US eyes for economic development opportunities in Pakistan: Salim Ghauri

LAHORE: Former Chairman Federal Task Force on Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) Salim Ghauri has said that the US was eyeing for good economic development opportunities in Pakistan ahead. He was talking to a select group of reporters on his return from the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship held on April 26 and 27 in Washington DC.

He attended the summit as Chairman and CEO NetSol Technologies Ltd. It may be noted that in his June 4th 2009 Cairo speech, President Obama had announced that he would host a summit of entrepreneurship this year to identify how ties between ties can be deepened between business leaders, foundations and social entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world. Mr Ghauri said he had traveled to the US with zero expectations but his return is full of hopes and a deep feeling that the image of Pakistan abroad has changed substantially. The US think tanks are not taking Pakistan as a terrorism-labeled country now and instead they are seeing that Pakistan is set to start a journey towards economic development and prosperity. He said he had pointed out in his short comments during the summit that Pakistan is a country with rich resources and impressive scale of business activities. According to him, the Pakistan delegation was taken to the State department besides meeting with many important officials. He said the US-based Pakistani businessmen also interacted with Pakistani delegation on the forum of Pakistan American Foundation and spoke positively about the future of Pakistan.

Mr Ghauri said it is for the first time that no one was taking Pakistan negatively or a country with terrorism outlook. Instead, he said, everyone was expressing hope about good economic future of Pakistan ahead. He said the US authorities were looking serious in acknowledging the importance of Pakistan as a country needed more economic development now. He expressed the hope that the Muslim world would also increase liaison and develop a network to ensure economic well being of their people. Mr Ghauri said there was a strong consensus among the participants of the summit that the IT would soon become engine of economic growth in Pakistan that would lead to economic prosperity of Pakistani nation.