Foreign Minister (FM) Ishaq Dar has told community leaders that Pakistan’s “best days lie ahead,” calling on the diaspora to invest in the country as he highlighted what he described as a shift toward economic stability.
Dar passed the remarks at an Eidul Azha dinner for Pakistani-American community leaders in New York, where he is attending a high-level UN Security Council meeting, the Foreign Office (FO) said.
Speaking at the event, Dar stated that Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif’s government had steered the country through a period of economic challenges toward stability, according to a transcript of his speech published by the FO on Thursday.
He further noted that Pakistan is now pursuing a path of sustainable, high-growth development aimed at improving the quality of life of its people, the FO added.
Dar pointed to falling inflation, better credit ratings, a stronger external account and growing investor confidence as signs of the country’s economic recovery.
He also told the gathering that the government was working toward an export-led growth model to bring in foreign exchange, generate jobs and plug Pakistan into global supply chains.
On the diaspora, Dar remarked that Pakistani-Americans were the country’s “most formidable asset — in advocacy, investment, and strengthening people-to-people ties with the United States”.
“The Deputy Prime Minister invited the Pakistani-American community to honour their roots by investing in Pakistan and becoming partners in the country’s journey forward,” the FO stated.
Dar also touched on the significance of May in Pakistan’s history, referencing the nuclear tests of 1998 and what a military victory over India in the same month last year.
