enlarging trade. They see it as a major push forward to integrate the GCC-Gulf-Muslim-Pakistan region into a formidable, vibrant and powerful group which can, one day, rival EU in the West and Asean in the East.

King Hamad called for an enhanced trade and investment which will lead to tangible dividends for the progress and prosperity of the brotherly people of Bahrain and Pakistan.

President Mamnoon Hussain, in his meeting with King Hammad, said: “Pakistan will welcome Bahraini investments in mega projects in the field of energy, downstream oil industry, port development, mining and minerals, infrastructure building, and the financial sector.”

He also asked for King Hamad’s support for an early conclusion of Pakistan-GCC free trade agreement. The agreement will pave the way for an increased commercial activity between Pakistan and the Gulf countries.

“A sizeable Pakistani community, working in Bahrain, serves as a bridge between the two brotherly countries, and have played a positive role in the development of Bahrain, as well as contributes to Pakistan’s economy,” Hussain said.

Sharif welcomed King Hamad and offered a priority list of investment opportunities, with energy on the top. He stressed that all Bahraini investment will be fully protected and 100 per cent of investment and all dividends and profits can be repatriated by the investors.

The size and scale of the planned economic, financial, and business cooperation, envisaged by the top leadership of Bahrain and Pakistan can be estimated from what Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and Transport Minister Kamal Ahmad said in Islamabad.

“More than 450 business institutions in Bahrain are all set to make investment in the development of Pakistan.”

Islamabad says that this declared intention can translate into billions of dollars of investment and a huge boost in the two-way foreign trade, when the potential is fully realised.

“We describe this visit to Pakistan as productive and fruitful,” two ministers said.

King Hamad’s first visit to Pakistan resulted in singing up of several agreements and MoUs between the two countries. These included sectors like food security, air services, water and power sector development, formation of a Joint Commission on Overseas Pakistanis, and formation of Joint Bahrain-Pakistan Business Forum.

The two Bahraini Ministers held, the existing level of Bahrain-Pakistan bilateral trade totalling $6 billion will be further expanded. The joint statement issued at the end of King Hamad’s visit, during which the King was accompanied by his top ministers, and a high level private corporate and business executives, said: “The two countries have agreed to further broaden and deepen their bilateral engagement in diverse fields of mutual interest, especially in economics, trade and investment.”

The new Pakistan-Bahrain business forum just formed by the visiting high level business delegation, accompanying the King, and the Pakistani corprate heads, provides a good opportunity to realise the potential for further enhancement of trade and commercial exchanges. Bahrain and Pakistan have also agreed to provide an impetus to the bilateral trade turnover. Development of sources of energy is a high priority sector, which is under Bahrain’s consideration.

The Overseas Pakistanis working in Bahrain figured prominently during the talks between King Hamad, President Mamnoon Husssian and Primer Minister Sharif. The King expressed appreciation for the role of the Pakistanis expatriate community towards progress and economic development of Bahrain.

The Pakistani leadership conveyed its deep appreciation to the Kingdom of Bahrain for hosting a large number of Pakistani citizens and expressed the hope that the Kingdom will continue to employ more Pakistanis in different sectors of their mainstream economy.

Pakistan-Bahrain joint ministerial commission has been established to promote cooperation in all fields for bilateral consultations at the level of foreign ministries of the two countries. The commission will serve as the umbrella framework for bilateral cooperation. Its will meet in second half of 2014.

Bahrain and Pakistan noted the potential for an increased mutual investment and agreed to provide a favourable environment for investment from both countries. They will also timely and regularly exchange information on available investment opportunities.

“Recognising the enormous potential of the Pakistani economy, Bahrain expressed its readiness to consider investments in Pakistan, in a wide range of sectors. Pakistan considers Bahrain as an ideal gateway to the GCC markets,” it says.

The agreements and MoUs which were signed during King Hamad’s visit to Pakistan include: establishment of joint ministerial commission for bilateral cooperation, promotion and protection of investments, cooperation between ministries of interior, cooperation in the fields of water and power, cooperation in food security, air services agreement, labour and occupational training, and cooperation between economic development board of Bahrain and Board of Investment, Pakistan.

As both Bahrain and Pakistan wish to further promote the close relations between them and Pakistan and GCC countries, they stressed their commitment to further strengthen cooperation, including finalisation of the Pakistan-GCC Free Trade Agreement.

Board of Investment of Pakistan has informed Bahrain that Islamabad plans to generate 20,000 megawatts to 25,000 megawatts of power in the next seven years. Pakistan is offering a good return on investment in all natural gas, coal and wind energy plants, and invited Bahraini investors to undertake funding in this sector.

Zakria Usman, President of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry, asked Bahraini businessmen and corporate heads to look into unmatched business opportunities in Pakistan, with a special focus on projects-based financing and Islamic Banking.

He made this offer at a meeting attended by Bahrain’s Minister for Industries and Commerce Dr Hassan A Fakhro, Minister for Transport Kamal Muhammad Ahmad and Chairman Bahrain Chamber of commerce and Industry Khalid Almoayed. In order to give these agreements a big push, King Shaikh Hammad has invited President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Sharif to visit Bahrain, which is expected to take place shortly to keep up the momentum of close investment, and trade relations between Pakistan, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait and GCC countries.

Views expressed of the author are his own and do not reflect the policy of the newspaper.