15 US trade delegations to visit Pakistan this year: Malik

ISLAMABAD: Pak-U.S. Business Council Founder Chairman Iftikhar Ali Malik said on Saturday that 15 high-level U.S. trade delegations would visit Pakistan this year to enhance volume of trade and further explore investment avenues in various sectors to help boost and accelerate economic activities in the country.
He disclosed it while talking to a 10-member delegation of leading exporters from Faisalabad led by Rana Anwaar-ul-Haq and Rana Tariq Anwaar,” said a press release.
He said Pakistan was keen to further expand economic ties with the United States and to explore full economic potential of bilateral relations through joint ventures.
He said the business community in Pakistan was ready to welcome United States trade delegations to Pakistan to further explore possibilities for expanding trade with the country with open heart.
Iftikhar Malik urged the U.S. investors to explore the country as an investment destination, and pointed out that reputable international firms and investors from Europe and Asia have been investing in Pakistan.
He assured his full support to the U.S. investors interested in pursuing investment opportunities in Pakistan.
He further said there was a dire need of high-level bilateral discussions of working groups on agriculture, economics and finance, energy, market access, and science and technology.
He also underscored the opportunities available for industrial development in the special economic zones of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), including the relocation of industries from abroad to benefit from low wages of the skilled workers in Pakistan.
He said the CPEC has created plenty of opportunities for joint ventures and investment in Pakistan and it was the right time for U.S. investors to visit in Pakistan and grab these opportunities for developing sustainable business partnerships with Pakistani counterparts.
He urged the local traders and investors to chalk out plans to take American investors to Special Economic Zones (SEZs) especially the Allama Iqbal Industrial City of Faisalabad, the Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) under the CPEC.
Malik said American energy producers were seeing more and more business opportunities with Pakistan and American companies are incorporating cutting-edge technologies into energy projects throughout Pakistan.
He opined that Pakistani pharmaceutical companies were mostly importing raw material to produce medicines and stressed that the U.S. investors should try to set up raw material producing plants in Allama Iqbal Industrial City as this business has immense scope in Pakistan.
Besides this, he further said all industries within the export processing zone would be exempted from tax for a period of 10 years and plants, machinery, raw material and other equipment would be imported duty-free.
Reiterating his earlier stance, he said Pak-U.S. Business Council was ready to play its role for enhancing cooperation with key organisations in both countries to ensure cohesive and coordinated strategies in promoting U.S. private sector interests in Pakistan.
Rana and Anwaar said exporters would definitely facilitate the U.S. traders’ delegations and involve Pak-U.S. Business Council to make their visit result oriented and successful.
They also demanded free access to U.S. markets in view of Pakistan colossal sacrifices to stamp out menace of terror in the region. - APP