KARACHI: In order to encourage the US business community to enhance trade ties with Pakistan, Chief Patron of Houston-Karachi Sister Association-USA, S. Javaid Anwar stressed the need to improve Pakistan’s image and clarify many misconceptions about the overall security situation as the law and order situation has noticeably improved in Pakistan.
Exchanging views with President Karachi Chambers of Commerce and Industry during his visit to chamber, he said that efforts were being made to maintain peace and stability in Karachi and elsewhere need to be effectively highlighted in order to deal with the negativity about Pakistan.
“The overall security situation in Pakistan, particularly Karachi, has improved nowadays as compared to the past”, he added while referring to his last visit to Pakistan in the year 2007 when the law and order situation was in bad shape and the country was suffering terribly due to menace of terrorism, incidents of target killings, kidnappings for ransom, street crimes and other heinous crimes.
Besides President KCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, the meeting was also attended by Senior Vice President KCCI Muhammad Ibrahim Kasumbi, Former President KCCI Majyd Aziz and KCCI Managing Committee members.
To attract US investment in Pakistan, he advised that the government’s policies affecting business and investment must be devised in such a manner that these remain intact for long. “Varying policies, political instability and repetition of negative reports about any particular incident on TV Channels throughout the day, will never pave way for attracting foreign investment in this region”, he added and advised the government to rethink strategies for attracting foreign investment while the media must also act responsibly.
He was fairly optimistic that if policies remain stable and media acts maturely, foreigners will surely come to Pakistan on their own.
Earlier, President KCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, in his welcoming remarks, advised Houston-Karachi Sister Association to share trade-related information with KCCI so that the existing trade volume could further be enhanced. It is heartening to note that many Pakistani expats like Chief Patron of Houston-Karachi Sister Association-USA, S. Javaid Anwar are successfully doing business in US and have also been recognized by the US government for their productive role. These Pakistani expats can also play a constructive role in improving trade ties by focusing on enhancing interaction with Pakistani counterparts.
In this regard, President KCCI advised frequent exchange of trade delegations between the two countries and organizing exhibitions which would bring the business communities closer.
He informed that Karachi city continues to play the leading role in the national economy as it contributes more than 65 percent revenue to the national exchequer. “The mainstream of Pakistan’s trading and commercial activities are happening in Karachi while most of the goods and services being produced by the business and industrial community of Karachi are not only being sent to rest of the country but also being exported to various destinations around the world”, he added.
Highlighting the progress and impact of the ongoing Karachi Operation, Iftikhar Vohra said that the overall security situation has improved significantly thanks to the Karachi Operation being conducted by Pakistan Rangers Sindh in association with Sindh Police. Karachi offers immense trade and investment opportunities to foreign investors who can surely benefit by setting up their businesses or undertaking joint ventures, he added.
Senior Vice President KCCI, Muhammad Ibrahim Kasumbi, on the occasion, said, “Pakistan is a safe place to do business and we are pretty much keen to enhance business and investment ties with our counterparts in US.”
