ISLAMABAD: On Tuesday, the Pakistani diaspora in the United States requested that Islamabad develop a long-term strategy to ensure predictability in policymaking and ease of doing business in order to attract manufacturing investment.
At a panel discussion titled “US-Pakistani Diaspora’s Commercial Investments in Pakistan,” members of the diaspora talked about the challenges and opportunities they face in the construction, real estate, technology, tourism, hospitality, e-commerce, and manufacturing industries right now and in the future.
A one-day engagement conference was held by the US Mission in Pakistan through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in close cooperation with the US-Pakistani diaspora. Over one hundred people showed up in person, including prominent local business leaders and members of the US-Pakistani diaspora.
"The U.S. government has provided nearly $100 million in flood-related relief. With the assistance of our Pakistani partners, we delivered food, medicine, water & shelter to about two and a half million people." -Chargé d’Affaires #AndrewSchofer 1/3 pic.twitter.com/QbySzRoU9V
— USAID Pakistan (@USAID_Pakistan) December 20, 2022
Leading businessmen from the United States and Pakistan identified a lack of consistency in policies, insufficient energy, and improvements to the ease of doing business as factors that could attract investments to Pakistan. In addition, it was emphasized that Pakistan does not have a succession plan for maintaining policy continuity and a smooth transition of government.
Zeeshan Shah, the Ambassador at Large to the Prime Minister for Investments, concurred with the majority of the points made, particularly the lack of policy consistency. He said this is the result of a juvenile popularity based government in Pakistan. He regretted the policies that previous governments had abandoned.
Mr. Shah stated that only a long-term plan could handle this situation. A national economy charter is needed, he said, adding that the charter will give economic policies certainty.
During the discussion, it was also mentioned that Pakistan’s economic policies favor real estate investments and encourage the import of finished goods. In Pakistan, there is no effective strategy to encourage manufacturing sector investments.
The US Embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires, Andrew Schofer, emphasized at the conference that the US views the US-Pakistani diaspora as a crucial partner in Pakistan’s humanitarian, social, and commercial sectors.
Mr. Schofer emphasized the long history of cooperation between Pakistan and the United States in advancing Pakistan’s economic growth and resolving development issues. Additionally, he pointed to potential partnerships in the future: A “Green Alliance” between the United States and Pakistan will assist us in jointly strengthening climate resilience, developing clean energy alternatives, and fostering economic growth, just as the Green Revolution improved lives in the past.
The US-Pakistani diaspora’s important contributions and investments in the humanitarian, social, and commercial sectors were shown off at the conference, which also looked into possibilities for future collaborations.
USAID signed two partnership memoranda of understanding with US-Pakistani diaspora organizations during the closing session: one with Datarocx to set up computerized focuses in Pakistan in the Exceptional Innovation Zones and the other with Worldwide Semiconductor Gathering and Murmur Organization Restricted for Pakistan Katalytic Asset to further develop admittance to development capital for laid out organizations in the innovation area.
