Pakistani businessmen have 'successful' talks in New York

NEW YORK - A delegation of Pakistani businessmen and entrepreneurs, jointly sponsored by the governments of Pakistan and the United States, flew to Washington Thursday after a "successful visit" to New york where its members met their American counterparts and news media representatives."We had a very good visit here and achieved a lot," Saleem Mandviwala, Minister of State and Chairman of the Board of Investments who is leading the delegation, told a press conference.In Washington, the delegation is expected to meet US commerce secretary Gary Locke and other administration officials, besides businessmen and investors.US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson, who accompanied the delegation, said that she felt that Pakistani entrepreneurs had made a "great impact" on American investors during their presentations about the vast opportunities in Pakistan, despite security challenges in the country.Mandiwala acknowledged that there were security challenges, but Pakistan provided very easy terms to foreign investors. There were vast investment opportunities in the pakistan, a country of 16 million people with a big market.The basic purpose of the delegation, the minister said, was to bring home to their American counterparts that the situation in Pakistan was not as serious as projected in the media. "We apprised them of the correct sitaution," he said.Other delegation members pointed out that despite the security situation, none of the multinationals and other foreign-owened enterprises have abandoned their businesses.Asked to specify the successes of the delegation, Mandviwala referred to an announcement earlier this week that Oaklahoma-based businesses have been awarded nearly $100 million in contracts for the engineering, procurement and construction of two power plants in Pakistan. The two natural gas-fired power plants will produce a combined 160 megawatts of electrical power.Mandviwala said that more delegation would come from Pakistan to follow up on the results achieved by them.