US leading investor in Pakistan for past two decades: Ned Price

• Ned Price said this during his weekly press briefing.
• “U.S. investment in Pakistan is the highest,” he said.
• Ties between US and Pakistan are more important than ever, he said.

WASHINGTON: US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price has said that US was a leading investor in Pakistan for the past two decades, and in the past year its investments had increased by some 50 percent.

Ned Price said this during his press briefing in response to a question posed by a Pakistani reporter.

“U.S. investment in Pakistan is the highest it’s been in over a decade, and U.S. corporations have announced more than $1.5 billion in investment plans in Pakistan since 2019. U.S. companies and their local affiliates, moreover, are among Pakistan’s largest employers, with roughly 80 U.S. companies directly employing more than 120,000 Pakistanis,” he said.

He said Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council ministerial meeting hosted by the U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Tai was underway.

“It exemplifies our commitment to deepening our economic and commercial ties with Pakistan. We believe that a robust trade relationship between the United States and Pakistan is more important than ever to bolster Pakistan’s economic stability as it recovers from devastating floods, while at the same time also providing opportunity to Americans and to American businesses in this country, exposing them to new markets – Pakistani markets in this case,” he maintained.

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Ned Price said the US trade relationship with Pakistan had helped both Pakistani industries and consumers. “We have long been Pakistan’s largest export market, with potential for even further growth, hence the meeting today. And we believe there is great potential to expand bilateral trade with Pakistan further, particularly in energy, agricultural equipment and products, franchising, retail trade, information and communications technology products and services,” he said.

Ned Price said the Office of the Trade Representative might have additional details following this ministerial meeting, so you may reach out to them also.