American investors will be encouraged to invest in Pakistan’s coal sector, which offers lucrative investment opportunities to foreigners, during the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) delegation’s impending visit to USA.
This was relayed to Mr. Waseem Rahim, President of the Pakistan Chamber of Commerce-USA, who paid a visit to the FPCCI Head Office in Karachi on Saturday and met leading members of the business community.
Shaikh Haroon Rashid, Vice President-FPCCI welcomed Mr. Rahim, and thanked him for visiting FPCCI to explore opportunities for cooperation between FPCCI and PCC-USA. Also present on the occasion were Mr. Waheed Shah, Mr. Kamal and Mir Nasir Hussain, Director General (International Affairs)-FPCCI. Mr. Haroon Rashid informed Mr. Rahim that FPCCI was in the process of organizing a visit of a high powered delegation to Washington DC, New York, Chicago and Houston later this year. He said that this visit would provide Pakistani businesses with an opportunity to meet their counterparts in USA, and promote Pakistani products in the American market more actively. He said that Pakistan would like to have product placement deals with US retail giants for key sectors such as textile, footwear and leather, for which PCC-USA may be able to provide assistance. He also said that FPCCI was exploring the viability of organizing a B2C event in Houston towards the end of the year, and said that FPCCI would keep PCC-USA posted in this regard.
Mr. Rahim said that PCC-USA was organizing a Trade Forum this year, which may be held to coincide with the FPCCI delegation’s visit to USA. He pointed out that coal was used to generate 45% of energy in USA, while Pakistan was still lagging far behind in this regard, despite having large coal reserves. He mentioned that owing to the prohibitive cost of alternative energy, fossil fuel based energy would remain dominant for at least the next few decades, and Pakistan must capitalize its coal reserves more effectively.
“This would also ease the burden currently borne by the gas sector, which would eventually facilitate other key sectors, such as fertilizers”, he said. He stressed that participation in the Trade Forum this year would allow Pakistani businessmen to highlight opportunities for investment in energy (particularly coal), infrastructure and other key areas of Pakistan’s economy to the American business community.
