News Desk
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar has said that Pakistan and the United States (US) had comprehensive talks on a range of important issues, including increasing the export of Pakistani dates and mangoes to the US and more market access for Pakistani textiles.
Other matters discussed included increasing US investments in Pakistan’s agriculture sector, particularly in the development of hybrid, climate-resilient seeds as well as supporting Pakistan’s IT and tech industry, the minister told reporters Saturday at the end of his 3-day visit to Washington.
The minister said that considerable progress had been made in some of the important areas while further progress was expected during more discussion.
He said the Pakistan-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) meeting, held after a gap of 8 years, reflected an understanding and commitment of both countries to pursue a broad-based agenda and make mutually beneficial trade and investment relations a key pillar of the relationship.
Follow-up talks
The minister said that both sides agreed to have regular follow-up engagements during the ongoing year to ensure progress on all matters and achieve tangible results. It was also agreed to hold next TIFA Council Ministerial meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan in early 2024.
Expressing satisfaction over the current and forthcoming high-level negotiations in various sectors including climate change and energy etc., he said that Pakistan was now being seen as the sovereign trading partner of the US.
He said that “The US is a key country for us and we want our ties to further grow in all possible fields.”
Talking about the financial challenges the country faces, he said that the tough decisions taken by Pakistan to revive the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program have started showing results.
He said that in anticipation of revival of the program, the country’s foreign exchange reserves had started increasing and the rupee-dollar parity was showing stability
