WASHINGTON: Pakistan has urged the investment wing of the US government to increase private investment in the country, particularly in the energy sector.

Federal Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar conveyed this message in a meeting with the President of the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Elizabeth Littlefield, and her team in Washington on Friday evening.

The Pakistani delegation, which included Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani and Finance Secretary Waqar Masood, discussed with the OPIC team their programme portfolio and pipeline projects in Pakistan.

The finance minister, who is visiting Washington for the World Bank’s spring meetings, is also holding bilateral meetings with US officials.

On Friday, the Pakistani delegation also met US Deputy Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, and his team, seeking the administration’s help for attracting US investments in the country.

US remains a major trading partner and provider of financial assistance to Pakistan. The US administration is expected to provide $532 million in economic assistance during the current fiscal year.

Pakistan is currently America’s 62nd largest goods trading partner, with $5.3 billion in total two-way goods trade during the last fiscal year. During the same period, Pakistan was also America’s 69th largest goods export market.

Last month, US Commerce Secretary Pritzker attended the US Pakistan Business Opportunities Conference in Islamabad, which was held to highlight the prime minister’s plan to move the US-Pakistan relationship from aid to trade.

In his meeting with the OPIC team, the finance minister urged OPIC to increase its presence in Pakistan and finance more projects, especially in the energy sector, said a statement issued after the meeting.

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation is the US government’s development finance institution, which mobilises private capital for investment in a friendly country.

In most of the meetings, the finance minister held in Washington, the talks focused on Pakistan’s chronic energy shortage and the need for further improving the security situation.

In the Dar-Blinken meeting, the two sides agreed to intensify bilateral engagements in the coming months to further strengthen and deepen cooperation in all areas.

Finance Minister Dar shared with Mr Blinken the efforts the government was making to improve the national economy.

He said that a significant decrease in inflation, growing foreign exchange reserves, stable exchange rate and shrinking fiscal deficit had helped improve country’s economic outlook.

He also said that the government would continue to undertake structural reforms for creating investment-friendly environment, especially in energy, infrastructure development, large-scale manufacturing and agriculture sectors.

The finance minister also briefed the US side on the ongoing efforts for return and rehabilitation of temporarily displaced persons to their homes in FATA following successful military operations in the area.

Deputy Secretary Blinken endorsed the observation that the security situation in Pakistan had improved and stressed the need to continue building momentum on expanded trade, investment and economic cooperation between Pakistan and the US.

The two sides agreed that energy remains the vital area with immense potential for enhanced cooperation. They also agreed that the forthcoming meeting of the Working Group on Energy should review the entire range of collaboration to assist Pakistan in overcoming its energy deficiency.

They also discussed the situation of peace and security in the broader region, noting that a collective response of the international community was imperative to address emerging threats.

In his meeting with Ms Littlefield, Mr Dar informed the OPIC that the IMF had recently cleared the 6th review for Pakistan without any waiver and Moody’s had also upgraded the country’s outlook.

Ms Littlefield asked the Pakistani team to look into some of the pending issues of its wind energy projects of 50MW each.

Mr Dar assured OPIC officials the government would remove glitches in its pipeline projects and asked OPIC to provide financing to US companies interested in the LNG projects, which also be used for producing electricity.

Ms Littlefield asked the government to identify the projects that could attract US investments and emphasised the need to utilise Pakistani-American diaspora for investment in various projects

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2015

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