By Our Correspondent
LONDON/ISLAMABAD: Serial entrepreneur Yasir Mehmood has said that given the circumstances during the COVID-19, real estate remained the safest best for investors to park their cash in Pakistan.
Comparing real estate with stocks, especially for UK investors seeking to invest in Pakistan, Yasir Mehmood who is Chairman of Qazi Investments said: “There are many opportunities of investment but the safest for them is the real estate sector. This is the sector that has grown forever. Income opportunities are stable and massive in this sector.
“For example, if someone wants to invest in stocks from the UK then they will have to follow Pakistani stocks daily to follow the trend. That’s like being on your toes round the clock. In the real estate sector, there are no such worries involved. You have to invest and relax. Pakistan is going up and this fact is complemented with the rise in prices of houses and real estate investments.”
Yasir Mehmood’s company Qazi Investments is on the of the largest Pakistani real estate marketing companies in the world which has served over 10,000 non-resident Pakistanis. Yasir Mahmood has achieved immense success in the property sector of Pakistan and the UK over the course of around 09 years.
Qazi Investments is responsible for remitting approximately 50 billion PKR from around 40 countries back to Pakistan through property investments.
Yasir Mahmood said: “We have facts and figures with us. This is no small feat to send such a huge clean amount to Pakistan to help the engine of growth. I am glad that we were able to do this due to the confidence of overseas communities who have shown trust in us. It will come as a surprise to many that most of our clients sent money to Pakistan after being referred to us either by a friend, relative or someone else who has been our client and liked our services. We don’t over promise. We deliver more than what we promise and that distinguishes us from the rest in the market.”
The Pakistan Property Expo, Property Road Show and various investment events have been hosted by Qazi Investments under the leadership of Yasir Mehmood in the previous years.
Yasir, who was born to a middle class family in Pakistan, moved to the UK in 2006 for education and started his career in real estate in 2008. In just four years, Yasir founded his own real estate company in 2012 and started promoting investments in Pakistan since he was passionate about improving Pakistan’s economy through foreign investment.
Under Yasir’s leadership, Qazi Investments has diversified its portfolio in to not just real estate but also education, retail, development as well as the fitness industry in the UK and Pakistan.
After a spectacular success in business, Yasir has also moved his focus to philanthropic activities both in the UK and Pakistan.
Until recently Yasir Mahmood operated his three offices in London, Peterborough and Manchester but after the demand for his projects became increasingly high, he decided to shift to Islamabad to manage his business from there. His offices are now looked after by his team in the UK while Yasir works full time from his Islamabad base to manage projects across Pakistan.
Yasir said: “Parking money in the real estate sector is the safest bet. The Covid-19 pandemic has made everyone realize that the countries they thought were the safest to live and invest were, after all, not that safe and secure. This has struck a realization in many ways that it’s always safe to have an investment in countries like Pakistan, the second home investment. We are seeing an increase in people from the west investing in second homes.”
Yasir Mehmood also appreciated the government’s tax amnesty scheme where the sources of funds are not required to be shown before investing in Pakistani real estate.
Yasir believes that this will fundamentally increase investment in Pakistan and make Pakistan more attractive for investors across the world. According to industry experts, the immunity from declaring source of income is a popular scheme and overseas Pakistanis have invested in large numbers in recent months to avail the scheme before it expires at the end of December this year.
This is the second tax amnesty scheme by the Government in 2020 which will make Pakistan more attractive for investments, Yasir Mahmood said.