US envoy for deepening bilateral trade ties

Stresses Washington wants to initiate new era of cordial relations


Imran Rana June 29, 2019
PHOTO: FILE

FAISALABAD: The US Consulate General is making utmost efforts for further deepening existing relations between Pakistan and the US, said US Consulate Lahore Consul General Collen Crenwelge.

Addressing business Community at the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI), she said a large number of American companies were already present in Pakistan while the US government was also undertaking many welfare and technical projects.

She informed the audience that the US wanted to initiate a new era of cordial relations between the two countries. US Consulate General Commercial Specialist Hassan Raza said Pakistan and America were collaborating in different sectors of the economy including agriculture, energy and education.

Regarding agriculture, he underlined that a number of training programmes had been conducted to increase per-acre yield of crops in Pakistan while efforts were under way to introduce high-yielding seed varieties of different crops.

He promised full facilitation to Pakistani seed importers in establishing direct contacts with American seed companies. Regarding solar energy, he told the businessmen that a conference on the cheap energy source was scheduled to be held in the US in December 2019 and assured them of providing details so that interested FCCI members could participate. About project investment, he requested the FCCI members to provide maximum technical details so he could arrange business-to-business meetings with relevant American counterparts.

Speaking on the occasion, FCCI President Syed Zia Alumdar Hussain briefly introduced the Faisalabad city and the FCCI.

"Relations between Pakistan and America have seen ups and downs but it is a hard fact that bilateral trade has always remained in favour of Pakistan," he said. "Pakistan's exports stand at around $3.8 billion while imports are worth $2.9 billion."

He was of the opinion that due to the protracted Afghan war, the bilateral trade volume was way below the true potential.

Hussain added that in view of the understanding of the two countries, the trade volume must be around $10 billion and urged both sides to make serious efforts in that regard.

He pointed out that a delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank had visited FCCI this year and now US investors should start investing in Pakistan as cheap human resources were available in abundance.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29th, 2019.

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