13 years on, German airline Lufthansa expresses interest in resuming Pakistan operations

• German airline Lufthansa expresses interest in resuming flight operations to Pakistan.
• The airline had suspended its flight operation to Pakistan 13 years ago due to commercial reasons.
• The German delegation, currently visiting Pakistan, also expresses interest in the dairy, communication, automobile and services sectors. 

ISLAMABAD: German airline Lufthansa is keen on resuming its passenger and cargo flight operations to Pakistan after over a span of 13 years, The News reported. 

The German airline had suspended its flight operation to Pakistan 13 years ago due to commercial reasons.

A high-level business delegation from Germany that included Lufthansa representatives met with Secretary Board of Investment (BOI), Fareena Mazhar, and told her that the airline was keen on resuming flight operations in Pakistan.

Another German company Weidmüller also announced to start a production plant in Pakistan in near future. The company is specializing in the transmission of power, signals and data in industrial environments.

The delegation expressed their interest in the dairy, communication, automobile and services sectors for investment in Pakistan.

The visit has come about as an encouraging prospect for Pakistan in terms of attracting new investment in several sectors and has been termed as a positive sign for the country’s economy by Secretary BOI.

BOI executive Fareena briefed the delegation on Pakistan’s investment policy, which has been formulated to create an investor-friendly environment to attract foreign direct investment and provide equal treatment to foreign and local investors.

She mentioned Food Processing, Automotive, IT, Energy, Textiles, Logistics and Housing & Construction sectors as some of the potential sectors for investment in Pakistan.

She further added that BOI is leading the “Pakistan Regulatory Modernization Initiative” (PRMI), which the prime minister has launched in order to make the regulatory environment friendly and that it shall transform the regulatory landscape across all tiers of government; federal, provincial and local.

Fareena highlighted the tax incentives available to investors in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and mentioned the 22 SEZs approved by BOI across Pakistan including Allam Iqbal Industrial city, Rashakai SEZ, Khairpur SEZ, M3 Industrial City Faisalabad, National Science & Technology Park, Hattar SEZ etc.

Discussing the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) reforms during the interaction, Fareena underlined Pakistan’s improvement of 39 positions in the EODB index and shared that she was confident that the rating would further improve in World Bank’s doing business Report of 2021.

The delegation comprised 16 members, headed by Oliver Oehms, CEO AHK Dubai. It included several German business giants like Lufthansa, AHK, SIG MEA, Weidmuller Middle, Emltc Emerging Solutions among others.

All these companies have a prominent presence in most parts of the world and are visiting Pakistan to analyze the business climate and explore lucrative investment opportunities in Pakistan.