Karachi: Perception Survey conducted by American Business Council showed that there was a significant improvement of over 30% in the Law and Order Situation as compared to last year.

Over 78% of respondents have indicated that they plan to invest in Pakistan over the next 12 months as compared to 65% from last year and 83% are optimistic about the long-term economic and operating climate.

The members have however separately commented about the government’s tendency to introduce mini budgets as well as sudden changes in policies or rules during course of a fiscal year. ‘Such steps negatively impact on the existing as well as new investments,’ they stated.

The perception survey allowed ABC members to rate their satisfaction on various economic, regulatory and political factors that affect the performance and growth of businesses operating in Pakistan over FY15-16.

The business climate was rated on each of the various factors influencing it; including implementation and consistency of trade and competition policies, government development budget, domestic market, internal and external political climate and law and order.

For 2015-16 the vast majority of respondents rated the business climate of Pakistan as satisfactory with only 8% giving it a poor rating. This is a marked improvement over 2014-15 when 11% of participants rated the business climate as poor. The overall positive perception of American investors reveals an expectation of some economic stability and an improvement in Pakistan’s economic environment.

With the performance of each of the various ministry directly affecting the business climate, participants were asked to rate the performance of each ministry. In this regard, the overall trend reflects a slight improvement in the performance of the various ministries from last year. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resource also showed a marked improvement with 78% of participants reporting the performance as fair and 16% reporting it as poor. In 2014-15 just 46% has rated the performance of this ministry as fair and 51% had rated it poorly.

Mr. Sami Ahmed, President of American Business Council of Pakistan, said, ‘Our members are positive and remain committed to Pakistan.’

Mr. Ahmed added that, international standing and perception is extremely important as Pakistan competes with other Asian players to attract foreign capital in the form of trade exports, human resources and most importantly foreign direct investment.

The ABC is one of the largest investor groups in Pakistan with 67 members – most of them represent Fortune 500 companies. They operate in various sectors i.e. healthcare, financial services, information technology, chemicals & fertilizers, energy, FMCG, food & beverage, oil and others. ABC members have cumulative revenues of US$ 4.0 billion. Their contribution to the National Exchequer, through direct/indirect taxes is approximately Rs. 102 billion. They exported goods worth Rs. 6.60 billion during 2015. They directly employ over 34,000 people, with 140,000 dependents, and indirectly employ approx. 1 million people through their networks of agents, distributors, contractors etc.

The ABC is affiliated with the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) and is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC), Washington D.C., and Asia-Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce (APCAC). ABC also has a close working relationship with the U.S.-Pakistan Business Council, Washington which is a component of the USCC.