The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the US Department of State, Elizabeth Horst, has said that long-lasting reforms in the economic sector and creating a business-conducive environment for the investors can help Pakistan to cope with the prevailing economic issues, WealthPK reports.

“Pakistan has a lot of investment potential in various sectors of the economy while the robust policies can help attract local and foreign investment in the country, ensuring sustainable development,” she said while responding to the questions of the students at an interactive session here. The session was held here at the Lincoln Corner of the National University of Science and Technology (NUST). The US official was accompanied by United States Ambassador to Pakistan, Donald Blome.

“The US recognises the fact that Pakistan has been a victim of terrorism, and has rendered endless sacrifices in its fight against terrorism. The recent attack on the Peshawar Police Lines mosque is a reminder that a lot of work needs to be done to wipe out terrorism completely. Terrorism is a global issue, which needs to be addressed through ensuring that the space for terrorists shrinks and root causes are eliminated,” said Elizabeth Horst.

She said that the United States was an active partner of Pakistan in its struggle against terror. “We will continue working together for finding out solutions to end the root causes of terrorism,” she added. About the climate change impacts on the world environment, the US official said that there were no easy solutions to address the climate change issue, which was impacting the citizens globally. “This is the time that we have to join hands and come up with the solutions to mitigate climate change impacts when countries like Pakistan are witnessing transition into the new technologies,” she added.

Earlier in her opening remarks, Elizabeth Horst said that the United States and Pakistan had been enjoying cordial relations for the last 75 years, having a positive momentum, especially in terms of strong people-to-people contacts and economic ties. “Although sometimes these relations get a little bit distracted due to the regional and security issues that are going on, yet at the heart of Pakistan-US relations is its people-to-people contacts and growth,” she said.

She said that the US had been offering an extensive range of educational, cultural and exchange programmes to Pakistani students that were fostering bilateral relations and people-to-people contacts. “The US-Pakistan Green Alliance is the most exciting part of bilateral cooperation to address the global climate crisis. The US administration recognises that this is a crisis that no country can manage by itself. I am hopeful that both countries will come up with such solutions to address the climate crisis under this alliance, enabling us to look into global as well as local problems. Pakistanis have endured terrible flooding last year, and we have to address the climate crisis together,” said the US official.

She stressed the need for the countries to come up with the best possible solutions to address climate change in which “the science and technology sector will be most important to ensure a comfortable lifestyle of people along with addressing climate issue.” She said that along with the public sector efforts for micro-economic stability, the private sector should also contribute to economic growth in the country.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk