WASHINGTON: The United States and Pakistan highlighted the productive value in entrepreneurial collaboration as leading American experts shared with promising Pakistanis some of the most effective ways to sharpen skills and maximize economic opportunities for innovative businesses in Pakistan.
Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Dan Feldman and Pakistani Charg d Affaires to the United States Dr. Asad M. Khan underscored benefits of joint work as they welcomed entrepreneurs from the National Information Communications & Technology Research & Development Fund Entrepreneurial Delegation for the program entitled "Impact Through Entrepreneurship - Partnerships for Pakistan, at the Pakistani embassy.
Applauding the innovative spirit shown by upcoming Pakistanis in various fields, Feldman said entrepreneurship of both Pakistan and the US is the hallmark of two societies as well as the bilateral relationship.
He cited tangible benefits the US-Pakistan partnership has accrued in a host of areas including education and science and technology, saying these ventures also promote people-to-people relations.
In this respect, he noted that Pakistanis export a large share of their products to the United States market, while some of the big American brand names are doing phenomenal business in Pakistan.
He expressed Washington's full support for an international conference being held on June 25-26 in Dubai, which will showcase tremendous investment opportunities Pakistan offers to international entrepreneurs.
Charge d' Affaires Asad M Khan noted the event serves as a template for public-private partnership and commended the performance of young Pakistanis in such fields as information technology.
"You symbolize and represent the new Pakistan. You bring out our resilience, as people, our enterprise and entrepreneurs and our unfettered resolve to move on come what may. You are a stark reminder to all those who get swayed away by the negative media headlines that Pakistan is all about bomb and bullets.
You represent the new Pakistan, the Pakistan of today, the real Pakistan, the Pakistan of future".
The two diplomats also mentioned the political significance of the democratic transition Pakistan has achieved, represented by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's assumption of premiership in a first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power.
Feldman remarked that with the completion of the historic process, Pakistan has affirmed its democratic strength while the Acting Ambassador Khan said the election means Pakistanis have rejected the extremist mindset and have declared to the world their commitment to democracy, peace and development.
The event was organized by the Department of State in partnership with the Embassy of Pakistan, MIT Enterprise Forum of Pakistan, and the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) initiative, a partnership led by the Department of State and CRDF Global.
The program featured a panel discussion on growth strategies with leading American entrepreneurs including Pakistani-Americans, after which the Pakistani entrepreneurs pitched their ventures to investors in the audience.
Dr. Azhar Rizvi, Vice Chairman, MIT Enterprise Forum of Pakistan, told the gathering that Pakistan had vast reserves of talented youth and that he could daily fly planeloads of them to such events.
Cathy Campbell, President and CEO, CRDF, Global, spoke of the immense possibilities that Pakistan's entrepreneurs presented to it with their ingenuity and skills.
The United States and Pakistan share a commitment to bolstering entrepreneurship and providing economic opportunities for the people of Pakistan and will continue to work together to promote this critical issue, the State Department later said.
Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2013
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