Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz said on Thursday that Pakistan would welcome investment by American companies in different fields.
Talking to US charge d’affaires Angela Aggeler, who called on him, Faraz said that Pakistan highly values its relations with the USA and desires to further strengthen the all-round cooperative partnership for mutual benefit.
The senator also expressed the desire for the companies to bring in advanced technology.
The minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of caring for both lives and livelihood had been instrumental in addressing the challenge of Covid-19 in Pakistan. He said the government has all along been emphasising continuity in following SOPs and necessary precautions to avoid spread of this pandemic.
The minister agreed to Aggler’s view that while the pandemic affected conventional means of communication, it also promoted new modes, including digital communication.
The information minister said digital outreach greatly helped Pakistan in imparting education, and helped business activities/transactions to go online. “It has been a great learning experience for us,” Faraz said.
The information minister apprised the US charge’ d’ affaires of the media landscape in Pakistan and informed that the government was working on a journalist protection bill, vital to strengthen media independence and ensuring safety, security and welfare of working journalists.
“We want our media to be advanced and modernised in line with the requirements of the changing times, and at the same time we also welcome international media coming to Pakistan,” the minister stated. Faraz added that the Government of Pakistan desired to develop the tourism sector as it would not only help promote the country’s heritage, but also provide citizens the opportunity to interact with people of different countries, representing different cultures and traditions.
Aggeler appreciated the minister’s views on promoting Pak-US economic cooperation. She also had an in-depth exchange of views with him on promoting digital literacy, saying that greater emphasis on this aspect was also being laid in US.
The meeting was also attended by secretary information and broadcasting Akbar Durrani, and other senior officials of the information ministry.
