Muhammad Azfar Ahsan Advocates Investor-Centric Policies at Pakistan Business Council’s “Dialogue on the Economy”

Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, Pakistan’s former Minister for Investment and Chairman of Nutshell Group, participated in a high-level debate on “Promoting Forex-Accretive, Technology-Intensive Investment” during the “Dialogue on the Economy”, hosted by the Pakistan Business Council. The event was attended by 125 industry leaders. Azfar Ahsan emphasized that political stability is the cornerstone of a thriving investment climate, urging all stakeholders to prioritize the facilitation and expansion of existing investors – both local and foreign. He stressed the importance of encouraging wealth creation, enabling businesses to scale, reinvest, and form joint ventures and collaborations with foreign investors. He further underscored the State’s role in protecting investors while ensuring that B2B investments are driven by the private sector. He advised the government to step back from direct business involvement and instead focus on creating investor-friendly policies, regulatory frameworks, and institutional support. Highlighting the need for long-term economic planning, Azfar Ahsan called for a minimum 20-year investment roadmap, with a guarantee of policy continuity for at least 10 to 12 years. He argued that frequent policy shifts deter investor confidence and that only predictable, stable policies can attract large-scale, forex-generating, technology-driven investments. The debate also featured Muhammad Ali Tabba (CEO, Lucky Cement & YBG Group), Arif Saeed (CEO, Servis Group), and Kamran Kamal (CEO, HUBCO & BYD), with Ali Khizer (Director Research, Business Recorder) moderating the discussion.