Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that his government would strive for resolution of the energy crisis within its tenure and invited expatriate Pakistanis to invest in the area that promises attractive returns. In an hour-long address to the Pakistani-American community, the Prime Minister, who is on a four-day official visit to Washington, said that during his meeting with US top officials, he strongly advocated the case for more trade with the United States, instead of reliance on aid.
He said when American officials at the dinner hosted by Secretary of State John Kerry asked him what could the US do for Pakistan, he candidly told them that Pakistan wanted the US to materialise greater trade access for Pakistani products. "The United States is Pakistan's largest trading partner --- we want greater trade and want to remove roadblocks in the way of expansion of trade," he added.
The two and a half-hour dinner hosted by Secretary Kerry on Sunday at the State Department was attended by National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, CIA Chief and other senior officials. In the bilateral Pakistan-US relationship, both countries should work on the basis of equality and both should address mutual concerns, he said.
To the Pakistani-Americans, the Prime Minister assured of his support for an end to discriminatory treatment towards overseas Pakistani on the basis of their dual nationality. Nawaz Sharif revealed at the widely attended dinner in a Washington hotel that the government would shortly announce a package of incentives to facilitate expatriate Pakistanis' investment in various sectors of the economy. In this respect, he cited the example of Gaddani Energy Park and asked Pakistanis-Americans to come forward and build coal-based power projects.
He said the government will establish two projects while the private sector would build eight. Each project will produce 160 MW of power, he added. As part of efforts to overcome energy shortages, the government would go for construction of two large dams and power projects including Diamer Bhasha and Dasu, which will have the capacity to produce 15000 to 16000 MW of power, he said.
"You should come and see in what areas you can invest in windmills you can pool resources there is a lot of profit in energy ventures." Amid applause from the gathering, he vowed to provide business transparency to expatriate investors, saying different plants will have tariff rates accordingly. He also asked Pakistani-Americans to establish industry. Nawaz Sharif also promised to provide one-window operation facility to ease doing of business for overseas investors.
Rapid development, he stressed, will generate employment opportunities and help curb the menace of extremism. On the question of dual nationality, the Prime Minister believed that all Pakistanis inside the country and those living in foreign lands are patriotic Pakistanis, irrespective of holding different nationalities.
"There should not be discriminatory treatment we shall consider an amendment to remove this discrimination", he added. He also informed the gathering that Pakistan and China have agreed to establish an economic corridor from Kashghar to Gwadar that will run through all provinces but mostly through Balochistan and said Pakistani expatriates can also do business in economic zones.
The government also intends to extend the motorway network right up to Karachi and develop Gwadar port on the lines of Dubai, he added. The Prime Minister told the gathering that he has no magic wand to resolve issues but his government is strongly determined to pull the country of the morass of challenges.
He was confident that his government would be able to resolve the energy crisis. "The challenges we face are big -- but we have to pull the country through crisis we will work steadfastly and determinedly I have full confidence that with consistent efforts Pakistan will be able to curb extremism and terrorism." He also touched on the democratic transition in Pakistan but said due to derailment of democracy and disrespect for the Constitution in past, Pakistan wasted a lot of precious time, which could have brought tremendous development in the country. He said the government has respected the mandate of political parties in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and even in Balochistan, where PML-N was in majority. In the same democratic spirit, his government has also prevented the change of PPP regime in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
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