Daily Times

NEW YORK: Pakistan and the United States signed an action plan on women’s entrepreneurship and economic empowerment as the two countries ended a major business conference here.

The action plan was signed, on Friday, by the United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, Catherine Russell, and Pakistan’s Additional Secretary of Commerce, Robina Ather, at a simple ceremony on the sidelines of the two-day US-Pakistan Business Opportunities Conference, which was aimed to build business-to-business linkages between US and Pakistani businesses, in addition to generating networking opportunities for them.

Among those present at the ceremony were Commerce Minister, Khurram

Dastgir Khan, who led the Pakistan delegation to the conference, and the US Deputy Secretary of Commerce, Bruce Andrews, who headed the American delegation. The action plan stems from a 2014 US-Pakistan Memorandum of Understanding to enable women’s economic empowerment and entrepreneurship.

A key aspect of the memorandum will also be “Women in the Economy Forum” that consults and mobilises private-public partnerships from both countries, to coordinate and formulate recommendations. The two-day conference, fourth in the series, was the first to be held in the United States. The previous conferences have taken place in London, Dubai and Islamabad.

This conference was built upon the Joint Action Plan that both President Obama and Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif previously committed to with regard to an increase in the bilateral trade and investment during the next five years, modernisation of the Pakistan’s economy and infrastructure, and promotion of a healthier business climate in Pakistan.

More than 300 industry representatives, investors, and government leaders from the two countries, as well as emerging professionals and entrepreneurs, also attended the conference, being held in CitiCorp building in mid-town Manhattan. At the press conference, Khan said that the fourth business conference was a “manifestation of that commitment”, made by the two leaders. He went on to say that the US-Pakistan ties would significantly mature and deepen in the years ahead.

In his response to a question asked, he noted that the Pakistani farmers’ difficulties had stemmed from a continuous fall in the international commodity prices, which had not helped the farmers in selling their produce. Moreover, Pakistan’s agriculture had also suffered from a lack of modern technology, currently being addressed by the government.

In his remarks, Deputy Secretary, Andrews, also highlighted that the conference was a special opportunity to build new commercial ties, which would strengthen the economic linkage between the United States and Pakistan, and make this kind of economic cooperation a lasting institution. “American firms are excited about doing more business in Pakistan and for good reason, too,” he said, adding that Pakistan has the world’s sixth largest population.

Of its 196 million residents, two-thirds are currently under the age of 30. “Clearly, this is an attractive market with many strategic advantages and there is enormous room for growth…yet Pakistan still faces unique challenges in today’s global economy,”Andrews remarked.