Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday held talks with a delegation from Qatar-based Taameer Group, led by the group’s founder Muhammad Hussein Al Ali, to discuss investment opportunities in Pakistan’s tourism, hospitality, real estate, and construction sectors, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.

During the meeting, PM Shehbaz described Qatar as a longstanding friend of Pakistan that had consistently supported the country during difficult times. He said the government was prioritising measures to attract foreign investment and had removed major obstacles through the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

The prime minister said Pakistan offered significant investment potential in the tourism, hospitality, real estate, and construction sectors, and directed relevant authorities to facilitate the visiting delegation in exploring investment opportunities.

Taameer Group’s founder briefed the prime minister on the company’s ongoing and planned projects in Pakistan and expressed strong interest in expanding investments in the hospitality, hotel, real estate, and construction sectors.

He also praised the government’s efforts under PM Shehbaz’s leadership to improve the business climate and attract foreign investment, saying the SIFC framework was helping facilitate investors and strengthen economic cooperation. The delegation reaffirmed its commitment to expanding investment activities in Pakistan in the coming years.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kayani, and other senior government officials.

Pakistan established the SIFC in 2023 with the goal of acting as a single window to facilitate investment and privatisation, promote cooperation among all government departments and fast-track project development. The body was set up after Gulf nations complained about the lack of coordination among various entities of Pakistan, which was blocking investment inflows.

The SIFC did address the coordination-related issues and helped remove bottlenecks, but the larger problems, like undue heavy taxation, higher energy prices, weaker external sector stability, and the lack of fiscal space remained unaddressed.

The SIFC had been assigned the task of increasing foreign direct investment in the areas of agriculture, defence, infrastructure development, strategic initiatives, logistics, information technology, telecommunication, energy, mining and minerals, and tourism.