Bangkok--27 Mar--eTurboNews
“Don’t believe lurid newspaper headlines, Pakistan is a safe country for foreign investors.” This was the message conveyed by Pakistan’s Federal Minister of Commerce, Makhdoom Muhammad Amin Fahim, at a meeting in London this week.
Mr. Fahim’s visit to the UK came three weeks after the horrific attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. There had been a suicide bombing at a police station in Islamabad only the day before Mr. Fahim spoke to businessmen and journalists at Asia House. However, Mr. F cahim was anxious to dispel anxiety about conditions in Pakistan where attacks of this nature have almost become routine.
“Whenever any incident takes place, this creates horrible pictures but people in Pakistan are not too bothered by these, especially since 9/11.” Mr. Fahim said a lot of alarm was caused by media hype with news stories repeating the same story every hour. “Yes, such attacks are a matter of concern, “ Mr. Fahim conceded, “ but we are confident we will handle terrorism in Pakistan.” He also said travel advisories by the UK government and a few other countries contributed to this negative image that continues to haunt Pakistan.
The Islamabad government has invited a delegation of senior British businessmen to Pakistan this month to judge for themselves and hopefully be reassured that it is safe to invest in the country. Their safety, the minister said, would be guaranteed. “ Pakistan has spent 35 billion US dollars on the war on terrorism, especially on law enforcement agencies. We are committed to eradicate terrorism completely.”