Accompanied by Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani and Finance Secretary Waqar Masood, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar Saturday met US Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at the US State Department and pledged that the Pakistani government will continue undertaking structural reforms for creating an investment friendly environment, especially in energy, infrastructure development, large scale manufacturing and agriculture sectors.
Recalling the recent high level exchanges from both sides, especially the visit of US Commerce Secretary Pritzker to Islamabad in March to attend the US Pakistan Business Opportunities Conference, the two sides expressed satisfaction over the state of play in the relationship and agreed to intensify the engagements in the coming months to further strengthen and deepen the bilateral cooperation in all areas.
On the occasion, Dar shared important achievements in the economic sector that had led to upgrading of Pakistan’s economic outlook in recent months. The significant decrease in inflation, growing foreign exchange reserves, stable exchange rate and shrinking fiscal deficit were the results of sound economic policies pursued by the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Dar underlined.
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 the clearing of areas by military operations.
Noting the significant improvement in the security situation in the country, US Deputy Secretary Blinken stressed the need to continue building momentum on expanded trade, investment and economic cooperation between Pakistan and the US.
The two sides also agreed that energy remains the vital area with immense potential for enhanced cooperation. In this context, it was emphasised 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.
The two sides also discussed the situation of peace and security in the broader region. It was agreed that a collective response of the international community was imperative to address the emerging threats to international peace and security.
