British Deputy High Commissioner, Elin Burns has discussed the matters relating to mutual trade and economic ties and called for efforts to inccrease two-way trade volume. She was speaking at a meeting with the office bearers of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry here Thursday. Vice President Zeshan Khalil, former President Sohail Lashari and executive committee members were also present in the meeting.
The Deputy High Commissioner said Pakistanis in Britain are playing an important role in development of her country. She said British investors are reviewing investment opportunities available in various sectors to take further steps in this regard. She also called strong B2B contacts between the two countries. The LCCI President Malik Tahir Javed said that UK has always been a major trading partner of Pakistan. UK comes at 1st place among the top export markets in the Europe for Pakistan. Pakistan has been enjoying favourable balance of trade with UK as our exports to UK are almost two and half times greater than the total imports made from UK, he added.
Although, there was an upward trend seen in imports from UK to Pakistan but our exports slipped a little in 2016. These deviations kept the bilateral trade stagnant at US $2.18 billion during the last two years. These trade figures are sufficient to feel complacent but there is a great potential to increase two way trade to $3 to 4 billion, he said. "We need to create joint activities like road shows, exhibitions, exchange of trade delegations and we are ready to respond positively to any initiative taken in this connection" he added.