Lahore - An eleven-member delegation of US businessmen, led by the Mayor of Bolingbrook (USA) Mr Roger C Claar, held meetings with their Pakistani counterparts to ensure strong sector-specific liaison.
LCCI PresidentAlmas Hyder, Senior Vice President Khawaja Shahzad Nasir, Vice President Fahim-ur-Rehman Sehgal spoke highly about the trade and economic relations between Pakistan and United States of America. The LCCI Executive Committee Members and Lord Mayor Lahore Col ® Mubasher Javed were also present on the occasion.
“It is a good opportunity to know each other,” the Mayor of Bolingbrook said and added that private sectors of United States and Pakistan can take the mutual trade and economic relations to new heights. He hoped that businessmen of both the countries would capitalize this visit and establish business relations.
He said that purpose of the visit of U.S. delegates to Pakistan is to explore business opportunities and cultural exchanges that can mutually benefit both countries. The areas of interest of the delegation members are financial services, event planning, education, telecommunication solutions and fuel injection pumps etc.
The Mayor appreciated LCCI role for promotion of trade and economic activities.
Almas Hyder said that Pakistan and USA have a long history of a multi-faceted relationship including diplomatic, strategic, cultural and economic relations. The US is the second largest trading partner of Pakistan. Among the top exporting and importing countries, US comes at 1st and 3rd places respectively, he said. He said that the total bilateral trade in 2017 went as high as dollar 6.4 billion but it has the potential to get doubled in few years through favorable policy initiatives, he said. He said that exchange of trade delegations can greatly help in this connection. It is high time that Lahore Chamber and Bolingbrook Chambers should come forward and increase the frequency of exchanging such delegations, he said.
He said, “Development of private to private contacts is the need of the hour and we are ready to play our due role in this regard.”
Later, the US delegates visited Punjab Board of Investment and Trade. A broad based discussion was held with the senior officials of PBIT over enhancement of bilateral trade and investment opportunities in Punjab.
PBIT CEO Jahanzeb Burana welcomed the esteemed guests and briefed them about the core mandate of PBIT. A well prepared presentation was shown to the delegation representing the sectoral analysis of various sectors such as food and agri, automobile, IT, construction, textile, mining, pharmaceutical, surgical, tourism, retail and logistics. While briefly discussing the mentioned sectors, he highlighted the investment opportunities and ways of exploiting the investment potential in the country. Highlighting the significance of the Special Economic Zones, Mr. Burana expressed that provided with attractive incentives, state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities, SEZ’s will make Punjab a lucrative market for investors. Mr. Haroon Shaukat added that U.S is amongst the largest trading partners and immense investments have been made in various sectors by U.S. in Pakistan.
On his part, Mayor Lahore Col (R) Mubashar Javed informed the delegates about the tremendous economic progress made by Pakistan recently and assured them that under the leadership of new government sustainable development and economic stability will be achieved gradually.
He stated that Pakistan is a growing economy and investments are highly welcomed as we aredetermined to facilitate investors from all across the world. Furthermore, he told the delegation that PBIT being the Investment Promotion Agency is facilitating potential investors in every possible regard as well as playing a pivotal role as the face of government to enhance and attract investments in all sectors thus being a bridge between investors and the government.