US Mission Wants To Encourage Pakistan's Entrepreneurs: Blome

Ambassador of United States Donald Blome said on Monday that the US mission wanted to encourage entrepreneurs to look at the enormous untapped potential of trade between Pakistan and USA where the priority areas would be IT, agriculture and energy sector

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jan, 2023 ):Ambassador of United States Donald Blome said on Monday that the US mission wanted to encourage entrepreneurs to look at the enormous untapped potential of trade between Pakistan and USA where the priority areas would be IT, agriculture and energy sector.

He was talking to business community here at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) where the US Consul General in Lahore William Makaneole, LCCI President Kashif Anwar, Senior Vice President Chaudhry Zafar Mahmood and Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt also spoke on the occasion. LCCI Executive Committee Members and former office-bearers were also present.

He said, Pakistan and US had 75 years of bilateral economic ties that were backbone of their relations.

The Ambassador said that US investment in Pakistan had increased by 50 percent in the last few years which was highest in decades. "I believe that there still a substantial room for growth in economic ties," he remarked.

Donald Blome said that the US was helping Pakistan to be able to resist climate disasters which included infrastructural advancement, less dependency on fuel which ultimately led to the inclusion of green energy.

There were two ways to decrease the greenhouse gas emission; one was to enhance infrastructure and the other was to decrease the dependency on oil as it also impacted on economic growth with global increased prices, he maintained.

He said that in this regard US-Pakistan Green Alliance aimed at reducing greenhouse emission.

The US Ambassador said that Pakistan's infrastructural challenges were hindering regional trade and floods had damaged the infrastructure. The US had provided more than 200 million USD for assistance and reconstruction of flood affected areas as this was difficult time for people of Pakistan. He said that Pakistan needed fundamental economic reforms in order to encourage new investment. US mission in Pakistan had also accompanied a delegation of Pakistani IT companies who participated in a show in Las Vegas, he added.

The Ambassador said that US mission wanted all members of the society to equally participate in the economic activities and inclusion of women entrepreneurs in LCCI was encouraging. The US mission was supporting women entrepreneurs through accredited exchange programmes and offering opportunities to women in energy sector, he added.

He said that IMF worked on a policy framework, though US was a large stakeholder but there were other members also. "We want to see Pakistan have a sustainable budget to put on a sound economic system," he said.

In his welcome address, LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that Pakistan and USA had excellent diplomatic relations that started soon after the independence of Pakistan in 1947. Both countries celebrated 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations last year and "we look forward to maintaining these cordial relations," he remarked.

He said that they really valued Pakistan's multi-dimensional relations with United States, which included ongoing cooperation in diverse areas including trade, investment, energy, IT, health, education, combating climate change, security, governance and counterterrorism etc.

The LCCI President said that the importance of United States in Pakistan's Economy could be judged from the fact that it was the largest export market for Pakistan and catered to around 20 percent of Pakistan's exports. United States had also been one of the leading sources of foreign investment in Pakistan since long.

"We value the compassions of US nationals for Pakistan who regularly contribute for various projects being undertaken by USAID in our country which are related to SMEs, energy sector, social sector, education, healthcare facilities and empowering young entrepreneurs especially women." Kashif Anwar said that the devastating floods of 2022 affected 33 million people in Pakistan and more than 1,700 people lost their lives. The total economic losses were estimated to be over 30 billion dollars. The sectors of housing, agriculture, livestock, and infrastructure suffered the most significant damages. "In this scenario, we are grateful to USAID for pledging 100 million dollars in the recent International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan in Geneva to support flood recovery efforts in Pakistan," he added.

The LCCI President said that at present, Pakistan was going through the hard times. "We are looking up towards friends of Pakistan especially USA for some immediate assistance to put economy of Pakistan on track," he added.

He said that a heavy percentage of energy was still generated from expensive imported fuel which had resulted in steep tariff hike and huge circular debt and "we cannot afford to sustain with that anymore." The LCCI President said that the current foreign exchange crisis had forced restrictions on the ability of banks to open LCs. Shipping containers were stuck at ports which were posing threats to the supply chain of manufacturing and industrial sectors. "We need the support of multilateral agencies to tide over this difficult time," he urged.

He added that the present scenario required some concrete policy actions on urgent basis. Government should immediately declare all the ports as bonds to save businesses from port storage charges. Considering these times of grave economic challenges, the Pakistan's business community would request the US Mission in Pakistan to play a role in convincing the shipping lines operating in Pakistan to waive off their demurrage and detention charges.

"We are of the view that import substitution through industrialization should be the top most priority, followed by enhancing exports to manage our trade and current account deficits. This can become possible through exchange of technology and digitized m-commerce agreements between US and Pakistan," he added.

He said that energy production must be enhanced from renewable sources to curtail Pakistan's import bill. There was a need for construction of dams and water reservoirs with the support of USAID. This would help prevent floods, ensure water availability for agriculture purpose and save Pakistan from becoming a water scarce country. Rain water harvesting through building new lakes and flood water channeling with the help of US assistance could prove very beneficial, he added.

The LCCI President said that according to the State Bank of Pakistan data, Pakistan's exports to US were US $ 6.8 billion in 2021-22 while the imports were around US $ 03 billion. "It is worth mentioning that our exports to US are basically dominated by textiles," he asserted.

He further stated that both countries signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement in 2003. "It is high time to move towards a Free Trade Agreement which would provide us greater market access and enable Pakistan to take its exports beyond 10 Billion Dollars to the US." He highlighted that there were great opportunities for US companies to enter into joint ventures with Pakistan companies in the areas of renewable energy, power sector equipment, manufacturing of electric vehicles, railway trains and engines.

The LCCI President said that other sectors where they saw great possibility for expanding economic partnership and technology exchange included healthcare, agriculture technology, telecommunication equipment and services.

He said, "We certainly see a tremendous role of the collaboration with US in developing our SME sector on modern lines and economic empowerment of women."Kashif Anwar said that there were more than 1,000 women entrepreneurs registered with LCCI and it was the highest number of female membership as compared to any other chamber of commerce in Pakistan. "We have various women specific standing committees at LCCI which are making all out efforts to empower women by way of organizing trainings, workshops and seminars on regular basis," he added.

He requested the Ambassador to play a supporting role in discussions between Government of Pakistan and IMF currently taking place in the context of the 9th review of IMF Programme. He also requested him to convince the IMF to allow Pakistan to initiate a declaration scheme as mentioned earlier, since it would prove to be vital in supporting the depleting foreign exchange reserves and enhancing the documentation in the economy.