KARACHI: Consul General of United States in Karachi, Brian Heath, while highlighting US Assistance Program for Pakistan, said that United States has been helping Pakistan to become a stable, prosperous and democratic nation as all these three elements are critical to success and co-dependent on one another.
Speaking at a meeting during his visit to Karachi Chamber on Monday, US Consul General added, “You cannot have a stable nation without democracy and prosperity. You cannot have a prosperous nation, if it is unstable and lacks democracy. Democracy doesn’t last long in a country that is not prosperous and unstable.”
US Consul General Brian Heath said, “All of the US efforts are geared towards helping people of Pakistan to create an enabling business environment.”
He said that USAID is helping Pakistan rebuild its infrastructure, particularly the roads network, in order to ensure smooth flow of tradable goods across the country and also to facilitate cross-border trade. “We are also working on various projects to refurbish the existing power stations with a view to add more megawatts into the system and are helping to build the education sector so that maximum number of children have access to education.”
US diplomats was of the view that both energy and education are key to prosperous business environment as employees do not work as productively and efficiently without education while factories cannot be run without electricity.
Brian Heath further informed that during his earlier visit to police headquarters on Monday, US Consulate donated trucks, bullet-proof jackets and helmets to help police maintain law and order situation. “Our assistance programs for Pakistan is one of largest involving hundreds of millions dollars throughout the year and even close to a billion if military assistance being provided by US is also added to the assistance program”, he informed.
He further pointed out that terrorists’ attacks and extremists’ attack in Karachi and elsewhere in Pakistan affect investors’ confidence, which needs to be improved.
He was of the view that although Pakistan’s economy has been growing but the country faces severe energy crisis which affects GDP growth rate. In this regard, the United States has been assisting Pakistan to overcome energy crisis on priority under US Assistance Programs.
Earlier, while welcoming the Consul General, President KCCI Abdullah Zaki said that Karachi, which is the financial and economic hub of Pakistan as it contributes more than 68 percent revenue to the national exchequer, offers immense opportunities for investment and joint ventures to US businessmen and investors.
“We have been focusing on strengthening trade ties with western countries including United States as we believe that ‘Pakistan needs Trade Not Aid’ and we are constantly emphasizing upon the need to minimize trade barriers between the two countries”, he added.
He noted that during 2013-14, Pakistan’s exports to US were recorded at 3,951.04 million dollars while Pakistan’s import from US stood at 1,125.58 million making the trade balance favorable for Pakistan by 2,825 million dollars.
“However, no progress was taking place in signing of Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between US and Pakistan since 2009 which needs to be implemented at the earliest as it will go in favor of both countries”, he added.
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