"Houston-Karachi port agreement will also be signed during the visit of the Mayor", he said.
Sheikh also invited Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) to participate in the International Mayors' Conference scheduled to be held in Houston in July this years. That invitation was presented during HKSCA delegation's visit to KCCI.
The chamber's president Junaid Esmail Makda assured them that the would not only look into the possibility of sending KCCI's delegation to Houston for participation in the Mayors' Conference but also to explore more avenues for enhancing trade and investment cooperation by holding maximum number of business-to-business meetings with their counterparts in Houston.
"Houston-Karachi Sister Cities Association will grant scholarships to the students from Karachi to study in America," Sheikh said, adding that an agreement under student exchange program would also be inked by Institute of Business Administration (IBA) and University of St. Thomas while another agreement would also be signed with University of Karachi for renovation of its Mass Communication Department.
He said that commonalities of many things in Karachi and Houston would pave way for promotion of bilateral trade. He said that Houston has sister cities agreements with 18 cities around the world, including Karachi. He noted that not a single sister city agreement has been signed with any city in India that signify the importance of Karachi for Houston.
HKSCA president advised the KCCI to organise an international version of My Karachi Exhibition in Houston as well, to highlight what Pakistan is capable of offering. He also emphasised there must be exchange of more trade delegations between the two cities.
KCCI president Junaid Esmail Makda stressed the need for more strengthened relations between the business communities of Karachi and Houston. He said Karachi-Houston Sister Cities Agreement needs to be reactivated and made vibrant in order to bring the business communities of the two cities more close to each other.
"There is a huge potential to improve relations between Karachi and Houston but collective efforts have to be made to encourage interaction between the business communities and Chambers will have to play a more proactive role in this regard," Makda underlined.
He further said that Pakistan's exports to USA were $3.76 billion in 2017 while the imports stood at $2.81 billion. He said that current trade volume was not in line with the trade potential and it requires special attention. He said Pakistan was a beneficiary of the US GSP program under which it has duty-free market access to US on over 3,500 products, including gems and jewellery, leather sports gloves, miscellaneous iron and steel articles, agricultural products, minerals, marble and carpets; but the textile sector, which is the mainstay of Pakistan's exports, was missing in GSP Program list.
Makda urged HKSCA delegation to take up this issue with relevant authorities in US so that Pakistan's textile sector could also be added to the GSP program which would surely enable Pakistan's textile exporters to effectively compete with those competitors who currently enjoying facilities under GSP Program.
"The United States is the single biggest export destination for cotton, textile and apparel products of Pakistan and accounts for 16% of total export volume," Makda said, adding that if this sector was added to the US GSP Program for Pakistan, it would result in boosting Pakistan's textiles exports because of excellent quality of finished goods.
KCCI senior vice president Khurram Shahzad, vice president Asif Sheikh Javaid, ex-presidents Majyd Aziz and Mian Abrar Ahmed, ex-SVP Ibrahim Kasumbi, prominent Businessperson of Midland Energy Syed Javaid Anwar, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Houston chapter president Atif Khan were among those others who also attended the meeting.