An eleven-member delegation of US businessmen, led by the Mayor of Bolingbrook (USA) Mr. Roger C Claar, held meetings with their Pakistani counterparts to ensure strong sector-specific liaison.
LCCI President Almas Hyder, Senior Vice President Khawaja Shahzad Nasir, Vice President Fahim-ur-Rehman Sehgal spoke highly about the trade and economic relations between Pakistan and United States of America. The LCCI Executive Committee Members and Lord Mayor Lahore Col (R) Mubasher Javed were also present on the occasion.
“It is a good opportunity to know each other,” the Mayor of Bolingbrook said adding the private sectors of the United States and Pakistan can take the mutual trade and economic relations to new heights. He hoped that businessmen of both the countries would capitalize on this visit and establish business relations.
He said that purpose of the visit of US delegates to Pakistan is to explore business opportunities and cultural exchanges that can mutually benefit both countries. The areas of interest of the delegation members are financial services, event planning, education, telecommunication solutions, and fuel injection pumps etc.
The Mayor appreciated LCCI role for promotion of trade and economic activities.
Almas Hyder said the US was the second largest trading partner of Pakistan. Among the top exporting and importing countries, US comes at 1st and 3rd places respectively. He said that the total bilateral trade in 2017 went as high as dollar 6.4 billion but it has the potential to get doubled in few years through favorable policy initiatives, he said. He said that exchange of trade delegations can greatly help in this connection.
He was of the view that development of private sector to private sector contacts was a need of the hour.
Also, the US delegation visited the Punjab Board of Investment and Trade. A broad-based discussion was held with the senior officials of PBIT over enhancement of bilateral trade and investment opportunities in Punjab.
A well-prepared presentation was made for the delegation representing the sectoral analysis of various sectors such as food and agriculture, automobile, IT, construction, textile, mining, pharmaceutical, surgical, tourism, retail, and logistics.
Highlighting the significance of Special Economic Zones, Mr. Burana said have offered attractive incentives, state-of-the-art infrastructure, and facilities and thus the zones would make Punjab a lucrative market for investors.
