KARACHI, Deputy Speaker of New York State Assembly Phil Ramos, while recognizing ‘Karachi as New York of Pakistan’, said that just like Karachi city, New York also supports other states and fills the deficits of all other areas but receives less than other states, which matches New York with Karachi.
Highlighting the purpose of his visit along with members of American Pakistani Public Affairs Committee New York at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI), Phil Ramos said that the idea was to come to Karachi to show the model of what New York State can do with Karachi and also share the idea of creating sister states, besides establishing taskforce between our staff and KCCI to jointly find areas of mutual agreements.
Vice Chairmen Businessmen Group Haroon Farooki & Anjum Nisar, President KCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh, Senior Vice President KCCI Altaf A Ghaffar, Vice President KCCI Tanveer Ahmed Barry and KCCI Managing Committee Members attended the meeting.
Phil Ramos also asked KCCI to give nominations for the proposed taskforce who will be holding regular conversations to come up with something that will help businesses and states prosper, besides helping the US in dealing its needs. “If we are not talking to each other, not helping each other, not dealing with each other and not exposing products and possibilities, we go nowhere. I believe that positive change will happen as a result of our visit to Pakistan”, he added.
He said, “We are here with a very unique mutually beneficial concept focused on ‘perception and confidence’ which must be present so that businesses are able to prosper as living in isolation is neither good for businesses nor for countries.”
Underscoring the need to organize roadshows, he said that familiarity about what was available in Pakistan amongst the US citizens was very low as there was no platform for this purpose. “You’ll find such platforms showcasing products Made in China and India but I have yet to see a similar platform in English carrying all the details products and services being produced in Pakistan which is needed to promote businesses by bringing business communities of both countries closer to each other for mutual benefits.
He also stressed the need to sign MoUs in different areas including economic development, health and businesses. “We can also have agreements with your learning institutions for accreditation of your nurses so that they could easily immigrate to United States as we have a deficit of nurses, pharmacists, tech personnel who are being produced by Pakistan”, he said, adding that Pakistan has a lot of potential to send pharmaceutical products to US but these products and many others need to be effectively exposed.
President KCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh, in his remarks, stated that the idea of declaring Sindh and New York as Sister States was an interesting concept that could be explored in various aspects and if materialized, it would play a vital role in understanding cultural exchange, educational & academic collaboration, boosting economic cooperation and fostering trade partnerships along with people-to-people contact between the two states. “In a significant development, the State Legislature of Georgia passed a landmark resolution recently to establish a Sister State-Province between Georgia and Sindh which was a historic step for promoting multifaceted sister-state ties.”
President KCCI appreciated Deputy Speaker New York Assembly and Board Members of Pakistani Public Affairs Committee for playing a significant role in strengthening Pak-US relations.
He hoped that Sindh and New York as Sister States would provide solid foundation for pursuing mutually beneficial partnerships in critical areas of trade, investment, education, and environment.