Greater market access to Pakistani products:US

[LahoreEstate]

LAHORE: The US Administration is framing a new strategy to ensure greater market access to Pakistani products.

Principal Officer US Consulate Bryan D Hunt said this while addressing the business community on Tuesday at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

President LCCI Mian Muzaffar Ali, Senior Vice President Tahir Javaid Malik, former president, Mian Misbah-ur-Rehman, former senior vice presidents Sohail Lashari, Abdul Basit, former vice presidents Shafqat Saeed Piracha, Sheikh Mohammad Arshad and a number of executive committee members also spoke on the occasion.

Hunt, however, made it clear that the business community should come up with a unified idea to promote bilateral trade between Pakistan and the United States that could be made part of the strategy being evolved by the US Administration.

He said that there is a policy shift in the US as the security was top on the agenda of Bush Administration but President Barak Obama wants more resources to be allocated for education, social and economic sectors.

He said that the US wants to play a constructive role in this part of the region and is focusing on ending the mistrust between Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. He said that the US was shifting its focus from military action to basic law enforcement particularly in NWFP and FATA, as law enforcement in Pakistan direly needs significant support from the international community.

Speaking on the occasion the president LCCI informed the US official that the US drone attacks in Tribal Areas were not only tarnishing the image of the US but also creating unrest in the whole country therefore drone attacks should immediately be stopped.

“Pakistani people have attached high hopes with the new administration of President Barak Obama and consider drone attacks an American violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Ali said that Pakistan and the US have enjoyed pleasant relations for a fairer, freer, and peaceful world for more than six decades. The two countries have been strategic partners in the region from the days of cold war. In the war against terrorism after 9/11, Pakistan has stood firm as a frontline state in times of regional and global challenges. staff report

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg5_7