UK keen to change style of partnership with Pakistan, says British Deputy High Commissioner
By Attaul Mujeeb Zeeshan
Lahore
According to the sources of Daily Notable, Deputy High Commissioner and Trade Director for Pakistan Sarah Mooney said that the UK is working to increase trade and investment in Pakistan so that the country can reach where it should be. She said that the High Commission is investigating to identify those products that can achieve significant success in the UK market and after identifying those products, we would go back to the Pakistani business community.
She was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. LCCI President Kashif Anwar and Senior Vice President Chaudhry Zafar Mahmood also spoke on the occasion, executive committee members were also present.
The Deputy High Commissioner said that the floods have caused devastation and disaster in Pakistan and I am very encouraged to see that British citizens have contributed around £100 million to the flood relief efforts. The UK government has a disaster relief fund and UK citizens contribute to this fund.
She said 96% duty free products are from Pakistan and we are working on the rest. She said that education is our priority area where we want to work with Pakistani institutions and deepen cooperation and we also want to support education below the university level. Others we are interested in are sustainable growth, green energy and infrastructure development. Finally, healthcare is our next priority area.
She said we need to move forward to change the style of partnership between Pakistan and the UK, which should be a real partnership where we bring investment and expertise to Pakistan and benefit from the expertise in Pakistan.
LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that Lahore Chamber always attaches great importance to a good working relationship with the British High Commission to explore ways to further strengthen bilateral ties.
He said that the United Kingdom is one of the major trading partners of Pakistan and is currently the fourth largest export market for Pakistani products. According to statistics from the State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan’s exports to the UK in 2021–22 were around $2.2 billion, compared to around $2 billion in 2020–21. On the other hand, our UK imports were $869 million in 2021-22 compared to $780 million in 2020-21.
“It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan’s exports to the UK are largely dominated by textiles. We are of the opinion that the volume of bilateral trade, which is currently around $3 billion, should be raised to at least $10 billion,” he added.
The LCCI president said that we are grateful that even after Brexit, the UK continues to provide us with the same level of market access as under the GSP plus system. We have learned that the UK government has launched a developing country trading scheme through which Pakistan will continue to enjoy duty-free exports to the UK. In addition, the regime will remove customs duties on more than 150 products exported from Pakistan. Please share with us more details about the said scheme.
He said Pakistan was facing steep economic challenges. Devastating floods in 2022 affected 33 million people in Pakistan and over 1,700 people lost their lives. Total economic losses are estimated at more than $30 billion. The Housing, Agriculture, Livestock and Infrastructure sectors suffered the most significant damage.
He said the current foreign exchange crisis has forced restrictions on banks’ ability to open LCs. Shipping containers are stuck in ports, posing a threat to the supply chain of manufacturing and industrial sectors.
The LCCI president said that a large percentage of power is still generated from expensive imported fuels, which has led to a sharp increase in tariffs and huge circular debt. We can’t afford to take it anymore.
He said we have advised the government to immediately declare all ports as bonds to save businesses from harbor storage charges. We have also requested the government and other stakeholders to engage with the Shipping Lines operating in Pakistan and convince them to waive the demurrage and detention charges.
He said that import substitution through industrialization should be the top priority, followed by increasing exports to manage our trade and current account deficits. The government needs to come up with a concrete import substitution strategy so that we are able to expand our manufacturing base and reduce our dependence on some expensive imports.
He said that power generation must be boosted from renewable sources to reduce our import bill. Dams and reservoirs need to be built. This is an important area where the UK Government can extend its support to Pakistan.
Kashif Anwar said there are great opportunities for British companies to enter into joint ventures with Pakistani companies and strengthen economic cooperation in the areas of health, education, green energy, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, IT, mining and tourism. The fight against climate change is an important area where both countries need to strengthen cooperation.
He said that there is also great potential to increase the export of Pakistan’s food sector to the UK. To this end, Pakistani exporters need better UK compliance guidelines to gain deeper penetration into their food market.
He said LCCI is particularly focused on the development of small and medium enterprises with a special focus on women entrepreneurs. We would certainly like to work with the British High Commission to achieve the desired results.
Comments 1