By IANS,
Islamabad : Pakistan has suffered immense economic losses in the war against terror, and the US should provide enhanced market access to Pakistani products to improve the country’s economy, a Pakistani business group has said.
Zafar Bakhtawari, president of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), said this to Robert Nelson, Pakistan Desk Officer at the US State Department, and Jason Smith, Economic Officer at the US embassy in Pakistan, the Daily Times reported.
He said the European Parliament has approved a preference status for Pakistani products landing in Britain from January 2014 along with approving zero duty on 75 products from 2013.
Bakhtawari urged the US to provide similar concessions to Pakistan to compensate it for the economic losses.
He said both countries should explore the possibility of signing a free trade agreement to promote bilateral trade.
He said the economy was also suffering due to the energy crisis in the country, and the US should have played a positive role in materialisation of the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project.
The US officials said a “US-Pakistan Women Conference” will be held soon in Washington, that would focus on encouraging empowerment of Pakistani women.