- Commerce most steady side of Pak-US relationship: envoy.
- Rizwan Sheikh speaks at “Ambassador Insider Sequence”.
- Says Pakistan dedicated to stabilising its economic system.
Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the USA, has stated that Islamabad goals to strengthen its relationship with Washington in varied fields as the brand new administration takes over the reins.
Talking at an occasion in Washington on Thursday, the envoy reaffirmed the energy of commerce ties between Pakistan and the US, saying that Washington stays Islamabad’s largest buying and selling associate.
“Commerce has been essentially the most steady side of our bilateral relationship. My foremost precedence as ambassador is to increase financial diplomacy and strengthen business interactions.”
He was talking on the “Ambassador Insider Sequence”, a programme that permits folks to satisfy ambassadors and study in regards to the international locations they symbolize. The collection is hosted by The Washington Diplomat, a month-to-month newspaper.
He added, “Pakistan seems ahead to deepening its partnership with the USA in areas of safety, commerce, funding, and local weather resilience, guaranteeing a mutually useful future for each nations.”
With a brand new US administration and Congress in place, Ambassador Sheikh has engaged with key US policymakers, having met not less than 40 congressmen and girls in current weeks, in line with an official assertion issued by the Pakistani embassy.
The highest diplomat’s outreach efforts give attention to reconnecting with re-elected representatives and constructing new partnerships to reinforce the longstanding relationship between Pakistan and the US, the communique acknowledged.
The Donald Trump’s administration took cost earlier this month and is introducing a number of coverage adjustments, from deporting immigrants to withdrawing from local weather agreements.
Pakistan’s International Workplace spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan additionally had stated that Islamabad seems ahead to deepening our financial engagement with the USA.
“The US is certainly the largest, strongest economic system on this planet. As we attempt to enhance financial relations with all international locations; the identical applies to our relationships with the US,” he stated throughout his press briefing on Thursday.
Furthermore, a high-level United States funding delegation, led by Texas hedge fund supervisor Gentry Seashore, is in Pakistan for a two-day go to aimed toward strengthening the financial and bilateral ties.
Seashore, a detailed enterprise affiliate of US President Donald Trump, is predicted to play a pivotal function in advancing funding agreements between the 2 international locations, sources informed The Information.
Dedication to strengthening democratic establishments
In the meantime, through the session, the ambassador stated that the current Pakistan authorities is dedicated to strengthening the nation’s democratic establishments and stabilising its economic system.
Highlighting Pakistan’s financial restoration and the profitable funding local weather, the Pakistani envoy pointed to some key indicators together with a big discount in inflation — from 38% in Might 2023 to 4.1% in December 2024 — saying the end result was a testomony to the federal government’s efficient financial insurance policies.
Emphasising Pakistan’s rising tech sector, Sheikh stated the nation is the second-largest contributor to IT freelancing worldwide — solely behind the USA — and underscored Pakistan’s price and high quality competitiveness that makes it a great associate for IT outsourcing.
Pakistan, he additionally stated, has a aggressive edge in manufacturing, significantly in sports activities items and surgical devices.
Responding to a query, the ambassador stated Pakistan was specializing in export-oriented and self-sustaining investments to keep away from previous overseas alternate challenges, saying: “We search high quality investments that generate their very own income cycle.”
Addressing issues over regional safety, he additionally reaffirmed Pakistan’s steadfastness in its battle in opposition to terrorism, saying it has been each a frontline state and a sufferer of terrorism.
