Pakistan, US investors meet each other in first bilateral business moot

Purpose of conference was to get private sectors to focus on investment opportunities available in both countries.

WASHINGTON: Far from the madding crowds in DC and Islamabad, nearly 50 companies from the United States and Pakistan have met in London to discuss business opportunities in a two-day conference co-hosted by the US Trade Representative, the Embassy of Pakistan in the US and the Ministry of Commerce in Pakistan.

According to a press release, officials attending the conference include Ambassador Dan Feldman, Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Overseas Private Investment Corporation Vice President Robert Drumheller, and officials from the US embassy in Pakistan, along with members of the US Trade and Development Agency, USAID, ADB and IFC.

Billed as the first bilateral business initiative between the US and Pakistan under the Pak-US Trade and Investment Agreement, Ambassador Sherry Rehman said that this conference was “an important first step in re-building the relationship and setting it on a more sustainable axis of enhanced economic ties.” In an e-mail response, Ambassador Rehman said that she was hopeful that many of the conversations taking place in the conference would yield positive outcomes.”

However, Ambassador Rehman added that, “Many companies and institutions were bullish on Pakistan, given the rate of return we offer.”

Participants included representatives of major companies such as Proctor and Gamble, JC Penny, Target and of Pakistani organisations such as the Dewan Group and MCB amongst others. An official close to the conference said that its purpose was to get the private sectors to focus on the investment opportunities available in both countries.

The official said that a US company is also collaborating with DHA Karachi to set up an 84 MW power project and a desalination plant that would provide 3 million gallons of clean drinking water to Karachi’s residents, and that the USAID project the Pakistan Private Investment Initiative was also formally launched at the conference.

However, security remains a concern for those wanting to invest in Pakistan, which an official said needed to be addressed effectively in order to achieve foreign direct investment (FDI).

And while companies such as Proctor and Gamble are expected to continue investing heavily in Pakistan, Pakistan’s demand remains that the US fulfil its promise of providing preferential market access to Pakistan’s textile exports. Another concern, said an official, was the need to ease and simplify requirements for granting business and investment visas for Pakistani entrepreneurs.