Islamabad, 30 July 2022 (TDI): The Ambassador of the European Union (EU) in Pakistan, Riina Kionka, met with the Minister for Commerce of Pakistan, Syed Naveed Qamar, on Friday.
The EU Ambassador held discussions with the Minister on the progress of the Generalized System of Preference Plus (GSP+) cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Pakistan.
🇪🇺 Amb Dr Riina Kionka @RKionka
paid courtesy call on Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar @naveedqamarmna
at @mincompk
today, discussed follow-up on GSP+ monitoring mission & cooperation on 🇪🇺-🇵🇰 trade. European Single Market is 🇵🇰 ‘s largest export destination.#EUPK60 pic.twitter.com/StnNtiuw3i— EUPakistan (@EUPakistan) July 29, 2022
About GSP Plus Pakistan
GSP Plus is a European Union-led initiative launched in Pakistan in December 2013 for the period 2014-2023. It aims to promote sustainable development and good governance in the country. Moreover, this initiative promotes extensive trade growth as well.
GSP plus mutually benefits the European Union and Pakistan by increasing exports. Total trade between both parties increased from 6.9 Billion Euros in 2013 to 12.2 Billion Euros in 2021.
Moreover, under this scheme, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, also set up a treaty implementation cell in 2014. It ensures and monitors the progress of implementation of the United Nations (UN) Conventions regarding areas of corruption, human rights, etc.
Furthermore, GSP+ also plays a significant role in promoting green Pakistan. “Recharge Pakistan” was launched to enhance climate action and water resilience. Moreover, the National Action plan on Sustainable production was also launched in collaboration with the European Union.
EU-Pakistan Relations
The European Union and Pakistan’s relations are redefined by the Strategic Engagement Plan (SEP), signed in 2019. Under SEP, the Pakistan-EU relations also cover security and political cooperation besides development assistance and trade.
In 2004, a cooperation agreement was signed between both parties to enhance bilateral cooperation. The European Union is a major development cooperation provider for Pakistan.
In June, the European Union delegation in Pakistan recently arranged the fourth EU-Pakistan Business forum in Peshawar, Pakistan. It promoted trade and business opportunities among Pakistani and EU businesses.
Thomas Seiler, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation in Pakistan, remarked, “We have come to Peshawar today to hold the 4th EU-Pakistan Business Forum, with the hope and confidence that it will widen trade opportunities – especially for the small and medium enterprises.
We also expect that the program will enable exporters to reap full benefits from the EU-granted GSP+ concessions to Pakistan by developing contacts in the EU market and thus pave the way for the SMEs to become real engines for economic development.”
