During his visit to New York to participate in the 79th UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addressed the delegation of the US-Pakistan Business Council (USPBC) which comprised of President and other senior officials of the USPBC and corporate leaders from the leading US enterprises. Emphasizing his desire to deepen Pakistan-US trade and investment ties, the Prime Minister said attracting the US foreign investments in all sectors of Pakistan’s economy was the government’s priority. The government was focused on further improving ease of doing business in Pakistan and in that regard accorded high priority to receiving suggestions from the corporate circles. In introducing the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) to the participants, the Prime Minister underscored that SIFC was a high-level, one-window agency empowered to facilitate foreign investors in planning and implementing their ventures in four key areas: agriculture, IT, energy, and mining. The Prime Minister added that the SIFC aimed at bolstering investor confidence and expediting project implementation through customized solutions and demand-driven facilitation. The Prime Minister identified various areas in Pakistan’s economy, particularly agriculture, tech sector including fintech, pharmaceutical, oil & gas and mining where the US companies could benefit from the Government’s policies and undertake projects for mutual benefit. The meeting was attended by senior representatives of US investors in Pakistan including Senior Vice President and Head of International US Chamber of Commerce John Murphy, Executive Director, Asia; President, US-Pakistan Business Council Esperanza Jelalian, President and Chief Executive Officer, Excelerate Energy, Steven Kobos, senior representatives from PepsiCo, Excelerate Energy, TRG Paksitan, Mastercard, P&G, Illumina and Abbott. In her remarks, Ms. Esperanza Jelalian, President USPBC shared that Pakistan was a favoured destination of US investments and held considerable promise. She added that a USPBC delegation being planned this year would explore further opportunities for investment in Pakistan. The remarks were followed by an interactive discussion with representatives of US enterprises where the Prime Minister responded to various queries.
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