Playing host: Islamabad to welcome Pak-US Working Group

US ambassador reiterates commitment to improve economic relations.

ISLAMABAD:

In a move that will facilitate Pakistan and United States relations in the long haul, both countries have agreed, in principle, to hold the next meeting of Pak-US Working Group on Economy and Finance soon in Islamabad.

The aim of this meeting would be to deepen bilateral economic ties under the umbrella of strategic dialogue.

US Ambassador to Islamabad Richard G Olson and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar discussed bilateral economic relations, according to a handout issued by the Ministry of Finance after the meeting. US Embassy’s Economic Counsellor, Daniela Ballard also attended the meeting.

The Finance Ministry said that the US envoy exchanged views with Dar on the schedule of meetings of Pak-US Working Group on Economy and Finance as well as Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council meeting.

Olson requested Dar to give two sets of dates for holding the next round of meetings. Both sides decided that these events had great significance in furthering Pak-US economic cooperation therefore schedule of both meetings would be decided with mutual consultations. Pakistan will host the Working Group meeting while TIFA meetings would likely be held in the USA.

During Saturday’s meeting, Ambassador Olson also highlighted issues faced by the US companies in Pakistan and urged the minister to resolve the outstanding issues.

In addition, there was also discussion on the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Annual meetings scheduled to be held in Lima, Peru in October 2015.

The TIFA Council serves as a key forum for bilateral trade and investment discussions between the two countries. TIFA seeks to address impediments to greater trade and investment flows and increase economic linkages between the business communities.

The last meeting of the TIFA Council was held in Islamabad in March this year. Both sides had reviewed progress under the bilateral Joint Action Plan, a plan created by President Obama and Prime Minister Sharif in 2013 to boost two-way trade and investment.

Specifically, the two parties discussed trade promotion efforts, entrepreneurship, diversification of agriculture, intellectual property rights, initiatives to boost investment, and labor issues.

The US places the private sector in the centre of the Pak-US economic relations. Due to President Obama administration’s inability to get the trade concessions passed from the Congress, the US government has been focusing more on business-to-business relations.

During the meeting, Dar also briefed the US ambassador about the budget proceedings in the Parliament and said the government had accommodated maximum number of recommendations of the parliamentarians and other stakeholders to finalise the budget 2015-16. The government believed in passing the budget with consensus of all political parties, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2015.

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