Dates: November 15-24, 2009
Locations: Los Angeles/Orange County, CA; Norfolk, VA; and Washington, D.C.
USTDA is sponsoring a 10-day Orientation Visit (OV) for up to 15 Pakistani delegates representing both private and public sector interests involved in the development of intermodal port-to-rail containerized freight transportation in Pakistan. The key objective of this OV is to highlight U.S. technologies and services related to Pakistani goals to modernize and strengthen the country’s trade and transportation logistics through intermodal freight transport. The OV will entail attending the Intermodal Expo and TransComp Exhibition; meetings with major U.S. equipment and components manufacturers and freight service and IT providers; site visits to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the Port of Virginia at Norfolk and other relevant facilities in those areas; as well as meetings with U.S. and local government officials to explore the role of the public sector in supporting rail capacity and container transport.
The Government of Pakistan’s commitment to modernizing and strengthening the country’s trade and transportation logistics is a priority as demonstrated by its adoption in 2005 of the National Trade Corridor Improvement Program (NTCIP), an integrated approach which calls for the construction of safe, efficient railways in order to decrease transportation costs and thus make Pakistani exports more competitive on the global market. Pakistan’s 8,163 km of railway have lost efficiency and competitiveness as the development of road infrastructure has taken precedence. The upgrading of Pakistan’s rail infrastructure is important for economic growth and national integration as it offers a cost-effective method for transporting freight and passengers and has lower negative environmental impacts than other common modes of transportation. This OV would support the USG/USTDA Pakistan-Afghanistan Infrastructure and Trade Initiative begun in May 2009, as well as promote U.S. products, technologies, and practices in intermodal freight transportation that spur much needed indigenous advances in the transportation sector in Pakistan.
A business briefing will take place in Washington, D.C. on November 23, 2009.
For more information contact Anita Gambhir of The Cornell Group, Inc. at anitagambhir@thecornellgroup.com or (703) 877-2080.