KARACHI: Resumption of flights operation by British Airways will usher in a new era in bilateral trade relationship with Pakistan with businessmen from the UK keen to throng the south Asian country that has a thriving consumers market, a foreign envoy said on Thursday.
“Lot of UK firms are showing interest in Pakistani market and some big announcements (are) likely in the coming days,” UK Deputy High Commissioner Elin Burns said, while talking to a select group of media people. “British Airways entry will give confidence to many other UK companies.”
Flag carrier British Airways, the UK’s largest airline in terms of fleet size, decided to restart its flight operation in Pakistan on June 2 after a decade halt. The airline is expected to operate three flights per week on Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Heathrow to Islamabad with tickets on sale from Thursday. Burns, who is also Trade Director for Pakistan, said Pakistan is a big market. “However, procedural bottlenecks are needed to be addressed,” she said. “Pakistani government is committed to facilitate business and it is fully engaged.”
The director said Pakistan is the South Asia’s second largest economy with a population set to rise to 400 million by 2050, a growing middle class between 50 to 70 million, and an affinity for UK expertise, products and brands. “There are good opportunities to increase bilateral trade.”
The deputy high commissioner said strengths of Pakistani market include sixth most populous country with two-thirds of the population under the age of 25, strong business and consumer base, and strong links with Pakistani migrant communities in the UK. Pakistan is the ninth largest English speaking nation in the world. It has good telecommunication, banking and air transport links with the UK, further enhanced by the newly-opened international airport, serviced by many international airlines with regular flights to the UK.
In 2017, bilateral trade volume in goods and services amounted to £2.9 billion, and is in favour of Pakistan, which exported £1.8 billion of goods and services to the UK and imported £1.1 billion worth of goods and services.
The UK is Pakistan’s biggest export market in Europe, followed by Germany and Spain, and the second largest worldwide ahead of China and after the US. The UK is Pakistan’s largest export market for services in the world. Contrarily, Pakistan is the UK’s 54 largest export market.
“The UK government would like to see more UK-based companies doing business in and with Pakistan,” Burns added. Key sectors for UK businesses in Pakistan include professional services, energy and infrastructure, education, defence and security and retail and consumer goods.
Around 120 British firms are currently operating in the country. UK-based infrastructure developer Mott MacDonald played a key role in the development of new Islamabad Airport. Some other famous British companies operating in Pakistan include Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser in consumer goods, Standard Chartered and UBL in banking, GlaxoSmithKline in pharmaceuticals that sell seven products every second in the country, Shell in oil and gas, Debenhams, Toni & Guy, and Monsoon & Accessorize. UK Export Finance, the UK’s export credit agency, doubled support for Pakistan to £400 million, meaning additional capacity to help UK exporters win, fulfill and get paid for export contracts, and to help Pakistani buyers access finance to source high-quality UK goods and services.
Burns said the UK is committed to supporting Pakistan to trade its way out of poverty. “As we leave the EU (European Union), we want to deepen our trade relationship with Pakistan,” she added. “The UK government is committed to maintaining the same levels of preferential access Pakistan receives to UK markets under the EU’s scheme.”
The UK Deputy High Commissioner said it is important that Pakistan continues to make progress on its international obligations in order to retain its EU generalised scheme of preferences plus status, including protecting minority rights, and steps to reduce the scale and scope of the death penalty.
Foreign direct investment (FD) from UK to Pakistan last year amounted to £186 million, accounting for six percent of total inflows of FDI. On China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Burns said it presents opportunities for UK businesses.
On British consumers market, the UK trade director said it is benefiting from access to global markets, including Pakistan, through variety, quality and cost effectiveness of imported goods. “Pakistan is keen to expand and diversify its export base and is already competitive in products, such as textiles, garments, surgical instruments, steel, and sporting goods. In fact, the footballs used in this year’s World Cup will be made in Pakistan,” she added. “There are also opportunities for British businesses to benefit by integrating Pakistani firms into their supply chains.”