KARACHI: Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, President Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), has apprised that UK is one of the most significant export markets for Pakistani products – be it historically substantive & maintainable export numbers; rare bilateral trade plus or the existing potential to increase exports to the UK rapidly.

In his message on the occasion of a high-profile & multi-sectoral B2B trade delegation’s visit to the FPCCI Head Office in Karachi, he said that his optimism emanates from the very fact that Pakistan has posted a handsome 38.6 percent increase in exports to the UK as per the available data of last four quarters, i.e., Q4 2021 to Q3 2022; making it £2.5 billion and the surplus in Pakistan’s favour was £1.1 billion according to a fact sheet released on February 1, 2023 by UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT).

Suleman Chawla, SVP FPCCI, apprised that Pakistani value-added textiles &fabrics, leather products, IT & IT-enabled services, sports goods and gemstones & handicrafts are very popular in UK, and we can fastidiously achieve bilateral export growth of 20–30 percent annually through professionalism, quality assurance and nurturing a healthy rate of recurring B2B clientele.

Shaukat Omerson, VP FPCCI, highlighted the fact that approximately 7 percent of Pakistan’s total exports go to the UK alone.

He proposed that exporters to the UK should be encouraged & incentivized, because it is very critical for employment generation in Pakistan as, he added, clothing and fabric production is a labour-intensive industry.

Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo, immediate past President FPCCI, stressed that Pakistani exporters should look at the target of £5 billion in the short-term as that is practically attainable within 2 – 3 years, because the UK is one of the very few markets where Pakistan enjoys a tangible bilateral trade plus & YoY increase in the same has been in the double-digits for a few years in a row.

Imran Khalil Naseer, Chairman of FPCCI’s Pakistan – UK Business Council (PUKBC), stated that the MoUs signed with our counterparts in the UK have generated a renewed interest and propensity to engage in an enhanced level of B2B, chamber-to-chamber and people-to-people linkages, meetings & activities.

He also expressed his satisfaction that the aforementioned B2B session at FPCCI has seen the participation of CEOs & directors of various companies from Pakistan & the UK.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023