NEW YORK: Pakistan will organise its first Women in the Economy Forum and its first nationwide “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” to raise awareness of women and increase career opportunities for them, it was announced by the US Commerce Department on Sunday.

At the fourth US-Pakistan Business Oppo­r­­tunities Conference held in New York on Thursday and Friday, US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Cathy Russell and the Ministry of Commerce’s Additional Secretary Robina Ather announced the joint action plan which outlines concrete steps to advance women’s economic participation and entrepreneurship.

Under the plan, Pakistan will organise its first Women in the Economy Forum and its first nationwide “Take Your Daughter to Work Day”.

Federal Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir Khan and US Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews led the two countries’ delegations. They expressed their optimism for the US-Pakistan partnership, reiterating that economic cooperation and strong commercial ties were essential. Featured as the conference’s keynote corporate speaker, General Electric Vice Chairman John Rice spoke about the business and investment climate in Pakistan.

The 2016 conference, the first to be held in the United States, built upon President Barack Obama’s and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s October 2015 commitment to expand bilateral trade and investment.

In a press statement the US Commerce Department noted that throughout the conference, government and private sector representatives discussed trade and investment opportunities (in Pakistan) with a particular focus on fashion apparel, health care, information communication technology, agriculture and women’s economic empowerment. Panellists shared their perspectives on trade and investment opportunities, doing better business in Pakistan through increased familiarity with regulations and ways to increase gender diversity in employment, the statement said.

Other speakers included Fred Hochberg, Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States; Jalil Jilani, Pakistani Ambassador to the US; Richard Olson, US Special

Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan; Donald “Larry” Sampler, Assis­tant to the Administrator Office for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs; Naheed Memon, Sindh Board of Investment Chairperson; and Ziad Haider, US State Department’s Special Represen­tative for Commercial and Business Affairs.

A networking reception hosted by the US-Pakistan Business Council on June 2 highlighted the April launch of the Pakistan Private Investment Initiative and facilitated additional business linkages among conference participants. The initiative is a partnership between the USAID and three private equity fund managers to invest over $150 million in capital to help Pakistani businesses grow and create jobs.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2016