The US Ambassador to Pakistan, David Hale called on Finance Minister, Senator Ishaq Dar on Thursday and extended him an invitation to attend the Global Connect Initiative (GCI) meeting. The US Envoy on this occasion handed over to the Finance Minister, a letter from Ms Catherine Novelli, US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment, inviting him to attend the Global Connect Initiative (GCI) meeting being hosted by the US State Department and the World Bank.
The US Ambassador said that the event, scheduled to be held on April 14, 2016, in Washington is particularly focused on bringing finance ministers of different countries, industry and multilateral development banks together. US Secretary of State, John F. Kerry, World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim and US Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew are also likely to attend the event, said a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance today.
The Ambassador further said that GCI was launched by the USA on the margins of UN General Assembly in September 2015.
The launch was joined by World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves. Ms Novelli in her letter also sought support of the government of Pakistan for the initiative and its goal to help bring an additional 1.5 billion people online by 2020. The Finance Minister, accepting the invitation, asked the US Envoy to convey his regards and thanks to Ms Catherine Novelli for extending him the invitation.