ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said the United States is one of the largest trading partners of Pakistan and it would be in the interest of both countries to enhance their trade volume which had been hovering around $5 billion for the last five years.
He said Pakistan would like to further enhance that partnership and build closer economic ties with the US.
He was talking to Ambassador Michael Froman, US Trade Representative to Pakistan.
Nawaz thanked the ambassador for granting observer status to Pakistan on Central Asia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), which would provide a great learning experience to it.
He said foreign companies were making handsome profits on their investments in Pakistan which indicated great opportunities and potential of the country.
Preferential market access might be granted for Pakistani textile products which would greatly boost Pakistani exports to the US markets, he added.
“We are executing mega energy and infrastructure projects across the country. Our energy situation has improved significantly and we will be able to overcome the energy shortage by the year 2018,” a press release quoted Nawaz as saying.
He hoped that 8th round of TIFA Council meeting would be very fruitful and both countries would find new ways to increase bilateral trade. He said Pakistan had made substantial progress to protect Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and was removed from the Priority Watch List for IPR by the US government.
Froman said Pakistan had made tremendous progress on several fronts in the last three years. The security situation in the country improved considerably which was essential for investments and businesses, he added.
Froman also said Pakistan’s GDP growth around 4.7% was reflective of the economic turnaround achieved by sustained efforts of the government.
The meeting was also attended by Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir and Finance Minister.
The visiting delegation included US Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale, Deputy US Trade Representative Matthew Vogel, Erin Frautschy Barrows, Zeba Reyazuddin and Robert Garverick.
Froman said low inflation, increasing foreign exchange reserves to a record high level and successful completion of IMF programmes showed the prudent economic policies of the government.
