US Ambassador Anne W Patterson has said that a stable, democratic and prosperous Pakistan free of militant extremism will make America safer and more prosperous. She was speaking to the members of the Management Association of Pakistan (MAP) at a local hotel on Thursday.
Since 2001, the United States has provided almost a billion dollars a year to reimburse Pakistan for the costs of fighting militancy, said Anne W Patterson. "This money does not go directly to the security services, but is deposited in the central government's account or in other words, it is a direct cash transfer to the Ministry of Finance", she said. The Ambassador pointed out that Pakistan is now the third largest recipient of the US assistance in the world.
The ambassador dispelled that the United States only works with Pakistani military and maintained that the US has designed its programs in close co-ordination with Pakistanis, both in the public and private sectors, to ensure that the assistance meets real concerns and help the people who need it most. However, she admitted that the security assistance is certainly an important part of US engagement with Pakistan.
"Extremists killed more than 1,000 Pakistanis in the last year and the Prime Minister Gilani rightly describes the fight against extremism as Pakistan's war in these circumstances. The United States is your partner in this fight, and we seek to support you on several levels," she maintained.
She said that United States has a number of programs to promote Pakistan's security. The US is providing about $300 million in direct assistance to Pakistan's military, and with its own money Pakistan would also purchase defence systems from the United States, she added.
"We also have a program for refurbishing or building more than 150 Pakistan-Afghanistan border outposts. We also donate equipment to the military and law enforcement agencies. And, over the past five years, the United States has trained more than 6,000 Pakistani police and security officials," said Ambassador.
She said that US is also attempting to aim its assistance at the root causes of extremism and its prime example is five-year, $750 million commitment to development in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
"Our assistance responds to the Government of Pakistan's sustainable development plan for the Fata. Through jirgas, interviews with community leaders, and other efforts to discover what people in the Fata most needed, the Government of Pakistan developed its nine-year, $2 billion master plan for the Fata," said Patterson.
She ruled out the impression that United States wants to resolve Pakistan's problems by force, or is pressing Pakistan's government to use force and termed it a 'foolish policy'. "In fact, the United States has been involved in assisting the tribal areas in a modest way for years and has built more than 500 kilometres of roads and 800 small irrigation and electricity schemes," claimed Patterson.
The Ambassador said that the American assistance to Pakistan is not only limited to the FATA as the US spent $2.3 billion on health, education, economic development, and earthquake reconstruction assistance in Pakistan over the last five years. "We also contribute $20 million a year to Pakistan's Fulbright Scholarship Program, which is the largest in the world," said the Ambassador.
Besides, Patterson said, the US Government is investing $150 million per year to raise the quality of Pakistan's public education system. These programs are improving teacher education, both for new teachers and those who are already in the classrooms, she added.
Patterson said that the US government is encouraging American investors to look to Pakistan as a destination for their franchises and new ventures. "One of the ways we hope to encourage new development is through legislation pending in the US Congress to establish new Reconstruction Opportunity Zones along the Afghanistan border," she maintained.
Pakistan has a wealth of entrepreneurial talent, observed Patterson and maintained that a young labour force with decades of productivity is there which have an appetite for consumer goods and services, but also for education and health services.
Patterson said that the violation of intellectual property rights continues to be a major deterrent to local and foreign investment in Pakistan and the country must address it in order to become a regional economic force. Countries that best protect intellectual property rights can attract more capital and provide more jobs for their people, she said and added that the business leaders of Pakistan should demand immediate action on IPR before the Pakistani arts, pharmaceutical, and IT industries are able to take off internationally.
Patterson said that the United States also wanted to reopen with the new government discussions on a Bilateral Investment Treaty, as it would give an added measure of confidence to investors.
The USAID and Pakistan's Ministry of Finance have also partnered to create the Competitiveness Support Fund that provides technical assistance and co-financing for entrepreneurial initiatives, business incubators, and private sector-led initiatives with research institutes and universities to contribute to the growth of Pakistan's knowledge-based economy, said Ambassador.
The Ambassador admitted that like every other American administration before it, the Bush administration has also made mistakes. But the depth of anti-Americanism in Pakistan surprised her, as according to her, Pakistan's long-term interests are aligned with US and with those of other western countries.
Many people particularly here in Pakistan do not realise the foreign policy of US, she said and added that her country considered Pakistan critically important in view of security, US relations with others in the Muslim world, and America's continued economic success.
The ambassador said that United States firmly supported the democratic transition with resources and influence, and it want to do everything possible to help the new government succeed. We are trying to conduct American policy and programs in Pakistan in a totally transparent manner and especially want Pakistanis to know and understand the interests we share," said Patterson. She maintained that the transition of democracy has been successfully completed in Pakistan and President Musharraf is no longer running the government matters.
Patterson observed that the tens of thousands of Pakistanis, who visit the United States every year, whether for business or pleasure, make a major contribution to mutual understanding. She ruled out the possibility to offer a nuclear deal by USA to Pakistan for civilian purposes, as the latter had done with India, maintaining that the nuclear proliferation activities by Pakistani people had made it difficult for any US government to ask Congress for permitting any such deal.
The Ambassador maintained that the increasing foreign investment in various sectors of Pakistan is surprising in view of present security concerns, adding that the investment might further be grown if the law and order situation of the country improved. Commenting over Iran-Pakistan-India Gas Pipeline, Patterson said US government has some apprehensions about the project as USA had put sanctions over Iran.
She also lauded the role of Pakistani media and said that the independent press is necessary for a state. She hinted at initiating joint ventures in the media sector by the two countries. She said that the Management Association of Pakistan has become one of Pakistan's most prestigious organisations in the past 46 years and its members must be proud to carry on its traditions.
Earlier, in his welcome address, President MAP Asif Qazi said that the MAP was founded in 1964 by a group of like-minded entrepreneurs. With 270 institutional and 550 individual members, the MAP is the largest taxpayer group of the country that contribute about 23 percent in the country's GDP, he claimed.
He said that around 200,000 employees are presently working in various organisations governed by the MAP's members, whom he termed the 'corporate elite' of the country. Amongst others, Consulate General of US in Karachi Kay L Anaske, Secretary General MAP Farooq Hasan and many renowned entrepreneurs and industrialists also present at the occasion.
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