Daily Times

Kuwait-backed companies are considering a $750 million investment in Pakistan, making it one of the country’s largest proposed investments in recent years. According to media reports, Kuwait’s Enertech Holding Co Investment Authority and Pakistan Kuwait Investment Company have both applied for a digital bank licence. Mohammad Al Fares, head of Pakistan Kuwait Investment Co, suggested a hydrogen plant and two smart towns. A $200 million water pipeline is already in the works between the two. The anticipated investments are welcome news for Pakistan, which has seen little foreign investment for more than a decade due to energy shortages, terrorism, and political unrest. Recent unrest has resulted in a change of government, while the country’s foreign exchange reserves have plummeted to less than two months’ worth of imports. According to Al Fares, Enertech and Pakistan Kuwait Investment Company have created a partership to investigate potential in Pakistan. The latter was founded in 1979 by the governments of Pakistan and Kuwait and maintains a 30 percent share in Meezan Bank Ltd., Pakistan’s fastest growing bank by deposits.