Pakistan and United States will be holding talks in Washington on Tuesday to finalise a bilateral investment treaty to give protection to each other's investments in their respective countries, official sources told the Business Recorder here on Saturday. Pakistan delegation headed by Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar left for Washington on Saturday night to hold talks with US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and other administration officials.
This would be the first meeting under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) signed last year.
Sources said that there are two main items on the agenda. First, expansion of bilateral trade; and second, bilateral investment treaty for the protection of investment.
Sources said that Pakistan's effort would be to seek greater access to U S markets.
They said that the Pakistan delegation would also brief the United States about heavy cost of doing business in Pakistan which calls for preferential treatment to Pakistan in trade and investment matters.
The two sides would also discuss the ticklish issue of intellectual property rights (IPR) about which the Americans are very sensitive. In fact, they have linked the protection of US intellectual property rights to the WTO regime.
During its stay in the United States the Pakistan delegation is expected to hold talks with private sector investors and industrialists.
The delegation includes Commerce Secretary Tasnim Noorani, Joint Secretary WTO Qasim Niaz, Joint Secretary Foreign Trade and Secretary Board of Investment Jehangir Bashir. Unofficially, some industrialists and businessmen are also going to the United States to hold talks with their American counterparts.
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