Britain is one of the largest source of foreign remittances for Pakistan after Middle East. Thousands of individuals are dual nationals of Pakistan and Britain and they send millions of dollars remittances to support their families back home while hundreds of British firms are engaged in business in Pakistan. The British exit from the European Union after referendum will definitely have positive as well as negative impacts on the people and economy of Pakistan as both the countries are also major trade partners. Any political chaos or recession in Europe affects Pakistan. According to experts, remittances sent by expatriate Pakistanis and exports are major sources of foreign exchange in Pakistan. Any negative impact on the global market can have negative impact on the Pakistani business and the British exit from the European Union is turning point not only for that country, but also for the economy of the world.
The Chinese prime minister has rightly pointed out that effects of British exit will gradually appear on the world economy. Though the outgoing British prime minister has rejected any possibility of another referendum, but the parliament has the authority to revoke the decision. However, the current state of confusion will remain for some time until Britain reaches a conclusion. It is a lesson for Pakistan and other SAARC member states to shun their differences and move forward for a common cause. In this age, no country is able to survive in isolation and without business and trade with neighbouring countries. The regional countries should have to work as economic partners and not as rivals. Despite political hurdles, trade between Pakistan and India has been boosting for the last many years. However, potential of trade has not been fully utilized as India is a big market and Pakistan’s penetration in it is negligible. Instead, China and India are good trade partners despite serious differences between the two nations.
The economists in Pakistan will have to find solution to arrest falling exports of the country as most of its trade is with a group of selected countries. There are potentials of trade with regional countries, but this aspect has been ignored. According to some experts, Pakistan, Iran, India and Central Asian countries can jointly create an economic bloc which will prove beneficial for all the member countries. Only China is making remarkable progress in this region and its inclusion in the bloc will be in the benefit of all the nations in the region. Pakistan had laid down a procedure of trade with India and only 1,200 items were put on the negative list, but trade between the countries still could not pick up to the desire level.
