NEW YORK, Sep 22 (APP): Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Thursday sought preferential trade access to the US market to boost bilateral trade between Pakistan and United States.
“We seek preferential trade access to the US market so
that Pakistan and US businesses get a fair chance of doing business with each other. Such an arrangement is necessary to boost bilateral trade,” the Prime Minister said while speaking at a luncheon co hosted by the US Pakistan Business Council (USPBC) and the US Chamber of Commerce.
He expressed the hope that the US Chamber of Commerce
and the USPBC will play their role in bringing the two countries closer on this and in convincing the US administration and Congress for its need.
“This will go a long way in strengthening the relationship between the two countries, their people and businesses,” he added.
The Prime Minister said he firmly believed that a strong
trade and economic relationship was an essential pre requisite for a stable, long term people to people relations.
The United States has remained an important economic and
trading partner of Pakistan, he said, adding, this partnership has been beneficial for private businesses of both countries and instrumental in fostering growth in Pakistan.
“However, the level of trade and investment between the
two countries has not kept pace with global trends,” he said and mentioned that recognizing this, both President Obama and he agreed in their meeting in October 2013 to jointly work on developing a Joint Action Plan to expand bilateral trade and investment flows over the next five years.
“I see tremendous potential to deepen trade, economic
and investment cooperation between our two countries.
Your role as business leaders, investors and entrepreneurs is critical in enabling our two governments to fully harness the potential,” he added.
The Prime Minister said turning around the economy,
overcoming the energy crisis, combating extremism and
terrorism and investing in education have been the key
priorities of his government ever since assuming office in
June 2013.
“I am, therefore, particularly pleased to share with you
the details of the progress achieved by Pakistan,” he added.
The Prime Minister said as a result of bold economic reforms, his Government had achieved significant improvement in all major economic indicators. Pakistan’s growth has increased and the budget deficit has been reduced, he added.
He said with a young and vibrant population of 200 million, growing consumer demand, as well as a stable economy and improved security, Pakistan offered enormous opportunities for profitable investment and trade.
Giving an overview of some of the key economic
indicators in Pakistan, the Prime Minister said inflation is now well below 3% the lowest in 47 years.
The State Bank of Pakistan in its Monetary Policy
Decision announced in May 2016 decreased the discount rate to 5.75% again lowest in last 4 decades, he added.
The Prime Minister said up gradation of the Karachi Stock Exchange to Emerging Market Index by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) was an important development.
“Pakistan’s economy is back on an upward growth
trajectory and FY 2015 16 saw growth of 4.71%, the highest in a decade. There has also been a successful revival and resumption of the strategic private sector participation program,” he added.
APP/Zaheer
