EU wants to help Pakistan through trade not aid: envoy

Acting European Union (EU) Ambassador to Pakistan Pierre Mayaudon said on Wednesday the EU wants to help Pakistan through trade instead of aid. "The current duty waiver on import of 75 items from Pakistan to EU was glaring example of that commitment", the Ambassador said in a ceremony held here in connection with successful completion of internationally recognized certificate by the commerce and trade group trainee officers.
The EU Ambassador also showed the commitment of his delegation to provide technical assistance to Pakistan for enhancing their export competitiveness. As many as 35 trainee officers of Commerce and Trade Group graduated from the Pakistan Institute of Trade and Development (PITAD) after successful completion of a nine month long Specialized Training Programme (STP).
For the first time, the trainee officers will also obtain a PITAD and the Switzerland based World Trade Institute (WTI) Joint Certificate in "International Trade Law and Commercial diplomacy" for successfully completing modules jointly developed by the two institutes which also forms part of the STP programme. The capacity strengthening of PITAD is part of the International Trade Centre (ITC) support to the trade policy capacity building under a European Union (EU) funded Trade Related Technical Assistance (TRTAII) Programme in Pakistan.
On the occasion, Zafar Mehmood, Secretary Ministry of Commerce appreciated the efforts of PITAD, the ITC and WTI to make the programme a success. He thanked the EU for their continuous support to Pakistan in the field of trade related technical assistance.
He stressed the importance of trade related capacity building and domestic regulatory reform for export competitiveness and to benefit from the vast opportunities of international trade. Thomas Cottier, Managing Director of WTI, stated "while developing the training modules and other interventions special attention has been focused on the needs of Pakistan and every effort was made to address trade related constraints from a local perspective."