Former President Asif Ali Zardari has stressed the need to increase the export of Pakistan rather than bringing foreign investors who will take their returns out of the country.

“I do not believe in bringing foreign investors to the country,” said the PPP co-chairman during a session on the “Charter of Economy” of the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lahore on Wednesday.

“They will take [dollars] from you and then take it out of the country. It is their business to do it,” said Zardari asking “We are not earning any money. How will we spend money if we are not earning it?”

He said there is a need to increase the export to the $200 billion level.

The government keeps taxing the already tax-burdened, he said. “We should make people rich first and then impose taxes.”

He was of the view that the government should promote the private sector which can contribute significantly to economic stability.

The former president said that it is not for the elected government to run businesses, as they are there to form policies on how to run government affairs. “It is the private sector that constructs bridges, roads, and infrastructure all over the world.”

It is evident from the bridges built on the Indus River, built through public-private partnerships, he said, adding that the buses running in Karachi are also not owned by the government but by a private company.

For him, the canal systems in the country can be a big source for producing energy.

“We want to use dams for the use of the agriculture sector,” Zardari said, adding that PPP wants to produce 150MW of electricity from the canals in Sindh.

The same model can be deployed in Punjab, where the produced electricity can be supplied to the villager’s and rulers’ areas, he said.