Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday invited businesses from the United States to invest in Pakistan, pointing to the country’s “biggest potential” in agriculture and opportunities in mining, information technology, artificial intelligence, and infrastructure during a meeting with American business councils in New York.

PM Shehbaz met delegations from the US Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) and the US-Pakistan Business Council (USPBC) on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Business figures from the IT, AI, finance, beverages, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and organic products sectors attended the meeting, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

PM Shehbaz briefed the business representatives on what he called Pakistan’s business-and investment-friendly policies, as well as measures being taken to develop various sectors of the economy.

He described the two councils as “excellent bridges between Islamabad and Washington” and said Pakistan-US relations had improved significantly over the past year.

“Our economy is now stable and moving towards growth,” PM Shehbaz added.

He also linked investment prospects to regional stability, saying Pakistan was making efforts to promote peace and hoped that support from “friends and our brotherly countries” would help achieve long-term peace in the region. “The Gulf crisis came at a difficult time for us,” he said, adding that Pakistan was playing its full role in regional peace efforts.

PM Shehbaz also noted that Pakistan had undertaken “massive structural reforms,” including the digitisation of the economy, Board of Revenue reforms and e-governance, with work continuing at fast pace.

Agriculture was among the sectors the premier identified as having the “biggest potential,” particularly through the use of modern technology and machinery to increase per-acre yields, improve efficiency and reduce production costs. “I mean, today’s technology, today’s modern machineries, be they combiner, harvesters, and other equipment, are helping to enhance our per-acre yield and have more efficiency, high production levels, and economise our costs by saving the last grain,” he said.

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Mining and minerals were another key investment area, with PM Shehbaz saying Pakistan had been blessed with “enormous resources.”

He also highlighted IT and AI-led initiatives, pointing to Pakistan’s young population as an asset that could be developed through vocational and skills training. “Our population is young, and we are doing our best to empower them through vocational training, skill training, et cetera,” the prime minister said.

Further, PM Shehbaz identified energy reserves, ports and shipping as areas offering investment opportunities, saying Pakistan could provide “security and safety” for energy resources including oil and gas.

Privatisation was also discussed, with PM Shehbaz saying it was an important area of interest for investors. He said Pakistan International Airlines had been privatised and that its new Pakistani owners would improve the airline, while power distribution companies were also being prepared for privatisation. “The government’s job is to facilitate private sector business and investment and provide a conducive environment,” PM Shehbaz said.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Special Assistants Tariq Fatemi and Bilal bin Saqib, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Asim Iftikhar and Pakistan’s ambassador to the US Rizwan Ahmed Sheikh.