Bilateral ties: Envoy asks Pakistan to adopt latest US agro-technology

Believes better security condition will attract more investors to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador David Hale has said that Pakistan is an important ally in the war on terror and America wants to further step up bilateral trade as it will be beneficial for both the countries.

Talking to a delegation of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), led by its President Khalid Iqbal Malik, the envoy said Pakistan was an agricultural economy but it was using old technology.

Pakistan could increase its agricultural productivity manifold by adopting latest agro-technology and machinery being produced by the US, he said.

Praising the improving security situation, the envoy stressed that better security conditions would attract more investors from the US and other countries to Pakistan and help trade and industrial activities to flourish.

He pointed out that the newly elected US president was a businessman, who knew very well the importance of promoting business relations with other countries.

He expressed optimism that during the tenure of the new US administration, trade and economic relations between Pakistan and the US would get a further boost.

Speaking on the occasion, ICCI President Malik put bilateral trade at around $4.533 billion in January-October 2016, but saw a lot more potential for further enhancing commerce between the two sides.

He suggested that both countries should work to facilitate direct contacts between their private sectors, which was the best way to improve trade relations.

Saying that Pakistan’s economy had suffered a huge loss of $107 billion due to the fight against terror, Malik urged the US to provide easy market access for more Pakistani products. It would prove to be the best compensation for the economic loss.

He called on the US to launch direct flights to Pakistan to help promote trade between the two sides.

Apart from defence products, both countries should focus on enhancing trade in many other areas and the embassy should play its role in bringing chambers of commerce of the two countries closer, which would help in identifying new areas of mutual cooperation, Malik said.

He described the pharmaceutical products manufactured in Pakistan as of high quality and asked the US to try to import these products for the benefit of its consumers.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2016.

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