LONDON: Pakistan High Commission London in collaboration with Department of International Trade (DIT), United Kingdom (UK) would organize a high profile trade and investment conference in May this year, a senior official of the Commission said.
For the promotion of trade and investment between Pakistan and United Kingdon, the conference will focus on sectors including Financial service, retail, information technology (IT) and energy sector .
While a dedicated segment on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), keeping in view of British government’s keen interest in the corridor would also be addressed in the conference, Sajid Mehmood Raja, Commercial Counsellor of Pakistan High Commission told APP here Saturday.
Due to the efforts and personal interest of Pakistan High Commission to UK, Syed Ibne Abbas , the DIT UK has provided the prestigious and iconic Mention’s House facilty to Pakistan for organizing this event which is an honour for our country, he remarked.
He added that Minister for Commerce in Board of Investment (BOI) and representatives from the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) and Pakistan’s local chambers and business community would attend the conference and interact with the British business community and other investors.
He said that Pakistan’s exports to UK witness 8 percent increase during the calendar year of 2017. Sajid Mehmood said that Pakistan High Commission London (PHC) under the leadership of High Commissioner Syed Ibne Abbas was making efforts to further boost up Pak-UK trade and investment relations for the benefit of the people of the two friendly countries.
He said that Great Britain had strongly supported Pakistan for granting of GSP Plus facility by the European Union (EU) adding said that the UK has also announced that this duty-free access facility to Pakistan would be continued even after the post Brexit trade scenario.
The senior official said that UK is the third largest partner and export destination with pounds 1.2 billion merchandise trade and goods in the year 2017.
He added that in terms of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), UK is also the largest investor/donor in Pakistan among the European Countries, he remarked.
The Senior Commercial Section official informed that due to the efforts of Pakistan’s High Commissioner to UK Syed Ibne Hassan, a number of high profile visits were taken place in Pakistan including visits by Minister of international trade Greg Hands, Lord Mayer Andrew Parmley added that visit and appointment of Rehman Chishti MP as British Trade envoy to Pakistan is a big achievement due to the effort of Pakistan High Commission London as it would help boost further trade and investment relations between Pakistan and UK.
The Commercial Section High official further informed that UK has taken keen interest and rendered strong support to the multi-billion dollars China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project and wished for being its business partners, which is another big achievement on the part of Pakistan High Commission, UK, he concluded.
