Pakistan, EU reiterates resolve to enhance cooperation on GSP Plus status

Pakistan and the European Union (EU) on Monday reiterated their determination to enhance cooperation in various fields, including the Genera­lised System of Preferences-Plus (GSP-Plus) status for Islamabad.  

The development came during a meeting between Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and EU Ambassador in Pakistan Dr Riina Kionka, who called on him in Islamabad today.   

The foreign minister hoped that the cooperation in the economic sector including GSP Plus would continue to be beneficial for both Pakistan and the EU.

Besides regional and international issues, the two sides also discussed Pakistan-EU bilateral relations and matters of mutual interest in the meeting. 

The two sides expressed satisfaction over the growing bilateral relations between Pakistan and the EU.

It is pertinent to mention here that the current regulation related to the GSP-Plus status for Pakistan will expire on December 31, 2023.

In March 2023, former Punjab governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar said that he had played an active role in getting the GSP plus scheme from the EU for Pakistan and he is still working hard to get an extension of this scheme for Pakistan.

He said that Pakistan would hopefully get the EU GSP Plus facility for the next 10 years. However, he said that Bangladesh had increased its exports by five times with the GSP plus scheme of the EU, while Pakistan could not take full advantage of this facility. He emphasised that the business community sector should try to take full advantage of this facility in order to enhance exports to EU countries.

He said this while addressing the business community during his visit to the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI). Sarwar said that exports and remittances combined had brought around $300 billion to Pakistan in the last five years, but even today we were forced to accept every condition of the IMF for just $2 billion, which was the outcome of our inappropriate strategy. 

He said that the business community had a key role in the development of the economy as it created jobs, promoted wealth creation and boosted the tax revenue of the country.