KARACHI: British Deputy High Commissioner Elin Burns, while highlighting British government’s commitment, said that when UK leaves European Union (EU), Pakistan’s GSP Plus arrangements will be maintained by the UK, if not improved.
“We will unilaterally agree to put those GSP Plus arrangements in place, which is going to be a very positive step in terms of strengthening UK-Pakistan trade ties, and it shows UK’s strong commitment and desire to expand trade with Pakistan,” she added during her visit to Karachi Chamber on Tuesday while referring to UK’s senior trade minister’s recent visit to Pakistan, who also announced UK’s commitment to replicate GSP Plus System arrangements with Pakistan.
Businessmen Group Chairman and former KCCI president Siraj Kassam Teli, BMG Vice Chairman Zubair Motiwala, KCCI President Muffasar Atta Malik, KCCI Senior Vice President Abdul Basit Abdul Razzak, KCCI Vice President Rehan Hanif, Diplomatic Missions & Embassies Liaison Sub-Committee Chairman Sohail Amin, KCCI former presidents Majyd Aziz & Abdullah Zaki and KCCI Managing Committee members were present at the meeting.
Elin Burns stated that British government was keen to further strengthen trade and investment cooperation with Pakistan. “We have increased our trade teams with the presence in Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore, which is the sign of the importance that we give to strengthening trade relations with Pakistan,” she added.
She said that UK government has also appointed Rehman Chishti, a Pakistani descent, as PM’s trade envoy for Pakistan, who is very enthusiastic to strengthen trade relations between the two countries, whereas the British government has also doubled export financing from 200 million pounds to 400 million pounds, which is a significant figure for British companies who are interested in doing business in Pakistan.
“We are doing a lot on our side to encourage UK firms to explore good opportunities in Pakistan and increase their businesses in Pakistan,” she added.
Elin Burns was fairly optimistic that more trade will take place between Pakistan and UK in next months and years.
Referring to concerns expressed over the issuance of visas, she said that all these concerns were ‘misconceptions’. “Visa applications for Pakistanis are not decided in India as visa centre continues to operate from Abu Dhabi,” she explained.
Reacting to concerns expressed over Indian nationals deciding visa applications submitted by Pakistanis, she assured that anyone, including Pakistanis and Indian nationals, working at the visa centre in Abu Dhabi work under British values, British standards, and British rules so there is absolutely no bias in the entire visa applications process.
In this regard, she said that head of visa operations in Abu Dhabi will be invited to Karachi to explain the entire visa issuance process, how it all runs, what common mistakes are seen in the applications and other similar issues in order to clarify numerous misconceptions about the visa issuance process, which is, however, very ‘strict and rigid’.
“We don’t want legitimate businessmen and legitimate students being unable to travel to the UK,” she added.
Speaking on the occasion, BMG chairman Siraj Kassam Teli said that Karachiites and Pakistanis have very strong linkages with the United Kingdom, as lots of Pakistani origin families have been living in UK and businesspeople have also been regularly visiting the country, whereas the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also visited Karachi recently, which indicates strong ties between the two countries.
He noted that strong ties are also evident from the fact that even after so many years since partition, many Pakistani ministries and departments continue to follow the same patterns introduced during the British Rule.
