Duty-free import of Pakistani products: MCCI urges Nides to honour USCC's recommendations

Shahid Naseem Khokhar President of Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) on Wednesday urged visiting US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Thomas R. Nides to honour recommendations of the US Chamber of Commerce (USCC) for duty-free import of Pak products on urgent basis to strengthen its economy.
Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry president while talking to media here said that USCC President Thomas Donohue had fully supported the long-standing demand of duty-free imports of Pak products on urgent basis. He said that USCC had realised the gravity of devastation caused by unprecedented floods, which not only washed away the basic infrastructure but also caused damage to agriculture, livestock, fisheries, communication and industrial sectors in Pakistan. Pakistan's biggest exports to the US are cotton clothing and household goods. Those items accounted for $2.4 billion of its total exports of $3.2 billion to the US last year.
Khokhar said the USCC chief had also strongly urged US President Barrack Obama to help flood-ravaged Pakistan by getting Congress to pass stalled legislation that would allow duty-free imports of selected Pakistani products.
Khokhar said, "Donohue in his letter addressed to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, in the light of flood devastation that recently struck Pakistan, stressed the crucial need to work together to secure Congress approval of the legislation on an urgent basis."