ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to grant Pakistani citizenship to foreign investors, especially wealthy Afghans and Chinese, to garner huge investments.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry confirmed the plan by tweeting late Friday.
The government believes it will secure billions of dollars of foreign investment by giving Pakistani nationality and ownership rights to foreign investors.
“In line with the new national security policy, through which Pakistan declared geoeconomics as the core of its national security doctrine, the government has decided to allow permanent residence scheme for foreign nationals, the new policy for foreigners Allows to obtain permanent resident status in exchange for investment,” the tweet said.
A source close to the incident told dawn That the government wants to attract huge investments from wealthy Afghan citizens who are currently investing in countries such as Iran, Turkey and Malaysia.
He said the government also expected that Sikh citizens living in the US would be happy to invest in various sectors in Pakistan because of their affinity for Sikh religious sites in the country.
Also, Prime Minister Imran Khan indicated in his recent statements that he wants to attract top Chinese investors who have relocated their industries to other countries in the region. The government also hoped that the wealthy Arab rulers, who visited Pakistan every year for hunting purposes, wanted Pakistani citizenship.
Published in Dawn, January 15, 2022