ISLAMABAD – United States – Pakistan Business Council on Thursday hosted the 3rd meeting of its virtual series ‘Explore Pakistan’ on the subject’ Enhancing Business environment and promoting industrial growth in Pakistan’.
Federal Minister for Industries & Production Mr. Muhammad Hammad Azhar, Pakistan envoy to the United States Dr.Asad M. Khan and Angela Aggeler, Chargéd’ Affairs, a.i., U.S. Embassy-Islamabad participated at a virtual forum hosted by USPBC.
Hammad Azhar on the occasion emphasized Pakistan’s determination towards exploring diversifying supply chains and capitalizing on new growth opportunities amid the global pandemic.
Addressing the members and guests from the broader business community, he underscored the constant efforts to create an enabling environment for industrial growth in Pakistan. He also highlighted Pakistan’s progress in ease of doing business as well as various measures to boost the investment climate in the country.
Ambassador Dr. Asad expressed Government’s desire to see the US corporate presence expand in Pakistan and he emphasized that there is tremendous untapped potential for expanding bilateral trade and investments that we all should together aggressively explore and facilitate.
Angela Aggeler highlighted the surge in Pakistan’s exports to the United States hit record levels in October amounting to $430 million and in November amounting to $437 million.
The discussion focused on the government’s policies to enhance the business environment and measures to revitalize the industrial sector in the general and large scale manufacturing sector in particular, including the industrial relief policy, access to cheaper energy policy, development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as capitalizing on the human resource advantage to attract investment in various sectors of the economy.
Pakistan offers promising investment returns. Since 2018, US corporations have announced plans for more than $1.5 billion of direct investment in Pakistan.
The event was an exclusive opportunity to interact with government officials on Pakistan’s economic recovery and the path to future economic growth in the aftermath of Covid-19.
