US Deputy Secretary of State Thomas R Nides and Pakistan Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh co-chaired the US Pakistan Economic and Finance Working Group in Washington, on Friday. The working group focused on expanding bilateral economic engagement, particularly in the areas of trade and investment. Both sides committed to broadening private sector ties between their two countries.
Deputy Secretary Nides highlighted the US Government's many initiatives in this area, including a Pakistan investment conference in London hosted by the Office of the US Trade Representative in October, the launch of the Pakistan Private Investment Initiative, and a series of conferences and virtual meetings devoted to training and mentoring Pakistan's entrepreneurs.
Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh during the meeting appreciated the US economic partnership with Pakistan and said it would be vital for bilateral relations on long-term basis. He also lauded Washington's role in realising European Union preferential programme for Pakistani exports, and said Pakistan was negotiating with US to increase trade instead of aid.
In other meetings, senior State Department officials and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah also highlighted the positive results of ongoing civilian assistance programmes in Pakistan, including significant contributions in sectors critical to economic growth, such as the addition of more than 400MW of capacity to Pakistan's power grid and the construction of over 650km of roads to date.
Both sides agreed that Pakistan's prosperity was predicated on energy sector reform; the US welcomed Pakistan's commitment to undertake the reforms needed to attract greater investment. The US commended Pakistan's recent efforts to expand economic co-operation with its neighbours. Both sides discussed ways to improve trade and transit with Afghanistan and the Central Asian republics, citing the importance of enhanced trade for the region's stability and prosperity.
The US welcomed the Government of Pakistan's plans to extend most-favoured-nation status to India by the end of the year. The US delegation included senior representatives from the Department of State, USAID, the Office of the US Trade Representative, and the National Security Staff.
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