Fin Minister engages with several foreign officials for economic opportunities

WASHINGTON: The Finance Minister met with several high profile foreign officials and financial institutions to attract economic and investment opportunities in the country.

The meeting was part of Aurangzeb’s visit to the annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC, the US.

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He met with the United States (US) Department of State Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs, Amy Holman, on Wednesday.

During the meeting, Aurangzeb talked about the key sectors ripe for investment in Pakistan, including agriculture, information technology (IT), energy and mining.

He extended an invitation to US companies to explore the opportunities in Pakistan. The minister thanked the United States for it supports in economic initiatives.

Aurangzeb also met with a range of financial institutions and stakeholders during his official visit. He met with a team from Deutsche Bank, where he provided a briefing on Pakistan’s economic situation and outlined a financial framework aimed at improving access to the country’s capital markets.

The finance minister also held discussions with representatives from the Islamic Trade Finance Cooperation, approving package of $3 billion under a framework agreement.

The funding is expected to bolster trade and investment flows to the cash-strapped Pakistan.

He also met with the Standard Charter Bank in a separate meeting. The finance minister stated that the bank’s long-standing partnership with Pakistan and discussed opportunities for further cooperation; in particular, on climate finance.

The discussion included strategies to improve the country’s financial resilience and address climate-related challenges.

The finance minister also met with Fitch Ratings, where he receives praise from the agency’s recent upgrade of Pakistan’s credit rating,

He briefed the Fitch team on the government’s economic performance.

Aurangzeb also addressed concerns to reduce expenditure, energy tariffs and outlined an accelerated privatisation programme aimed at improving efficiency and attracting investment

He then met with Mohammad bin Hadi al-Hussaini, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of Financial Affairs. The two discussed ongoing support from the UAE in stabalising Pakistan’s external accounts.

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Aurangzeb here as well, thanked the UAE for its support and invited UAE companies to invest in key sectors of the country, including mining.