LAHORE, Pakistan: Business community of Pakistan and United States should play more active role to further strengthen trade and economic ties between the two countries.
Senior Vice President Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) Almas Hyder and Vice President Nasir Saeed said this while talking to US Economic and Political Officer, US Embassy Islamabad Andrew Douhler at LCCI here on Friday.
They said that great potential exists in both countries, which could be exploited through B2B contacts and joint ventures in various economic sectors.
They said that US Consulate was playing a commendable role in developing working relations with various segments of society in general and business community in particular.
They said the US had been a very important trading partner of Pakistan since decades.
They said that there were very few countries against whom Pakistan experiences favourable balance of trade. They said that considering the role, Pakistan had been playing for USA in various fields; Pakistan business community expect to have greater access to US market.
The LCCI office-bearers said that Business to Business contacts hold key to exploit the untapped potential of trade.
For that matter, frequent exchange of trade delegations was very important.
They said that last year, a trade delegation from Lahore Chamber visited US and the delegates had successful meetings with their American counterparts.
They said that visits of delegations from US to Pakistan on reciprocal basis could play an important role to increase the mutual trade.
They said that Pakistan was currently facing challenges in retaining FDI as well as attracting new investors to focus Pakistan for investments.
They urged the US Consulate to play a positive role to promote investment in Pakistan.
They said that transfer of technology was another way to improve the current situation.
The interaction of Chambers of Commerce & Industry of the two countries could be instrumental in this regard.