KARACHI: Atif Ikram Sheikh, President FPCCI, has apprised that U.S. is one of the few countries in the world with which Pakistan enjoys a bilateral trade surplus; and, Pak – U.S. trade volume had crossed $7 billion mark in 2023 and continues to increase in 2024 as it has crossed $6.3 billion in the first 10 months of January – October 2024.
President FPCCI added that, from the perspective of the business, industry and trade community, we believe that this volume can potentially be doubled within a short-span of few years – given the demand of Pakistani products in the U.S.; surging information technology exports and anticipated diversification of Pakistani exports basket for the U.S.
Atif Ikram Sheikh informed that Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, Ambassador of Pakistan in the U.S., has started a consultative process with FPCCI – aimed at exploring ways and means to achieve exponential growth in exports to the U.S. It is pertinent to note that Hanif Channa, Minister for Trade & Investment in Embassy of Pakistan, Washington DC, gave a detailed briefing on the outreach initiatives being undertaken with the U.S. Congress, Senate, federal administration and various states for trade promotion.
Atif Ikram Sheikh maintained that U.S. GSP Program may be renewed and expanded; and, Pakistani exporters should remain agile and committed to make full use of the opportunities the enormous export market of the U.S. has to offer to Pakistan. He maintained that 55 percent Pakistani exports to the U.S. comprise of textiles; however, other sectors are catching up as IT exports to the U.S. have crossed the $1 billion psychological mark.
Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, SVP FPCCI, emphasized that, apart from textiles, Pakistan should focus on IT, pharma, jewelry and human resource exports to the U.S. – like our neighboring India has done on a mega-scale. Pakistani exporters need to maintain quality, standards and compliance of their exports and the Pakistani government needs to ensure regionally-competitive cost of doing business – specifically, vis-à-vis access to finance and electricity tariffs, he added.
Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, Ambassador of Pakistan in the U.S., stressed the facts that Pakistan has a very large and influential diaspora of 1 million Pakistani-Americans in the U.S.; Pakistan is the largest importer of American cotton in the world; 40,000 Pakistani doctors are working in America; 5,000 Pakistani nursing staff will soon be exported to the U.S. and pharmacists are expected to follow; U.S. considers Pakistan a strategic partner in the war against terror; bilateral defense ties remain strong and U.S. continues to be one of the top countries from where Pakistan receives foreign remittances.
Ambassador Sheikh explained that only the economies of California and Texas alone are the world’s 4th and 6th largest economies respectively – and, that pretty much sums up the importance of economic, trade, industrial, investment and B2B relations with the U.S. Things which seem impossible in political diplomacy can be achieved in economic diplomacy; and, that is where our emphasis is, he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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