India lifts ban on investment from Pakistan

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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I don’t see Pakistanis rushing to invest in India.

India lifts ban on investment from Pakistan - The Times of India

NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday lifted a ban on investment from Pakistan, the only country that faced such curbs, in yet another effort to improve relations with its neighbours. As was the case with Bangladesh, the department of industrial policy and promotion, which issued the notification, has mandated that investments by individuals and companies from Pakistan would need government approval.

As a result, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board will approve proposals after it receives inputs from the defence and home ministries. As reported by TOI earlier, the government has also said that investment in defence, space and atomic energy would not be permitted. The end of ban on investment from Pakistan is the latest in a series of steps that the two neighbours have taken to improve economic and trade relations over the last 15 months. Pakistan has agreed to grant most-favoured nation status, a demand pending for the last 16 years, by the end of the year and has already moved from a system of positive list to negative list.

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Re: India lifts ban on investment from Pakistan

Well, fashion houses have been doing fairly well in India, although I think they have local India partners. So they will probably start with something like that, only more directly.

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Re: India lifts ban on investment from Pakistan

I agree the with opening statements, India foreign investment laws are not that friendly, the movement of capital and profit becomes issue at certain times!!! not to mention that this new love-affair need to be tested over the time, investors, regardless of their nationality is very sensitive creature of Allah, so they will take their time to digest it, although a good decision and Pakistan should respond in kind...

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Re: India lifts ban on investment from Pakistan

step in the right direction, boosting trade will help both countries in the long run. I agree with Med911, our fashion are doing pretty good there, there was this Pakistan lifestyle exhibition in Delhi few months back and it did really well. most of the fashion houses stocks were sold out.

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Re: India lifts ban on investment from Pakistan

SBP allows two Pak banks to operate in India - thenews.com.pk

SBP allows two Pak banks to operate in India

Mehtab Haider
Friday, August 03, 2012
From Print Edition

58 0 12 0

ISLAMABAD: The central bank has allowed the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and the United Bank Limited (UBL) to open branches in India, underlining the steady progress in improving economic and trade ties between the two countries.

“Yes, we have given the green signal to UBL and NBP” to operate in India, Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Yasin Anwar told The News on Thursday.Anwar’s remarks came soon after New Delhi’s decision to remove ban on Pakistani investment in India.

The Reserves Bank of India remains in the loop regarding SBP’s decision of allowing Pakistani banks to explore opportunities in the neighbouring country, said Anwar.When asked about the institutional mechanism of trade and investment between Pakistan and India, he said the ministry of commerce is in a better position to respond to this query.

The Indian government’s decision of allowing Pakistani investments is being widely hailed on both sides of the border by businessmen and industrialists. They describe it as a big leap forward for the enhancement of bilateral trade and investment.

Pakistan never imposed restrictions on Indian investment - at least on paper. In recent months, both countries initiated a number of Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) that include Islamabad’s decision to grant the most-favoured nation status to India. India, on its part, promised to remove the non-tariff barriers, which hindered Pakistani exports.

Mohsin Khan, a former IMF official, said that bilateral trade between the two countries can jump by 20 times - to $50 billion - over mid-to-long-term period once bureaucratic hurdles, including non-tariff barriers, get removed and proper infrastructure put in place.

The bilateral trade can immediately soar to $6.0 billion from the existing $2.0 billion but lack of cargo handling facilities and infrastructure remain the main hurdles, he said. Establishing banking channels between the two countries is seen as a prerequisite to enhanced trade.

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Re: India lifts ban on investment from Pakistan

Does anyone ever see an Indian opening up an account with the National Bank of Pakistan?