The U.S.-Pakistan relationship should be anchored on bilateral economic cooperation as it would help Islamabad step up the pace of economic development and overcome many challenges facing the country simultaneously, a Pakistani-American businessman said.
“If the United States gives preferrential trade access to Pakistan and helps it in easing international loan pressures, that would help the country tremendosuly in meeting several challenges,” Mossadaq Chughtai, a leading Pakistani-American businessman, underscored in an interview.Chughtai, who has launched several development projects in Pakistan, said Washington can particularly help Pakistan in dealing with loans pressures as the country has to repay hefty amounts each year to lenders.
The business leader, who is one of the three founding directors of the advocacy group, Pakistani-American Leadership Center, said another key area where Washington can assist Pakistan is energy.
The U.S. assistance should be utilized to overcome the critical energy shortages through new projects. He also called for exploiting the existing and alternate sources of energy because uninterrupted supply of power will guarantee a boost in industrial output.
Chughtai said the finances freed up by relief in debt-repayment and continuous supply of energy will together fuel the economy and speed up the process of establishing a network of development infrastructure across the country.
“That development will bring much-needed economic opportunities to the youth, who will become direct and major stakeholders in its well-being. At the same, an economic upturn will help advance U.S. and Pakistani common interests towards peace, progress and regional stability as Islamabad would be able to deal with problems ranging from poverty to security challenges in the form of violence.” APP
