Pakistan's exports to US continue upward trend: Masood Khan

Pakistan Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan said on Saturday that Pakistan’s year-on-year exports to the United States have increased by 23%, adding that last year, the total volume of exports, for the first time, crossed the $5 billion mark, APP reported.

During this financial year, exports have already grown to $6.16 billion in the July-May 2021-22 period.

The ambassador said that Pakistan’s total exports to the US in the sectors of services and IT crossed the $2 billion mark. Cumulatively, the total volume of exports should be more than $8 billion, including services and IT.

The figures of June, which have yet to come, he said, would further enhance the overall volume of total Pakistan’s exports to the US.

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“The United States is an important trading partner and the single largest export destination for Pakistan. The spurt in our exports is a very promising trend”, a press release issued on Saturday quoted ambassador Masood Khan as saying.

The ambassador stressed that Pakistan’s tech sector, supported mainly by the United States’ entrepreneurs, has shown extraordinary results, adding that it is poised to continue on its positive trajectory.

In recent months, the tech startups in Pakistan had invested and earned half a billion dollars. As per Invest2Innovate's (i2i) deal flow update, in the first six months of 2022, Pakistani startups raised $274.7 million with 37 deals.

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Last year was the best year for the budding startup sector of the country, with 81 deals made. The amount of $350 million that was raised was more than 5x what was raised in 2020 i.e. $65 million.

“The Pak-US partnership in the tech sector will grow in strength in the years to come”, Masood Khan said.

He said, in the last financial year, Pakistan’s imports from the United States stood at $2.4 billion. In the July-May 2021-22 period, these have increased to $2.72 billion.

"Imports from the United States increased marginally whereas there had been a huge rise in Pak’s exports," he said.

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In the recent past, the ambassador said, Pakistan has emphasised closer trade and investment ties between Pakistan and the United States. The remarkable performance of Pakistan’s exports to the US market would reinforce such trends and deepen the engagement between the two countries.

Pakistan and the United States held an inter-sessional meeting on trade and investment in March 2022, which was led by Christopher Wilson, Assistant US Trade Representative, from the US side, and Secretary Commerce Muhammad Sualeh Ahmad Faruqui, from the Pakistani side.

Both sides are preparing for a Ministerial meeting under Trade and Investment Framework (TIFA) during summer or early fall this year.