Ambassador Masood Khan Urges Pak-US Business Community to “Scale up” Investments in Pakistan
By Elaine Pasquini
Washington: On February 12, 2024, Masood Khan, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, held a virtual meeting with the leaders of the Pakistan American Association of Greater Houston, the Pakistan American Association of Texas, the Pakistan American Community of Atlanta, Georgia and Ashar Shahzad, deputy consul general in Houston.
Noting Pakistan’s economy is “expanding and growing,” during the online gathering Ambassador Khan urged the Pak-US business community to “scale up” its investments in Pakistan and “reap huge dividends of a growing economy with the investment-friendly regime in the country.”
Khan pointed out that Pakistan’s Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) was established in June last year to “fast-track approvals, eliminate red-tapism and provide all possible facilitation to potential investors.”
Several sectors have been prioritized as preferred areas for investment, such as information technology, agriculture, energy, and extractive industries, “but that does not limit foreign investors from exploring other sectors of the economy and enjoying the same privileges and incentive package which is available in our priority areas,” he said.
Emphasizing that the Special Investment Facilitation Council was effectively addressing issues that were faced by investors in the past, he encouraged the participants to create awareness about SIFC among the Pak-US business community enabling them to take advantage of the facility. He pointed out there are already around 80 US companies – mostly Fortune 500 ones – doing business successfully in Pakistan.
Highlighting comparative advantages available to US investors, Ambassador Khan noted there were some one million expatriates in the US who were the real bridgebuilders between the United States and Pakistan, many of whom are undertaking profitable business ventures.
“Pakistani-American investors have proven success stories in various areas including hospitality, healthcare, diagnostics, and pharmaceuticals,” the ambassador said. “We encourage you to scale up your investments in Pakistan.”
Ambassador Khan related that the embassy in Washington, along with the consulates, were creating synergies and connecting Pak-US business communities for greater economic activity.
“We are trying to connect all chambers of commerce under one umbrella to augment their efforts for the promotion of trade and investment in the country,” Khan said. And for better outreach and facilitation, the ambassador underscored the importance of maintaining an up-to-date database of the Pak-US business community to be shared with the SIFC. In addition, he noted that a virtual summit of all chambers of commerce and many business organizations would be held soon to be followed by an in-person investment seminar.
Turning to the subject of sister-state relations between Pakistan and various US states and cities, Khan stated that better university linkages would also be instrumental in promoting bilateral cooperation in the agriculture sector.
Last year, the US state of Georgia and Pakistan’s Sindh province established a sister state-province relationship. On January 9, 2023, a sister relationship agreement between Punjab province and California was signed at the California State Capitol building in Sacramento. In addition, Karachi and Houston share a sister-city relationship.
Participants in the virtual meeting briefed the ambassador on their respective organizations and presented various suggestions to streamline and strengthen business activities and investments.
In conclusion, Ambassador Khan acknowledged the contributions being made by the various Pakistani-American organizations towards enhancing economic activities between Pakistan and the United States.
(Elaine Pasquini is a freelance journalist. Her reports appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Nuze.Ink.)
