US delegations seek out Pakistan’s private sector for alliance

KARACHI: A delegation of the American-Pakistani Public Affairs Committee (APPAC) visited the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Wednesday to forge an alliance from the platform of the apex body with the private sector of Pakistan.

The visit was led by Philip Ramos, Deputy Speaker of the New York State Assembly and was attended by prominent business personalities of Karachi.

FPCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that New York is one of the most significant states of the US for Pakistan’s business community as it is a financial and commercial center of a country that accounts for upwards 17 percent of total trade of Pakistan. As per the latest trade statistics, Pakistan-US bilateral trade stands at $9.4 billion. This is a huge number for Pakistan’s economy and our peculiar dependence on foreign exchange, he added.

Sheikh stressed that Pakistan deserves enhanced access to the US market for having suffered badly by the war on terror for a long-drawn-out period; last year’s floods and bearing the brunt of the climate change.

FPCCI Senior Vice President Suleman Chawla said that Pakistani businessmen have a lot to export to US, but they are constrained due to the delays and restrictions in visa issuance. Therefore, easing and expediting visa issuance process logically becomes the first step towards enabling chamber-to-chamber and business-to-business linkages between the two countries.

FPCCI Vice President MA Jabbar highlighted that interacting with the private-sector will be much more productive and result-oriented as dealing with the government meant facing bureaucratic lethargy and red-tape.

Deputy Speaker of the New York State Assembly, Philip Ramos, proposed a number of measures aimed at formalising cooperation between APPAC and his assembly with FPCCI.

He suggested to form two high-powered committees with the FPCCI to explore the opportunities. Of these committees, one should enhance the investment and economic cooperation, while the other should focus on B2B alliances and matchmaking between New York businessmen and FPCCI.

He said he will lobby for humanitarian and economic assistance to Pakistan with New York State government as states in the US enjoy autonomy to forge economic linkages. He also said he will look into the advocacy options to facilitate the visa issuance to businessmen from Pakistan.

APPAC will facilitate trade promotion activities of FPCCI delegates in the US, while the New York Chamber of Commerce will be encouraged to form chamber-to-chamber alliance with FPCCI, he suggested.

Ramos also visited the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and said that the purpose of the visit was also to establish a taskforce between our staff and KCCI to jointly find areas of mutual agreements, and to create “sister states”.

He asked KCCI to give nominations for the proposed taskforce, so regular conversations can be held to help businesses and states prosper. “If we are not talking to each other, not helping each other, not dealing with each other and not exposing products and possibilities, we go nowhere. I believe that positive change will happen as a result of our visit to Pakistan,” he added.

Underscoring the need to organise roadshows, he said that familiarity about what was available in Pakistan amongst the US citizens was very low as there was no platform for this purpose. “You’ll find such platforms showcasing products made in China and India, but I have yet to see a similar platform in English carrying all the details on products and services being produced in Pakistan,” Ramos said.

He also stressed the need to sign MoUs in different areas, including economic development, health and businesses.

“We can also have agreements with your learning institutions for accreditation of your nurses so that they can easily immigrate to United States as we have a deficit of nurses, pharmacists, tech personnel who are being produced by Pakistan,” he said, adding that Pakistan has a lot of potential to send pharmaceutical products to US, but these products and many others need to be effectively exposed.

KCCI President Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh said that the idea of declaring Sindh and New York as sister states was an interesting concept worth exploring. If materialised, it would play a vital role in understanding cultural exchange, educational and academic collaboration, boosting economic cooperation and fostering trade partnerships along with people-to-people contact between the two states.

“In a significant development, the State Legislature of Georgia passed a landmark resolution recently to establish a Sister State-Province between Georgia and Sindh which was a historic step for promoting multifaceted sister-state ties,” he added.