Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar has said that Pakistan is seeking innovations in information technology and agriculture at the first ministerial-level meeting of a Pak-US trade and investment group in seven years.
Qamar is expected to meet with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and other top US officials on Thursday as part of the US-Pakistan Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.
According to Qamar, the meeting would improve relations between the two nations, which had recently been strained due to political tensions. It might also assist increase bilateral trade in goods and services, which the Pakistani embassy estimates was currently worth $12 billion.
He remarked, “We must start conversing. These are meant to be annual gatherings, but for whatever reason, they have been put off for so long. There are other areas where we anticipate some progress now that we are underway, on both sides.”
The meeting was listed in Tai’s office’s public schedule, but no remark was provided right away.
He said that Pakistan wanted to grow its mango exports to the US and ensure seamless increased trade in IT and computer programming services. The US side wanted to increase the exports of soybeans and cattle.
“We’re focusing on these issues because that’s where things would start happening straight immediately when we talk about trade,” he added.
During a protracted period in which China took the lead as an investor, he added that Pakistan aimed to entice more US investment, with an emphasis on Technology and medicines.
Pakistan was strategically positioned to assist in diversifying US supply chains, which were previously dependent on China but have begun to turn to other regional suppliers.
According to Qamar, it might act as a gateway to Central Asia.
