Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan has stated that Pakistan’s exports to the United States have increased year-on-year, with a total volume of $9 billion at an annual growth rate of 35 percent.
He went on to say that the volume of exports last year was $7 billion, meaning that there was a net increase of $2 billion in the past year.
In 2021-22, the embassy press release said, the imports from the United States have increased significantly, totaling $3 billion compared to last year’s $2.4 billion. This boost in trade volume has overall improved Pakistan-US trade relations to $12 billion, compared to last year’s nearly $9.5 billion.
“We have a big trade surplus with the US”, Ambassador Masood Khan remarked.
The Minister for Commerce said that the rapid expansion of Pakistani exports to the United States was setting a precedent for the country’s trade relations with other nations, with the U.S. remaining Pakistan’s leading export destination.
“If exports continue to grow at a rate of 35% per year, Pakistan-US trade volume would surpass $20 billion within three years. This would be a modest goal, considering the potential of both markets”, he said.
The ambassador said that the impressive performance of Pakistani exports in the US market should boost confidence in domestic markets and amongst foreign investors.
Besides, he said, the remarkable growth of overall Pakistani exports should contribute to the stability of Pakistan’s economy and assuage fears being stoked.
“What we need the most is market confidence”, Ambassador Masood Khan said.
Out of the total volume of $9 billion in Pakistani exports, goods constitute $6.8 billions while the component of services, including export of IT is $2.2 billion, according to the press release. Pakistan exported to the US the IT products worth nearly $1.4 billion. The IT exports of June 2022 have yet to be included.
In the past twelve months, Pakistan-based tech startups have generated approximately $800 million, sixty percent of which has been funded by US-based Venture Capital firms concentrated in the San Francisco area. Prominent American Venture Capital firms such as Kleiner Perkins, Tiger Global, and Sequia have begun to support Pakistan’s successful startups at the pre-seed, seed, and incubation stages.
Ambassador Masood Khan said that in recent months, Pakistan and the United States have been working to increase trade and investment between the two countries, as well as to improve cooperation in the health, agriculture and tech sectors.
“There is a focus on connectivity and productivity, as well as tangible results”, he said, adding that we can expect to see some positive results soon.
