KARACHI
Senior Economic Officer of US Consulate in Karachi, Alexander Orr has said that United States wants to enhance trade and investment ties as Washington is keen to look for more investment and more trade with Pakistan.
There are lots of challenges and opportunities of enhancing trade and United States remains committed towards furthering relations with Pakistan, he added while speaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
‘US has remained actively engaged in various economic activities in Pakistan and we have been supporting Pakistan in its drive to effectively deal with energy crisis’, said Alexander Orr, “US Agency for International Development (USAID) has been cooperating with Pakistani authorities in overcoming the energy crisis being faced by the country.”
“Education is one of the highest priorities of US engagements in Pakistan. We have heavily invested in Pakistan’s education sector and lots of US-funded programmes have been undertaken to improve education. Many Pakistani students are already studying in the US and we would love to see more”, he added.
Commenting on negative perception about Pakistan, Alexander Orr said, “Perception about Pakistan is must worse than the reality that requires all of us to make efforts as it is our responsibility to send positive message about Pakistan to the rest of the world while the Pakistani government must also utilise resources to clarify these misconceptions.”
Replying to a question regarding invariable trade between Pakistan and United States during the last one decade, he said that although there are some obstacles in few sectors that need to be worked out but trade has been gradually improving between the two countries. Some positive movement in trade has been witnessed, particularly the rise in exports of mangoes from Pakistan. However, Pakistan needs to further promote its products and services in US markets. In this regard, the best way of improving trade between the two countries was to support companies and promote opportunities, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, President KCCI, Abdullah Zaki stressed the need to further enhance trade ties between Pakistan and United States as the existing trade volume was not depicting the real trade potential.
Chairman Diplomatic Affairs Sub-Committee KCCI, Abdul Jabbar Dalal, Former President KCCI, Majyd Aziz and Managing Committee members Zafar Saeed Baghpatee were also present at the meeting.