Pakistan’s ambassador to Germany, Dr Mohammad Faisal, on Thursday tweeted claiming that IKEA, a multinational conglomerate that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture, is coming to Pakistan.

But soon after the news was announced in the media, the ambassador deleted his tweet and did not reply to queries sent to him regarding the development either.

To add to the surprise, Profit reported, relevant ministries in the country were also unaware of the development. Officials at Board of Investment (BoI), the premier investment promotion agency of Pakistan working under the administrative control of the Prime Minister’s Office, mandated to promote and facilitate both local and foreign investment was also unaware of the development.

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The official claimed that there was no development, not even at the initial stage, regarding investment by IKEA.

Similarly, the Ministry of Commerce, and officials at both the offices of adviser to prime minister on commerce and investment as well as secretary commerce were also unaware about the development.

The official spokesperson at Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) said that no application for the registration of the company was received by the commission.

However, SECP’s website shows the registration of a company IKEA TRADING (HONG KONG) LIMITED in 2006, at CRO Karachi. As per the SECP’s record, another firm in the name of IKEA SUPPLY AG SWITZERLAND was registered in Karachi in 2015.