ISLAMABAD – Pak-US Business Council on Tuesday criticized the US decisionto block US$ 300 million aid in term of Collation Support Fund (CSF) andasked the US for supporting Pakistan to achieve its economic prosperity andself-reliance. It said that Pakistan needs immediate direct access to USmarkets and not aid as it has suffered irreparable colossal financial lossfor playing front line role in the war on terror and US must supportPakistan to achieve its economic prosperity.
according to a statement issued ahead of US Secretary of State MikePompeo’s visit to Pakistan, Founder Chairman of the Council Iftikhar AliMalik said that Pompeo must play his crucial role to diffuse recent strainsbetween Pakistan and USA as cordial relation between both the partners isinevitable for the restoration of peace and prosperity in the region.
He said the CSF for Pakistan has been blocked whereas the payment of USD800 million is pending at US end. Most importantly, this decision has beenmade ahead of US Secretary of State’s visit to Pakistan, which is againstethical norms. He said United States is trying to exert pressure onPakistan regarding failure of its policies in Afghanistan. The Trump’spolicies have been criticized by even US think tanks as these policies aretaking United States towards isolation.
No one can deny the fact that Pakistan is the only country in the world,which has successfully stamped out the menace of terrorism from its soil.“To win the war in Afghanistan, America needs Pakistan for supply routes aswell as to negotiate a lasting settlement and peace in Afghanistan. Therelationship between the US and Pakistan could worsen further, if the TrumpAdministration follows the decision to cut off aid to Pakistan,” he added.
Iftikhar Malik said he is much optimistic that Secretary of State MikePompeo tour to Pakistan would help reduce tension besides agreeing onpromoting durable peace in the region and fostering trade between US andPakistan. He said joint efforts are needed to further cement the existingeconomic ties between Pakistan and US private sector and for this purposethe American government should provide direct access to Pakistani productsin its markets, at zero duty.
He said the USA should remove the bottlenecks in bilateral investmenttreaty and efforts should now be made on signing a free trade agreement(FTA) at the earliest and it was now imperative that the USA should offersame package and incentives which it offered to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka intextile exports, such as duty concessions and market access. “There must bean incentive package for Pakistan for being a front-line state in combatingterrorism with the USA. There is a need for duty cut and market access forPakistani textile goods to the USA,” he added.
He said that Pakistan is time tested friend and suffered enormous economiclosses running in billions of dollars in the wake of war on terrorism inthe region. He further said visa restrictions should be eased for thePakistani businessmen and exporters and joint efforts were needed tofurther strengthen the existing economic ties between Pakistan and USprivate sector.
Iftikhar Malik suggested that United States and Pakistan should expandcooperation on the 2013 Joint Action Plan on Trade and Investment as theUnited States remains Pakistan’s largest bilateral export market and asignificant source of foreign direct investment. He said it would be in theinterest of both the countries to enhance their trade volume which had beenhovering around $5 billion for the last five years. – APP