US Consul General Zachary Harkenrider has said his country is well aware of the energy crisis being witnessed by Pakistan and ready to provide every possible assistant. "Most of the US assistance to Pakistan is focused on energy that is a must for economic growth of the country," he told the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, here on Friday.
LCCI President Ijaz Mumtaz, Senior Vice President Mian Nauman Kabir and former president Irfan Qaiser Sheikh also spoke. The consul general said, "There is a great scope for stronger trade and economic ties between the two countries and private sector can play an important role in this regard."
LCCI chief said the US Consulate was playing a commendable role in developing working relations with various segments of society, in general, and business community in particular. He also urged the US Consulate to start the visa processing facility at the Consulate Lahore Office as Lahore-based business community had to go to Islamabad for obtaining visa from the embassy while the Consulate in Karachi is processing visas.
He said Washington had been an important trading partner of Islamabad for decades. Regarding top exporting and importing countries, Americans came at the first and eight places, respectively. He said there are very few countries against which Pakistan experiences favourable balance of trade. USA tops this list with a total worth of 2.1 billion dollars.
LCCI chief said business-to-business contacts hold key to exploit the untapped potential of trade. For that matter, frequent exchange of trade delegations was very important. He said last year, a trade delegation from LCCI visited America and had successful meetings with their American counterparts. He said visits of delegations from America to Pakistan on reciprocal basis could play important role to increase the mutual trade. He said the role of the USAID in Pakistan was appreciable and that it could also be taken as a model by American-based investors.