Karachi, The U.S. Consulate General, Michael Dodman, who hosted an export workshop and discussion with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Senior Pakistani officials and local business leaders here, resolved to strengthen economic relations between Pakistan and his country.
In his opening remarks, CG Dodman noted that First and most important, U.S. markets are open. The United States is by far Pakistan s single biggest export market, taking 16 percent of Pakistan s total exports. Annually, Pakistan exports over $3 billion to the U.S. and enjoys a large trade surplus with the U.S. Significantly, over 90% of Pakistani exports are in the textiles and apparel sector where it is very successful. However, that high percentage suggests an opportunity and that is the opportunity to diversify exports under the programs we will be discussing during this roundtable.
He added, As the new Consul General here in Karachi, one of my key goals is to strengthen the economic relationship between Pakistan and the United States. Our goal for this roundtable is to provide concrete, practical information that will directly support your ability to increase Pakistani exports to the United States.
The U.S. delegation includes Mara Burr, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, William Jackson, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), and Peter Quinter, International law expert.
The U.S. representatives are promoting greater U.S.-Pakistan trade relations by explaining how customs regulations and the Generalized System of Preferences can expand trade between our countries. The goal of the program is to expand and diversify Pakistani exports to the U.S. under existing programs.
In 2011, U.S. businesses imported $131 million worth of products from Pakistan under the GSP program. The U.S. GSP program promotes economic growth in the developing world by providing duty-free entry to the U.S. market for goods imported from designated beneficiary developing countries. Over 3,400 different products from Pakistan are eligible to enter the United States duty-free under the GSP program.
Tahir Raza Naqvi, Chief Executive, The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan and Moin Fudda of the Center for International Private Enterprise attended the roundtable along with Pakistani business leaders from major exporting firms. Procter & Gamble (P&G) also offered mentoring sessions on global and national marketing and branding strategy models.
