PAL-C Hosts High-Level
Karachi Trade Delegation
Washington, DC: The Pakistani
American Leadership Center (PAL-C) hosted in Washington, DC
a visiting high-powered trade delegation from Pakistan’s
Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI). The KCCI
delegation visited our nation’s capital from July 29th
to August 2nd.
The purpose of the visit was to highlight Pakistan as ‘business-friendly’,
to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) as well as American
economic assistance to Pakistan, to promote fair market access
in the United States for Pakistani goods, to establish Track
II diplomatic channels between the businessmen of both countries,
to explore avenues of diffusing Pakistan’s energy crisis
by inviting the American energy industry to invest more heavily
into Pakistan, and to show support of the Pakistani business
community for the joint Pakistan-plan, called “Reconstruction
Opportunity Zones” (ROZ), to allow Pakistani goods manufactured
in certain designated areas to be exported to US markets with
duty-free status.
While still in Karachi, Mr. Majyd Aziz – the President
of KCCI – personally reached out to PAL-C and requested
a meeting with PAL-C leadership. Mr. Aziz, at the advice of
the American Embassy in Islamabad, also requested PAL-C to
organize meetings on Capitol Hill with members of the Congress
for the KCCI delegates. From that moment on, PAL-C took the
lead in organizing and coordinating the meetings with the
Department of State, Department of Commerce, the American
Embassy in Islamabad, the US-Pakistan Business Council, and
members of the Congress.
The delegation consisted of Pakistani businessmen from almost
all sectors of the Pakistani industry, and represented the
commercial hub of Pakistan – the vibrant city of Karachi.
The members of the delegation were: Majyd Aziz, Saqib Naseem,
Abdul Basit, Salahuddin Ahmed, Mohammad Younus Soomro, Arshad
Islam, Altaf Majeed S.T., Ovais Siddik Jaangda, Muhammad Haroon
Agar, Faisal Khalil, M. Muzzammil Husain, Ashraf Abdul Sattar,
Shamoon Bakir Ali, Mohammad Usman, and Mohammad Idrees.
The KCCI spent three days in Washington, DC with PAL-C during
which time they had meetings with American government officials
at the Department of State and Department of State. At the
State Department, PAL-C accompanied the delegates to their
meetings with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Trade
Policy and Programs Mr. Chris Moore and Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Mr. John Gastright
Jr., along with other senior staff including the new American
Consul General to Karachi, Ms. Kay Anske.
PAL-C also accompanied the KCCI delegates to the Chamber of
Commerce, for a meeting with the US-Pakistan Business Council
(USPBC) and its member companies. Ms. Esperanza Gomez Jelalian,
Executive Director of the USPBC, emphasized the great returns
that American companies are seeing on their investment in
Pakistan and introduced the delegation to giant American corporations
such as Boeing, General Electric and Ledtronics that are providing
jobs and growth to the Pakistani people.
On July 30th, PAL-C held a dinner in honor of the KCCI delegation
at the residence of National Director, Mr. Mossadaq Chughtai
in Vienna, Virginia. The guests comprised of Pakistani businessmen,
political activists, young professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs,
American corporate representatives, as well as Pakistani and
American government officials. At the dinner, Mr. Mossadaq
Chughtai personally asked his guests to support investment
and trade in Pakistan, and to urge members of Congress to
support the ROZ initiative.
On July 30 and 31, PAL-C took the KCCI delegates to Capitol
Hill for one-on-one meetings with key members of the Congressional
Pakistan Caucus and influential policymakers. In the short
duration of two days, the KCCI and PAL-C held eight meetings
on Capitol Hill, and shared their concerns on various issues
with members of Congress.
Comprehensive dialogue was held with the co-chairs of the
Congressional Pakistan Caucus – Rep, Sheila Jackson
Lee (D-TX), and Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN). Meetings were also
held with the following Members of Congress: Rep. Gregory
Meeks (D-NY), Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson
(D-TX), Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN),
and Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN). A private briefing was also organized
for professional staff of the House Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform, where nine congressional offices were
represented.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
