US committed to provide business-friendly environment: Commerce department official

Washington: The United States is committed to provide a conducive environment to the Pakistani business community, a senior Commerce Department official said.

Aileen Crowe Nandi, Executive Director for Asia at the US Department of Commerce, was speaking at an event hosted by Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U.S., Masood Khan, for a group of 19 Pakistani business leaders and entrepreneurs who attended the ‘Select USA Investment Summit’ held in Washington D.C.

She thanked the delegation for their participation in the Summit, which is aimed at providing business leaders, from across the globe, an opportunity to explore investment opportunities, expand their businesses and forge robust networks. This year the event was attended by over four thousand delegates from different parts of the world.

Nathan Seifert, Senior Commercial Officer (SCO), Foreign Commercial Services, was also present at the event.

Acknowledging the huge potential of Pakistani female entrepreneurs, Ms. Nandi expressed the hope that businesswomen and entrepreneurs from Pakistan would also visit the United States to explore business opportunities and expand their networks.

The largest-ever Pakistani delegation attending this year’s summit represented a range of businesses including clean energy, telecommunications, IT, security, chemicals, packages, fabrics, constructions, agriculture, manufacturing, food & restaurants, pigments, logistics, education, rubber industry, automobiles and others.

In his welcome remarks, Ambassador Masood Khan appreciated the contributions of the Pak-American community who were investing in Pakistan and were playing a critical role towards building bridges and connecting the people of the two countries.

The United States, he pointed out, was the largest trade partner and export destination for Pakistani products.

Noting the increasing Pakistani exports to the United States, especially in the IT and services sector, the Ambassador also said that 80 US enterprises were undertaking profitable business ventures in Pakistan, employing 150,000 people and providing livelihood to nearly one million households. He said that a number of US companies had front and back offices in Pakistan and were keen to expand their businesses in oil and gas, renewable and green energy, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

The Ambassador expressed the hope that Pakistani entrepreneurs attending the Select USA Summit would also take the initiative to launch ‘Select Pakistan’ for enhanced investments in the country.

Masood Khan said that Pakistan was emerging as a huge regional business ecosystem acting as a hub for Central & West Asia, Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa and therefore should be an attractive destination for investment and business activities.

“To make Pakistan’s economy and businesses inclusive, the government was investing in women’s entrepreneurship,” he added.