KARACHI: Pakistan’s finance minister said on Tuesday the country wants to broaden trade and investment ties with the United States, especially in minerals critical to the energy transition, while also joining other vulnerable economies in urging reforms at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is currently in Washington to attend the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, where policymakers are grappling with debt distress, climate vulnerabilities and growing calls from the Global South to reshape how multilateral institutions lend and design reforms.
The IMF has acknowledged the need to tailor programs more toward pro-growth reforms and private-sector led development, particularly for repeat borrowers like Pakistan.
“We genuinely believe that there’s a win-win situation,” Aurangzeb said at the Atlantic Council, pointing to high-level US interest in Pakistan’s copper and rare earth potential. “Reko Diq is only the first one... the value addition and downstream stuff is going to be really game-changing for Pakistan.”
Aurangzeb downplayed concerns over US tariffs, saying the country saw greater opportunity in rebalancing trade and attracting strategic investment.
He reiterated a high-level delegation from Islamabad would visit Washington in the coming weeks to explore broader cooperation beyond tariffs, citing minerals, agriculture and green technology as key areas.
On multilateral reform, Aurangzeb welcomed the willingness of IMF and World Bank leaders to reassess their lending frameworks, especially in light of liquidity strains across the Global South.
“These institutions also need to have ownership and accountability at their end to really drive impact,” he said, calling for a system that allows countries like Pakistan to access flexible financing and avoid perpetual debt cycles.
He praised recent efforts to unify public and private sector arms within the World Bank and to coordinate better with other lenders like the ADB and AIIB.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Tuesday the international lending agency was not just telling countries to get their own houses in order, but was also looking at the way it does business, including conducting a review of how it designs loan programs, and determines their length and conditions.
She said the IMF was also looking at countries that have had repeated programs, such as Pakistan, Argentina and Egypt, to ensure loan programs were designed the right way.
Pakistan has been in over 20 IMF programs, including a $7 billion Extended Fund Facility finalized last year to stabilize its economy.
Aurangzeb said the government was pursuing structural reform, with a focus on climate, population, and fiscal sustainability, including efforts to broaden the tax base and digitize enforcement.
– With input from Reuters
Pakistan’s finance chief seeks deeper US trade ties, welcomes reform efforts by global lenders
https://arab.news/y3kwh
Pakistan’s finance chief seeks deeper US trade ties, welcomes reform efforts by global lenders
- Muhammad Aurangzeb downplays US tariff concerns, says Pakistan sees greater opportunity in rebalancing trade
- IMF chief says the international lender is trying to determine how to design loan programs for countries like Pakistan
At ECO meeting, Pakistan proposes ‘Regional Innovation Hub’ to curb natural disasters
- Pakistan hosts high-level 10th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction in Islamabad
- Innovation hub to focus on early warning technologies, risk informed infrastructure planning
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has proposed to set up a “Regional Innovation Hub on Disaster Risk Reduction” that focuses on early warning technologies and risk informed infrastructure planning, the Press Information Department (PID) said on Wednesday, as Islamabad hosts a high-level meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).
The ECO’s 10th Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is being held from Jan. 21-22 at the headquarters of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Pakistan’s capital.
The high-level regional forum brings together ministers, and senior officials from ECO member states, representatives of the ECO Secretariat and regional and international partner organizations. The event is aimed to strengthen collective efforts toward enhancing disaster resilience across the ECO region, the PID said.
“Key agenda items include regional cooperation on early warning systems, disaster risk information management, landslide hazard zoning, inclusive disaster preparedness initiatives, and Pakistan’s proposal to establish a Regional Innovation Hub on Disaster Risk Reduction, focusing on early warning technologies, satellite data utilization, and risk-informed infrastructure planning,” the statement said.
The meeting was attended by delegations from ECO member states including Pakistan, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Representatives of regional and international organizations and development partners were also in attendance.
Discussions focused on enhancing regional coordination, harmonizing disaster risk reduction frameworks, and strengthening collective preparedness against transboundary and climate-induced hazards impacting the ECO region, the PID said.
ECO members states such as Pakistan, Türkiye, Afghanistan and others have faced natural calamities such as floods and earthquakes in recent years that have killed tens of thousands of people.
Heavy rains triggered catastrophic floods in Pakistan in 2022 and 2025 that killed thousands of people and caused damages to critical infrastructure, inflicting losses worth billions of dollars.
Islamabad has since then called on regional countries to join hands to cooperate to avert future climate disasters and promote early warning systems to avoid calamities in future.
