What is the U.S.-Pakistan Leaders Forum?

The U.S.-Pakistan Leaders Forum provides a fresh, credible and visible demonstration of mutually beneficial, people-to-people partnerships between the U.S. and Pakistan. The US-Muslim Engagement Initiative is convening the Forum. The first Forum meeting took place in Lahore, Pakistan, February 17-19, 2011, in partnership with Lahore University of Management Sciences.

The Forum brings together diverse leaders who are interested in long-term collaboration in sectors including education, agriculture, media, health and social services, local governance, and energy. The Forum engages leaders who are ready to move beyond “talk for talk’s sake”; interested in a serious exploration of how to create long-term partnerships for substantial, societal impact; and able to catalyze action on ideas that show real promise.

Each Forum meeting focuses on one or two sectors, with cross-cutting participation from leaders in media and governance. At each meeting, participating leaders work through a process of mutual education and trust building, acknowledging both shared interests and concerns about the relationship. The Forum addresses those interests and concerns by creating and implementing new partnerships based on direct exchange of skills and experience. The participants generate exchanges, projects and programs, as well as ideas and recommendations that can influence the intergovernmental Strategic Dialogue and public perceptions in both societies.

Next Steps

Forum participants, with the assistance of USMEI staff will continue to meet as working groups through online collaboration and via conference call to further incubate the partnership ideas. Our goal is to move at least 1-2 ideas from each working group to implementation by August 2011. Several Forum participants will participate in panel discussions, press briefings and write opinion pieces, which USMEI will facilitate where helpful. USMEI staff will also begin to develop the agenda for the second and third U.S. Pakistan Leaders Forums. We plan to hold these Forums in Fall 2011, focusing on media, and Spring 2012, focusing on entrepreneurship.

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