Chairman Board of Investment, Azfar Ahsan, on 15 April, after five months of service, tendered his formal resignation from the head of the office of the Board of Investment. Azfar Ahsan became the fourth ever person to be appointed to the seat of Chairman Board of Investment when the cabinet approved his appointment in November 2021. He was preceded by Atif Bokhari, who vacated the seat because of “personal reasons”. The Board of Investment is a premier investment promotion agency that works under the administration of the Prime Minister’s Office. The agency promotes and facilitates both local and foreign investments.
In the letter of his resignation, the chairman admitted that the foreign direct investment inflow had capped at $3 billion, but he believed that it has the potential to grow exponentially. The Board of Investment has been very active in encouraging investments in Pakistan.
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In the most recent bid, the Board organized the Pakistan Investors Meet-up 2022, which was also attended by foreign business community from Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Cameron, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, other African and CARs, and the investment promotion team of BOI. Chairman BOI Azfar welcomed the opportunity and highlighted the need to establish mechanisms to promote bilateral engagement.
It is pertinent to mention that under Azfar Ahsans’ leadership, the Board of Investment successfully instituted 125 regulatory reforms (Asaan Karobar Program). The Board also established the Pak-China Business Investment forum and signed the framework agreement with China under his chair. The outgoing Chairman Board of Investment thanked the ousted Prime Minister in his letter and wrote, “I am grateful to former Prime Minister Mr. Imran Khan for entrusting me with this portfolio. I believe I have served. Pakistan’s interest well integrity and character.”
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Azfar Ahsan is the founder of Corporate Pakistan Group (CPG), which includes corporate and business leaders, ministers, senators, governors, federal secretaries, politicians, distinguished academicians, energy experts, tech entrepreneurs, defense personnel, police officers, foreign policy experts, media practitioners, and the movers and shakers of civil society. He is also the founder of the Nutshell group, which has hosted over 3,000 foreign delegates from over 45 countries in Pakistan, including academicians, ministers, and executives.
In his letter, Ahsan underscored that he would continue to bring and attract foreign investments and “do so on a much bigger scale with renewed passion and vigor.”
Azfar Ahsan further added that “I am very optimistic about our country’s future. BOI and my beloved Pakistan will continue to have my full support in the social and economic revival of the country”.
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