UAE willing to invest in various sectors

Sunday, November 22, 2009
ABU DHABI: United Arab Emirates has expressed its interest to make investments in Pakistan’s diverse sectors including energy, infrastructure development, industry, health, education and agriculture.

“Pakistan is an attractive place for investment and provides ample opportunities in diverse fields,” said Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, who is also the Chairman of UAE’s largest investment group.

The minister said UAE would further expand its portfolio in Pakistan for the mutual benefit of both the countries. Talking to a group of over 80 journalists from 46 countries including Pakistan, especially invited to Emirates to witness its pace of development, Nahyan said the recent series of economic measures in Pakistan were taking roots and were a source of strength for the investors in UAE.

He said he had high hopes from Pakistan and its people and strongly believed that they would be able to face the challenges and come out successfully. “I hope Pakistan will soon be able to overcome all its problems and emerge stronger and better,” he said.

He recently received the ‘Largest foreign investor of Pakistan’ award, the first-ever presented by the Pakistani private sector to an investment group by Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Privatization and Investment.

About the progress made by the UAE in education sector, he said the literacy rate had touched 90 per cent for both genders, while the enrollment of girls in schools was rapidly increasing. He said women now outnumber their male counterparts in the federal government sectors and there was no discrimination in any department. He said the United Arab Emirates was open to all nationalities, with a freedom to pursue their own religions.

Sheikh Nahyan is also the chancellor of two of the UAE’s three institutions of higher learning and the chairman of Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training, he said a large number of highly qualified Muslims were conducting quality research and development work in the West, but regretted that Muslim countries had made no effort to do much in this regard.