LAHORE: Ambassador of European Union Dr Riina Kionka on Monday said that we are overjoyed with the announcement that Pakistan is out of the FATF grey list. It has added to overall positive narrative which we want to see much more of Pakistan.

She was speaking at a meeting at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. LCCI President Kashif Anwar presented the address of welcome while Senior Vice President Chaudhry Zafar Mahmood and Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt also spoke on the occasion.

The Ambassador said that the successive Pakistani governments have put in lot of efforts in this achievement. She said that EU-Pakistan relations have a strategic engagement which covers all the areas including counter terrorism, trade, climate change, GSP Plus status and various others.

The Ambassador said that 10-year period of GSP Plus is going to end and a mission is preparing 4th and final report of the last 10-year which will be discussed in Brussels and EU Parliament. These two bodies will decide that which country is eligible and which is not for GSP Plus status.

She said that Pakistan will have to re-apply for the GSP plus Status and EU will inform within next 4 to 5 months. She said that during this period of application, Pakistan will be enjoying all facilities under GSP Plus status.

She added that Federal Minister Syed Naveed Qamar is in Brussels and doing a good lobbying work which will be useful for Pakistan. Talking about the areas identified by the LCCI, she said that the scope under GSP Plus status to Pakistan has not been utilized. It is confined to textile sector which should be spread to the other sectors as well.

She said “The floods played havoc and it is a difficult time for Pakistan, and EU member’s countries have extended assistance in this regard”. She said that EU commissioners are distributing aid in Sindh and other flood-affected areas. “The assistance will be upgraded with the passage of time”, she added. She said that Pakistan needs to develop infrastructure in order to curtail the loss if catastrophe-like situation born in future.

LCCI President Kashif Anwar extended deepest gratitude to the European Union for expressing solidarity with the people of Pakistan affected by the worst floods and extending financial assistance of 123 Million Euros as well as in-kind assistance for flood relief efforts.

He also appreciated the EU’s commitment to address the climate change related challenges jointly. He appreciated the fact that European Union has been welcoming the progress made by Pakistan in the implementation of FATF Action Plans and now, when Pakistan has been excluded from the grey list, we thank EU for all the support extended during the process.

Kashif Anwar said that GSP Plus status holds paramount importance for Pakistan’s Economy as it has played an important role in expansion of multilateral trade. According to the trade statistics from ITC World Trade map, Pakistan’s exports to EU, which were around 6.2 Billion Dollars in 2013, have increased over the time to 9.7 Billion Dollars in 2021, primarily due to the deeper markets access provided by European Union under GSP plus.

The LCCI President added that European Union is by far the biggest destination for Pakistan’s exports as more than 30% of our exports reach EU market.

The business community is well aware that the EU continuously monitors GSP+ beneficiary countries’ effective implementation of the 27 international conventions on especially human rights, labour rights, environmental protection and good governance etc. He said that European Union has also been benefiting from GSP Plus as it has enabled the businesses in EU to import high quality textile items from Pakistan at competitive prices.

Furthermore Pakistan’s imports from EU also increased from 4.4 Billion Dollars in 2013 to 6.4 billion Dollars in 2021 as the Textile Industry in Pakistan has been importing Machinery from the EU.

The LCCI President said that the increased multilateral trade through GSP plus means more jobs, reduction in poverty, better working conditions, promotion of sustainable policies and improvement of the macro-economic indicators of Pakistan. In this context, the extension of GSP plus for Pakistan holds great significance for our economy.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022