Investing in Pakistan

Pakistan offers one of the most liberal investment regimes in the world. Facilitation for investors’ confidence and providing conducive environment to attract local and foreign investment is its cornerstone. The key features of Pakistan’s investment regime are as shown in the table below:

Policy Parameters	Manufacturing Sector	Non-Manufacturing Sectors
Policy Parameters	Manufacturing Sector	Agriculture	Infrastructure & Social	Services including IT & Telecom Services
Govt. Permission	Not required except 4 specified industries *	Not required except specific licenses from concerned agencies.
Remittance of capital, profits, dividends, etc.	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
Upper Limit of foreign equity allowed	100%	100%	100%	100%
Customs duty on import of PME	5%	0%	5%	0-5%
Tax relief (IDA, % of PME cost)	25%	25%	25%	25%
Royalty & Technical Fee	No restriction for payment of royalty & technical fee.	Allowed as per guidelines – Initial lump-sum upto $100,000 – Max Rate 5% of net sales – Initial period 5 years

* SPECIFIED INDUSTRIES

Arms and ammunitions
High Explosives.
Radioactive substances
Security Printing, Currency and Mint.
No new unit for the manufacturing of alcohol, except, industrial alcohol ** Only for CAF (Corporate Agriculture Farming)

PME = Plant, Machinery and Equipment

IDA = Initial Depreciation Allowance

The Government of Pakistan has updated its policy regarding ‘Gifting of Vechicles under Import of Vehicle Policy.’ For more details please click here.