Nestlé brings Pakistan operations on par with global plants, plans to showcase investments at Davos
新闻台署名 来源：新华社、《黎明报》、《阿拉伯新闻》、阿纳多卢通讯社与《分钟镜报》。由 GSRRA 编辑部翻译并节选。
- Nestlé is implementing solar and biomass energy systems
Nestlé Pakistan, a subsidiary of Swiss giant Nestlé SA, has brought its manufacturing operations in Sheikhupura and Khanewal to global standards, with both facilities now fully automated and integrated with Nestlé’s worldwide systems.
This modernisation positions Pakistan’s operations on par with the company’s leading global plants, said the delegation from Nestlé Pakistan during a meeting with Federal Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday, read a statement.
The delegation from Nestlé Pakistan, led by Chief Executive Officer Jason Avancena, accompanied by Chief Financial Officer Maqsood Ahmad Anjum and Head of Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Sheikh Waqar Ahmad, briefed the finance minister on the company’s longstanding commitment to Pakistan and its plans for future expansion.
The CEO highlighted Nestlé Pakistan’s significant progress in technology-driven manufacturing.
Nestlé Pakistan delivers strong growth in Q3 CY2025
Avancena elaborated on ongoing and upcoming investments in sustainability, agricultural services transformation, enhanced manufacturing capacity, and the deployment of advanced technologies across the value chain.
He explained that Nestlé is implementing solar and biomass energy systems, digital dashboards, environmentally improved packaging, and supply-chain automation, enabling reductions in operational costs and greenhouse-gas emissions while strengthening the company’s long-term competitiveness.
During the meeting, Aurangzeb reaffirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening Pakistan’s formal economy and encouraging responsible, long-term investment.
Emphasising the government’s resolve to clamp down on the informal sector, the finance minister noted that improved compliance, transparency, and a strengthened tax ecosystem are central to Pakistan’s economic recovery.
The finance minister highlighted the establishment of the Tax Policy Office within the Finance Division as a major structural reform that will allow continuous, year-round engagement with the private sector, enabling policy refinement and effective implementation ahead of the next budget cycle.
Meanwhile, Nestlé’s delegation highlighted that the company’s localisation efforts have materially strengthened its resilience.
They noted that Nestlé Pakistan has reduced its import volumes by nearly half over the past three years, from around $150 million to approximately $76–80 million, thereby minimising exposure to foreign-exchange pressures and deepening integration with Pakistan’s agricultural and manufacturing base.
The finance minister commended these localisation efforts and underscored the government’s intention to facilitate greater formalisation and enhanced tax equity across the food and beverages sector.
He noted that the gains observed in tobacco, where formal-sector volumes have increased as enforcement tightened, represent a model that can be replicated across other industries, such as packaged juices, where informal players have rapidly expanded market share by operating outside the tax net.
The minister welcomed Nestlé Pakistan’s readiness to work with the Tax Policy Office set up in the Finance Division on potential reforms to improve tax recovery, rationalise sector-specific anomalies, and support domestic manufacturing while maintaining public-interest objectives.
The delegation also discussed export performance, including the company’s presence in markets such as the United States, Canada, the Gulf, and the United Kingdom, and shared insights into challenges related to regional trade, particularly the Afghanistan corridor.
The finance minister advised exploring logistics partnerships to expand access to Central Asian markets and reiterated the governmentis commitment to enabling export-oriented industry growth.
In the context of Nestlé’s expanded investments over the next several years, targeted toward sustainability, agricultural transformation, automation, and strengthening production capabilities in infant and dairy nutrition, the delegation conveyed Nestlé’s desire to announce these plans on the global stage.
Referring to the upcoming World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, the delegation shared that Nestlé’s global leadership, including the Executive Vice President for Zone Asia, Oceania and Africa, Remy Ejel, intends to attend the event and looks forward to a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The finance minister welcomed the proposal, confirming that the prime minister’s participation at Davos had been communicated to WEF management and assuring the delegation that the government would support the facilitation of this meeting.
He stated that discussions between Nestlé Pakistan and the Tax Policy Office will remain ongoing, ensuring timely alignment on policy options that can strengthen the domestic industry, support sustainability objectives, and enhance Pakistan’s position in regional and global markets.
Reference Link:- https://www.brecorder.com/news/40396312
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
