U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick and Pakistan Minister of Finance Shaukat Aziz signed an agreement recently that provides a forum for Pakistan and the United States to examine ways to expand bilateral trade and investment. Ambassador Zoellick and Pakistan Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan agreed in a meeting held in Washington to negotiate the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) that was signed this summer. The TIFA creates a Joint Council that will consider a wide range of commercial issues and sets out basic principles underlying the two nations' trade and investment relationship. The council will establish a permanent dialogue with the expectation of expanding trade and investment between the United States and Pakistan.