GSP Plus status: German envoy urges private sector to take full advantage of facility
German Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Cyrill Jean Nunn has urged the private sector of Pakistan to take full advantage of the GSP Plus status granted by the European Union. He stated this while talking to the LCCI President Ijaz A Mumtaz here at the chamber on Thursday. Former chairman Wapda Tariq Hameed and LCCI former president Farooq Iftikhar were also present on the occasion.
He said that being world leader in energy sector, Germany could extend co-operation to Pakistan to resolve challenges of soaring energy needs.
He said that tourism sector of Pakistan should be promoted through joint ventures.
He said the German government is fully committed to the rapid expansion of renewable energies and has created enabling environment for investment in renewable energy sector. He further said that concerted efforts are being made to take the two-way trade volume to new heights and in coming days the situation would take a positive turn.
Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Ijaz A Mumtaz said that Pakistan is a huge market of more than 180 million people. He said that Pakistani business community appreciates German advocacy for Pakistan's case within the European Union, which has given us Pakistan-specific Autonomous Trade Preferences (ATPs). He said that over the past five decades, Germany has carried out a multitude of projects in Pakistan with a volume of more than 21 billion euros. He said that this includes investing in economic projects, alternate energy solutions, opportunities for students and public-private partnership under GIZ (German Technical Co-operation) for vocational trainings.
He said that with presence of some leading German companies in Pakistan, there is increasing scope for small and medium-sized enterprises to invest in Pakistan's promising areas such as power, renewable energy, IT, textiles, agriculture, and service sectors.
LCCI president said that Germany is famous for hosting one of the most popular trade fairs in the world. Pakistani industrialist can avail this opportunity to increase their trade and bilateral relations with Germany with the help of trade fairs in your country. He said that Pakistan is an agricultural country. Its agricultural contribution in GDP is 21 percent whereas that of Germany is only 0.8 percent. Increasing the exports of agricultural products to Germany from Pakistan can be definitely considered, he added.
He said, "Trade between both the countries need to improve. Pakistan's exports to Germany in 2013 were US 1080.984 million dollars. Pakistan's imports from Germany in 2013 were US 1433.631 million dollars and our percentage in total exports of Germany in 2013 was four percent. Pakistan's percentage in total imports of Germany in 2013 was 3.5 percent. There is definitely larger potential than this for trade between both the friendly countries."
He said that Pakistan has earned world class reputation in manufacturing surgical instruments, sports goods, carpets and chemicals; therefore we lay strong emphasis on exports of these items. He appreciated the setting up of the Pakistan German Renewable Energy Forum for combating the energy deficit in Pakistan. Lahore Chamber would always like to play a positive and supportive role in this regard.
He said German expertise and investment could bring in valuable results in medical field. He said that development in this field with German expertise can be helpful. Exchange of doctors and medical experts will be beneficial. Investment in the surgical instruments and pharmaceutical industry will be appreciated. He also stressed the need for exchange of trade delegations on regular basis to promote trade and business.
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