NEW YORK: Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, on Friday invited the American businesses to tap into Pakistan’s vast economic potential, highlighting the country’s investor-friendly policy framework and massive reforms undertaken by his government to safeguard foreign investments and foster high-growth business climate.

The prime minister met with joint delegation of the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) and the US-Pakistan Business Council (USPBC), on the sidelines of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly here, where he said Pakistan was making efforts to support peace initiatives in the region, stressing that long-term regional peace was important for promoting business and investment.

He invited the US firms to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan, highlighting agriculture, mining and minerals, information technology, energy security, ports and shipping, and privatization as key areas of potential cooperation.

The Council, he said served as an important bridge between Islamabad and Washington and emphasized the need to translate improved bilateral relations into greater trade and investment.

He said Pakistan’s economy had achieved stability and was moving towards growth, while acknowledging that the ongoing Gulf crisis had created challenges.

He highlighted the structural reforms being undertaken by the government, including digitization of the economy, reforms in the Board of Revenue and expansion of e-governance.

Discussing investment opportunities in agriculture, Prime Minister Shehbaz said Pakistan offered significant potential through the use of modern technology and machinery, including harvesters and other equipment, to increase per-acre yields, improve efficiency and reduce production costs.

He also identified mining and minerals as another major area of investment, saying Pakistan was endowed with substantial natural resources.

The prime minister said the country’s young population was another major asset, particularly in the fields of information technology and artificial intelligence. He said the government was working to empower young people through vocational and skills training and create opportunities for productive employment.

He also highlighted Pakistan’s potential in energy security, including oil, petroleum and gas, as well as investment opportunities in ports and shipping.

Prime Minister Shehbaz further invited the US business community to participate in Pakistan’s privatization programme.

He said Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had been privatized and expressed confidence that its new Pakistani owners would improve its performance. He added that a bank had also been privatized, while the government was expediting the process of privatizing power distribution companies in various provinces.

The prime minister said the government was offering several other areas to the private sector, emphasizing that the government’s role was to facilitate and support the private sector rather than become a participant in commercial activities. He said Pakistan was ready to welcome US investors and engage with them on areas of mutual interest.

The meeting was attended by senior representatives of U.S. companies doing business with Pakistan including Boeing, Abbott, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Resecurity, Mastercard, Nvidia, ETS Capital, TRG International, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Northshore Medical Lab, Reckitt, Visa, and Excelerate Energy.

President USPBC, Esperanza Jelalian, thanked the Prime Minister for his continued engagement with the U.S. enterprises and briefed the Prime Minister regarding plans of the US Chamber of Commerce to promote investment opportunities offered by Pakistan.

President BCIU, Peter Tichansky, highlighted the interest of the BCIU member companies in scaling up existing investments and exploring new partnership avenues.

Both USPBC and BCIU assured the Prime Minister that they will continue to remain closely engaged with the Government and the private sector of Pakistan to enhance cooperation.

He recognized Pakistan as an important destination for US businesses in view of its market size and youthful human resource.

In their respective remarks, the USPBC and BCIU members briefed the Prime Minister on their business interests in Pakistan and their plans to enhance their presence in the country.

The Prime Minister was assisted by Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Minister for Finance & Revenue, Minister for Defence, SAPM Tariq Fatemi, Chairman PVARA Bilal bin Saqib , Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations Asim Iftikhar, and Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States Rizwan Ahmed Sheikh.