‘Relying on single trading partner unwise for Pakistan’

Islamabad: Dr Pal Belenyesi, Managing Director, Brussels Consulting and Independent Scientific Advisor to European Parliament, has said that relying on single trading partner ‘China’ is not as wise so Pakistan should explore more options for trade and expand its export markets because.

Dr Belenyesi was speaking at a seminar on ‘Post-Brexit trade relations in European Union: implications for Pakistan’ organised here by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).

Dr Belenyesi said that Pakistan’s economy is not diversified enough and Pakistani industries should be open to transformation to reap maximum trade benefits. He said that now EU is Pakistan’s largest trading partner when it comes to net trade balance and contributes almost 25 per cent of total Pakistan’s Foreign Direct Investments.

He observed that by diversifying exports destinations, upgrading manufacturing and value addition in the products such as minerals, pharmaceutical, electronic components and automobile products, Pakistan can gain more from trade with EU countries in post-Brexit scenario. For this, he said, Pakistan needs to improve its human rights situation including rule of law and access to justice.

Farzana Yaqoob, Former Minister for Social Welfare & Women’s Development, Azad Kashmir, said that before Brexit, it was UK diaspora that helps Pakistan to achieve GSP+ status. She said that in the post-Brexit scenario, Pakistan should strengthen its ties with EU countries through more people-to-people and government-to-government interactions. For that there is dire need to intelligently promote the softer and positive image of Pakistan across the world by utilising all tools and channels including social media, she observed.

Wasim Khokhar, Pakistan needs to enhance lobbying with EU authorities as there is no voice of Pakistan in EU countries to attract investments. Earlier, Vaqar Ahmed, Joint Executive Director, SDPI, said that Pakistan's exports to the UK are on a gradual increase largely due to the GSP+ facility provided by EU. He said that although UK gave given assurances that after its exit from EU, it will continue some preferential treatment for Pakistan's exports coming to the UK, yet the Government of Pakistan will need to engage vigorously with UK counterparts in order to make such a preferential arrangement a reality. He said that any future preferential trading arrangement with the UK should be designed in a manner that allows Pakistan to diversify towards export goods other than textile --- currently the single most important export item to the UK.