The United States respects and supports the democratic process in Pakistan, with a hope that political parties would continue strong economic policies, trade openness and poverty alleviation measures, said Alan Larson, US Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs.
He was addressing a press conference after his meeting with President General Pervez Musharraf and Commerce Minister Abdul Razak Dawood here on Wednesday. He hoped for continuity and consistency of policies, and the president assured him of commitment to do so, according to an official announcement.
In his press conference, Larson was asked a direct question about US reaction to the rise of Islamic parties and their announced policy objectives. He said the US respects very much the democratic process. "I have really no comment on the process of the formation of the government, except to express our support for the elections, for the democratic process."
He said he had held discussions with the political representatives that were in the process of forming a new government, and he found a commitment to move ahead on economic front. "In conversations with representatives of many of the political parties, there is a shared interest in moving forward with an agenda on the economy that will promote growth and alleviate poverty."
He said the only useful comment that an outsider can make was to draw attention to some of the successful policies around the world, including investment in education, so that people are well equipped to participate in the modern economy.
They include, he said, openness to trade and investment, and productivity enhancement in the agriculture sector. Larson said trade and investment can be powerful tools to help economies grow and to improve capacity.
Larson said his visit was mainly a swing through the region. He was in Kabul before arriving in Islamabad on Tuesday, and left for New Delhi on Wednesday. "The basic focus of our discussions here has been to think together about how we can build the trade and investment relationship," he said.
He appreciated some of the accomplishments in economy in recent years, and hoped that it was well positioned to grow faster and make greater progress in alleviating poverty, and that trade and investment could be very powerful tools for accomplishing that.
In India, he said, he would talk with people there about the economic dialogue that the US had going with India. Regarding US reaction if the new elected government decides to amend some of the harsh IMF conditionalities, he said: "No one is constrained to work with the IMF."
He said there was no way to alleviate poverty over time other than to have a sound financial strategy and reasonable budget stability, and that the IMF can help, both technically and financially.
IMF resources can help countries make this adjustment, he said. He observed that it was popular to blame the IMF for problems, but the reality was that such programmes were developed by the respective countries, and that the governments pursue, because they think that they were the sort of programmes that could make a country economically stronger and help a country grow over time.
"I think one thing that is easy to forget, if one is in Pakistan, or any country, is that countries live in a global economy, and we've had a global economy that has been a rather difficult one in the last couple of years."
He observed that it was positive that Pakistan had been able to have growth rates that had accelerated over the last three years. He believed that this provides a good platform. "But it's any government's choice whether they want to work with these institutions. I do believe this: that the most promising way for Pakistan to grow as an economy and to help all of its people participate in that growth and in that prosperity is to work with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank and other bilateral donors, who share those same goals. And I think there are economic strategies that will be acceptable to a new government in Pakistan that will be acceptable as well to Pakistan's friends in the donor community."
On the issue of $1 billion debt write-off, Larson said it was on track. The state of play on it was that the US needs legislation to pass the Congress. That legislation was related to the budget that was not completed before Congress went into recess and the congressmen and congresswomen campaigned for the election. Congress had to come back after the election to resume work on the budget, and part of that will be to implement the law that we need to move ahead with the debt cancellation.
"I have assured the government that this is on track. There's no difficulty of any kind. It's just that we have to wait for the Congress to get back in session and for them to complete their work on the budget," Larson said.
Congress is expected to endorse this legislation by December or January next. He said he did talk about the continuing US commitment to work with the government in many dimensions, including (financial) assistance. He said the US was moving forward with the fiscal year 2003 budget, and that he discussed with the government the details of that. He also stated that discussions were held about the 2004 budget as well, which would begin October 1 of 2003.
"So we had a chance to discuss a little bit what we've been thinking about, but since there's been no decision within the Administration, we haven't been able to get too detailed or, certainly, not make any announcements on that during this visit," he said to a question about any new financial package for Pakistan.
He said the US eyes cooperation and partnership with Pakistan as a long-term, durable relationship. "We want to be a long-term, reliable partner; we want Pakistan to be a long-term, reliable partner of ours."
He explained that the US economic support for Pakistan was in two ways. First, the US supports Pakistan in the international financial institutions, as well as in the Paris Club that handles debt issues. "We have been strong advocates and supporters of what Pakistan has been doing," he said.
In the bilateral assistance relationship, he claimed that the US was making a very, very major effort in 2002 and 2003, and, plans for 2004 were being shaped up. "What we do with the resources that we are able to provide is something that is worked out in cooperation with the government. It's not that we come in with our plan or agenda, but the Ambassador and her team sit down with the government and work out these programmes," he said.
He said the discussions that he had during last two days really had been a part of that process of working out a shared view of how to build a better future. |
