Formally inaugurated at the
US Chamber of Commerce in Washington on September 30, 2002, USPBC is the
leading private sector association of American companies who have business
interests in Pakistan. Three charter members—The Coca-Cola Company,
PepsiCo, and Sweetwater International—spearheaded USPBC’s formation.
“Both Coca Cola and PepsiCo have been active members of the US Chamber
of Commerce for years, and Sweetwater International is truly a success
story of positive American commercial involvement in Pakistan,”
disclosed Esperanza Gomez, Executive Director, USPBC, who especially flew
from Washington to attend the interactive dinner. Dr. Herbert Davis, Vice
President for South Asia, Middle East and Africa Affairs at the US Chamber
of Commerce, also graced the meeting. Highly respected in business circles
for his sincere and sustained strivings to promote US-Pakistan trade
relations, Dr. Davis was the keynote speaker at the dinner.
Esperanza too has earned a
name in Pakistani circles. For the past several years she has demonstrated
unfailing zest while lobbying for Pakistan at the Hill. She is manifestly
keen that the USPBC initiative should produce wholesome results with
expedition.
Addressing leading
Pakistani-American entrepreneurs present at the dinner she informed that
Boeing, El Paso, Citigroup, Merck & Co., Telnia Corporation, Shalimar
Investments, Netsol Technologies and Asian American Trading Services
played a key role in the formation of the US-Pakistan Business Council.
More recently, Motorola, Lights of America, Ledtronics and Delta Matrix
became members of the Council. “The Council represents 15 leading
American corporations—and we continue to grow,” she exuberantly
claimed to the applause of the gathering.
“The Council needs your
membership in order to represent broad commercial objectives in Pakistan.
A larger membership would also strengthen the advocacy efforts of the
Council. Through the USPBC, the United States Chamber of Commerce will
continue to promote Pakistan as a venue for foreign direct investment,”
Esperanza assured the Pakistani entrepreneurs. The USPBC “offers you
access to top government officials in both Washington and Islamabad” so
that “you can benefit from direct involvement with the US Chamber of
commerce, the world’s largest business federation,” Esperanza
explained.
In his keynote address, Dr.
Herbert Davis made several edifying observations: “Pakistan is a country
rich in history, culture, and human resources. Today it is also an
emerging market rich with exciting opportunities for US foreign direct
investment. Pakistan has an ideal geographic location with immediate
access to the Central Asian Republics and has a competitively affordable
and expanding workforce of over 40 million, many of whom are well versed
in the English language. Since 1999, Pakistan has achieved significant
macroeconomic successes as recognized by the multilateral lending
institutions, in particular, the World Bank. Pakistan’s foreign
investment policy is among the most open and liberal in South Asia. All of
this is good news for American companies interested in doing business in
Pakistan… Pakistan is in the position of providing the essential
linkages between the economies of China and the Middle East.“
Dr. Davis who prides on his
25-year association with Islamabad—he claims “Pakistan has played an
important role in my life” and relishes his ties with the country—spotlighted
the role of the US-Pakistan Business Council by describing it as “a
powerful vehicle to explore the various opportunities” for bilateral
trade between the two countries. The Council can, and is, assisting the
American corporate community in surveying opportunities in Pakistan’s
vast resource-based industries, such as oil and gas and petrochemicals,
the fast growing infrastructure sector, which includes opportunities in
hydroelectric power generation, highway motorway construction, oil and gas
pipelines, port and railway projects, and other industries, such as,
textiles, garments, software, and automotive manufacturing. “Information
technology and telecommunications embody some of the more promising
sectors for US companies,” he said, adding, “the oil and gas sector
represents another promising sector for US investors.”
Dr. Davis felt that
overseas Pakistanis could play a catalytic role in boosting foreign
investment in Pakistan. In this context, he cited the examples of Indian
and Chinese expatriate communities. “As you know, in China and India,
foreign investment came after their overseas communities began making
large investments in their homelands, which provided a lift to the
industrial sector. Pakistani Americans can be the bridge-builders between
the two countries. If you achieve sales and investments in Pakistan other
investors will follow,” he remarked.
Several Pakistani-American
entrepreneurs, besides Consul General Noor Mohammad Jadmani and Trade
Consular Tariq Bajwa, made insightful and well-meaning observations on the
occasion. Mr. Jadmani spoke of the recent successes—a record $ 12
billion foreign exchange reserve and an expected GDP growth rate of 6%
this year. “Pakistani Americans and friends can help individually and
collectively by lobbying for trade concessions,” the Consul General
observed.
Mr. Bajwa, who also acted
as the emcee and impressed everyone with the propriety of his conduct,
made quite a few suggestions to bolster Pak-US trade.
Mr. Najeeb Ghauri of Netsol
Technologies urged the Pakistani-American community to “do something
phenomenally… the opportunity could not be better. Don’t underestimate
the potential. It is just the beginning.” Mr. Ghauri also paid a glowing
tribute to Dr. Herbert Davis: “He is more Pakistani than Pakistanis. He
visits Pakistan frequently.” He exhorted Pakistani-American
entrepreneurs to join USPBC “to help us, to help our businesses.”
Mr. Abu Bakar Vakil of
Lights of America described the current business atmosphere in Pakistan as
“most congenial” with government officials eager to “extend help
left and right” to forge new trade links with foreign investors. He also
complimented the USPBC for doing a “fantastic job.”
Mr. Pervaiz Lodhie of
Ledtronics observed that the Pakistani-American community has “lately
started taking advantage of US contacts. ”The formation of USPBC is a
manifestation of this wholesome trend. Mr. Lodhie urged the Pakistani
Americans to invest in Pakistan “so that Americans can be prompted to
invest in Pakistan too. ”Theirs is a key role to facilitate the flow of
foreign investment in the homeland, he told the Pakistani-American
entrepreneurs present in the meeting.
The interactive discussion
saw the participants making useful suggestions to strengthen USPBC so as
to boost Pak-US trade ties. Concluding the evening’s proceedings, Mr.
Tariq Bajwa disclosed that his five-year tenure as Trade Consular in Los
Angeles was drawing to a close next month. He will be leaving for Pakistan
thereafter. He made his mark as a bright, conscientious officer with a
great deal of verve. The community will miss him after his departure.
