President Dr Arif Alvi has underlined the need to take tangible steps to increase bilateral trade between Pakistan and the UK to $10 billion per year in a short span of time.
The president expressed these views while talking to UK’s outgoing High Commissioner to Pakistan Dr Christian Turner, who called on him at Aiwan-e-Sadr today.
Talking to the outgoing High Commissioner, the president said that enhanced bilateral cooperation to substantially increase trade and investment from the UK in Pakistan would also help in improving the economic conditions of the country, besides creating jobs to reduce unemployment and sustain higher growth rates in coming years.
The president said that the UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), which would replace the GSP in early 2023, would provide tariff reductions and simpler terms to Pakistan including duty-free exports of over 94 percent of goods from Pakistan to the UK.
He appreciated the inclusion of Pakistan in the UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) and expressed the desire to fast-track the progress on the signing of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to substantially enhance trade and signing of an agreement between the two sides for the launch of Trade Dialogue in the coming months.
During the meeting, the President appreciated that 120 British companies were operating in Pakistan with cumulative investments of around $10 billion and noted that FDI increased by 22 percent in the financial year 2020-21, rising from $117 million to $143 million. He also appreciated that over the last five years up to 2019, Pakistan averaged as the largest recipient of the UK’s bilateral overseas development aid (ODA) in Asia.
The president stressed the need to create bilateral Enhanced Strategic Dialogue (ESD) and Enhanced Strategic Partnership by developing a 10-year roadmap for taking relations forward in diverse fields, including trade, investment, and climate change.
The paid president post should be removed. Especially with president is more of party’s spokesperson rather than country.