Commonwealth parliamentarians calls on Razak Dawood

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association called on the Prime Minister’s Advisor on Commerce, Textile, Industries, Production and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood here on Thursday.

The delegation visiting Pakistan to discuss common areas of cooperation in the Commonwealth countries.

The delegation had strong representation from the British Parliamentarians. Both sides discussed the benefit of European Union (EU) Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP- Plus) for Pakistan’s economy, said a statement issued by Ministry of Commerce here.

The Adviser recognized that EU is among Pakistan’s most important trade partners. In 2017, bilateral trade between EU and Pakistan was around 13 billion USD and balance of trade was in Pakistan’s favor.

The delegation appreciated the reforms under 27 UN Conventions that was a pre-requisite for the EU GSP Plus scheme.

Deputy speaker of the House of Lords, Lord Regan praised current government’s efforts for contraction in imports to address the current account deficit.

The Adviser appraised the delegation about the reforms introduced to improve ease of doing business in Pakistan.

He stated that investors were returning to Pakistan and country’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows were being diversified. He indicated the areas where Pakistan was attracting FDI.

The Prime Minister’s Adviser shared the economic vision of the current regime and described the initiatives that were being opted as part of economic reform process. He thanked the UK’s parliamentarians for their unconditional support of Pakistan on issues of trade particularly GSP Plus.

MP from Labour Party, Faisal Rashid shared his thoughts on the financial sector and the need for Pakistan to improve its connectivity with the global financial markets. The Adviser informed the delegates that Pakistan has very vibrant banking sector with the presence of international players.

The country is reforming its insurance sector and it will be aligned with the international best practices. The delegates expressed their optimism about the outcome of economic reforms of the current regime.