According to Commercial Counsellor of the United States Stephen P Knode, the small and medium enterprises of his country are willing to launch joint ventures with Pakistani entrepreneurs. In his views, this is the best opportunity for the local businessmen to get new technology, capital and a huge export market in his country. Despite having close political and defense relations, economic relations neither remained a priority for the United States nor for Pakistan due to their respective domestic reasons. Trade between Pakistan and America never picked up to a desired level but remained at the lowest ebb. Pakistan is 57th trading partner with the United States and the two way trade stood at mere $5.5 billion during 2016. The United States goods exports to Pakistan totaled $2.1 billion while its imports totaled $3.4 billion. The US trade deficit with Pakistan remained $1.3 billion in 2016. In contrast, Malaysia, which started economic journey very late than Pakistan, has close trade relations with US and its exports stand at $32.5 billion and imports only $11.5 billion with the country. The United States is the economy of the world and business with that country is the guarantee to the progress.
The US envoy rightly emphasised the need for promoting bilateral trade under commercial diplomacy. He says that the US embassy has shifted the offices of the commercial counsellor from Islamabad to Karachi, which is the main hub of business and industrial activities. The commercial presence is also ensured in Faisalabad which contributes 20 percent to the gross domestic product of Pakistan. Against the US efforts for promotion of business and trade activities, the Pakistani officials are certainly not ready to wake up from deep slumber. The world business dynamics are changing at a fast rate and sooner the policymakers in this country learn new economic realities the better.
According to reports, the US-Pakistan Business Opportunities Conference is regularly been organized to create awareness about the business opportunities between the two nations. The Pakistani bureaucracy should now stop learning Indian commercial syllabus and use their own brain to devise their economic policies. When the Pakistani officials say they want trade and not aid with the United States, they should put their words into action. Despite China’s rise, US is still leader of the world in business and trade and the Pakistani private sector should be encouraged to set up joint ventures with their counterparts in that country.
