USAID ‘Invest in Pakistan’ conference: US announces $40m new diaspora investment

ISLAMABAD: The United States announced the mobilisation of more than $40 million in new US-Pakistani diaspora investment at the USAID “Invest in Pakistan” conference, here on Saturday. Four diaspora partners concluded four new Memoranda of Understanding with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) valued at $44 million – increasing total diaspora commitments to nearly $200 million.

New investment commitments include SERVINZ Limited: $5 million for restoring livelihoods in flood-affected areas; Pakfoods LLC Group & NUST - $9 million for technology; Jaxeri Investment Corporation - $25 million for electric vehicle local manufacturing; and Global Semiconductors Group - $5 million for training youth in semiconductor and chip design technology.

Addressing the participants at the closing ceremony, US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome highlighted the valuable contributions of the US-Pakistani diaspora. “I want to congratulate our four diaspora partners, SERVINZ Limited, Pakfoods LLC Group, Jaxeri Investment Corporation, and Global Semiconductors Group, for signing these MoUs. You are helping unlock Pakistan’s investment potential. I look forward to seeing the benefits these partnerships will bring to the Pakistani economy and the Pakistani people,” the ambassador said.

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The three themes discussed at the conference – Artificial Intelligence, electric vehicles, and semiconductor technology investments – are key to Pakistan’s economic growth and future prosperity, Ambassador Blome added.

The “Invest in Pakistan” conference aimed to catalyse investment between US investors and Pakistani companies. More than 300 participants attended, including US Ambassador Blome, USAID Mission Director Kate Somvongsiri, Umar Saif, Minister IT, members of the US-Pakistani diaspora, and prominent Pakistani business leaders.

The conference was one in a series of diaspora-centered conferences, according to a statement of the US Embassy. In the past 10 months, it added that US Mission Pakistan supported the mobilisation of nearly $200 million in US-Pakistani diaspora-led investments and contributions.

“Today, we celebrate the signing of four new Memoranda of Understanding valued at $44 million – increasing the total diaspora commitment to nearly $200 million,” Blome said.

Between November 2022 and March 2023, for example, he added that the US Mission to Pakistan mobilised $153 million in diaspora-led technology, health, and education investments.

These include: Dallas-based TCCF started construction of low-cost houses and basic infrastructure in Balochistan; The Pakistan Katalytic Technology Fund, based in Silicon Valley, short-listed Pakistani technology businesses with proven growth for equity financing; OPEN SV selected Pakistani startups for its flagship “Startup Connect” programme at the OPEN Silicon Valley Shark Tank; and, Datarox obtained a license from the Special Technology Zones Authority to set-up a data centre in Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023