KARACHI: Former Federal Minister and prominent businessman, Gohar Ijaz, strongly urged businessmen to invest in Pakistan and not in Dubai which has become a trend nowadays.
He made this revelation at a dinner hosted by prominent businessman and former senior vice president FPCCI Bashir Jan Muhammad on the occasion of the historic unity of the United Business Group (UBG) and the Businessmen’s Panel (BMP).
Former federal minister and prominent industrialist Gohar Ijaz graced the event as the chief guest. The event was attended by business leaders, industrialists, leadership of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and representatives of various business organisations from across the country in large numbers.
Addressing the ceremony, Gohar Ijaz said that Zubair Tufail, Nasir Hayat Maggo and Sheikh Riaz played the role that was needed for this alliance and their efforts ensured this alliance. He said that holding elections is a good thing but continuous electoral politics has distanced the business community from its real purpose, i.e. serving the country’s economy. Six months of the year are spent in contesting elections but this does not solve the problems.
He paid tribute to SM Tanveer and Anjum Nisar and said he listened to the matter and made the alliance possible through mutual consultation, which had the full support of Zubair Tufail and Khalid Tawab.
According to Gohar Ijaz, everyone sacrificed their ego and made this unity possible, which is a positive and necessary step.
While discussing the economy in detail, Gohar Ijaz said that apparently the capital market has increased from 40,000 points to 160,000 and it is being called the best performing market, but the real question is whether the income of the people and the business class has increased? He said that earlier the national income was 1.2 trillion rupees, which increased to 1.8 trillion rupees in 2025, but an increase of 600 billion rupees was only in the banking sector, while the rest of the corporate sector stands where the market was at 40,000 points.
Gohar Ijaz revealed that in a recent meeting with the presidents of four banks, it was found that no bank has done any new project financing in the past one year because no new project has come forward. He said that in the next few years, 2.5 million youth will complete their education and enter the market. The question is, “does the business community have any roadmap for their employment?”
Gohar Ijaz said that exports are not increased by the government but by industrialists, while Pakistan has been standing at the level of USD 30 billion for the last five years. He said “currently there are rollover deposits of USD 14 billion in the country. Pakistanis bought USD 10 billion worth of property in Dubai in 2023-24, while only USD 3 billion worth of loans came for rollover.” He revealed that real estate investment by Pakistanis in Dubai has crossed USD 100 billion, which is more than the country’s debt.
He said “if this capital had remained in Pakistan, would our GDP rate have been less than six percent? Pakistanis have more properties in Dubai than in Pakistan, but they should be buried in Pakistan. The country’s debt is on our heads and politics has damaged the economy, now it is time for everyone to work together for the country.”
Regarding the upcoming elections of the Federation, Gohar Ijaz announced that a five-member committee has been formed to select candidates, headed by Bashir Jan Muhammad, while Zubair Tufail and Khalid Tawab will represent UBG and Nasir Magoun and Sultan Chawla will represent BMP. This committee will decide the candidates.
SM Tanveer said that this alliance has been made for Pakistan and now it is “Team Pakistan”. He said “the real enemies are inflation, high interest rates, expensive electricity and high business costs, not each other’s groups. Now we have to show that we have won the battle of economy.”
Anjum Nisar, the head of the Businessmen Panel, said that this alliance was possible after five years of struggle. “We are not politicians but businessmen and industrialists.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
