ISLAMABAD, June 16: President Pervez Musharraf would seek financial assistance, investment and greater market access for Pakistani products during his visit to the United States, Britain, Germany and France, starting from Tuesday.

“We will seek more trade and aid,” Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters here on Monday when asked about the agenda of the president’s visit to four countries.

The minister, who would be accompanying the president during the four-nation visit, said he would not discuss the agenda items other than those related to his field.

Asked to comment on the US Central Command report that Pakistan suffered a loss of $10 billion during the war on Afghanistan, the minister denied the report. The amount of $10 billion was equal to almost 15 per cent of the country’s GDP, which is a substantial figure.

“It would be a meltdown in our economy if a 15 per cent reduction in GDP is observed in one year,” he said, adding that on the contrary, there was a 3.4 per cent GDP growth during 2000-01.

The minister said at this stage he could not say anything about the economic package expected to be offered by the US, or whether the $1.8 billion debt would be written off by the US. “Let us wait and see,” he added.

Shaukat Aziz said the president would first visit the United Kingdom from June 17-20. He said the UK was the biggest donor contributing up to 50 million pounds per annum to Pakistan’s health and education sector.

He said the president would also meet the head of Department for International Development (DFID) which had been helping Pakistan in developing a poverty reduction strategy and in education and health management issues.

The president will visit the US from June 20-29. The president would hold talks with the Bush administration officials on matters relating to economic cooperation and seek more trade and aid, he said.

The Pakistani delegation would also visit Los Angeles to see IT trade and West Coast for interaction with the US and Pakistani businessmen.

President Musharraf would also meet the Managing Director of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, in Washington.

Mr Aziz said Germany was another important country the president would from June 30-July 2. During meetings with German leaders, the president would discuss economic cooperation and assistance in education and health sector.

In France, the delegation would hold discussions on increasing investment and aid and would organize seminars in Paris to apprise French businessmen about the trade and investment opportunities available in Pakistan.

The president’s stay in France will be from July 2-4.