In a visit to Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), the European Union Ambassador to Pakistan Jean Francois Cautain stated that the public and private sectors of Pakistan would have to work in conjunction to take full advantage of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus status, which has been granted till 2023. While talking to the LCCI President Abdul Basit, Cautain stated that the EU is interested in enhancing its trade with Pakistan.
The EU envoy highlighted that the GSP Plus deal had given better market access for products made in Pakistan to the entire European Union. The business communities in Pakistan and the EU need to utilise this facility available for enhancing trade between the two sides, he stated.
GSP Plus status is monitored and scrutinised every two years and Pakistan is still eligible for the preferential trade facility. Cautain also recommended that Pakistan should take full advantage of GSP Plus and boost exports of its traditional and non-traditional products to the EU member states.
The LCCI president stressed that Pakistan and the EU had strong bonds in the areas of trade and investment. He called the EU a very important trading bloc for Pakistan.
Though the EU Commission had granted GSP Plus status to Pakistan, its potential benefits could not be reaped, Basit mentioned.
The EU accounted for 12.8pc of Pakistan’s total trade in 2015 and absorbed 23.7pc of Pakistan’s exports. 80pc of the exports to the EU from Pakistan comprise of textile and clothing. Pakistan’s imports from the bloc mainly consist of machinery and transport equipment as well as chemicals.
The UK, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy accounted for 72pc of exports to the EU bloc from Pakistan. Basit also added that finding more and more opportunities for market penetration in other countries like Greece, Slovenia and Ireland where Pakistan’s exports average $50m, is also very important.
