‘France seeking GSP plus status for Pakistan’

LAHORE: The French Government is endeavouring to win GSP plus status for Pakistan to help the South Asian country boost her exports to the European Union.

Talking to APP Monday at the inauguration ceremony of French Company SDV office in Lahore, Ambassador Philippe Thiebaud expressed optimism that Pakistan would get this status by 2014 which would be a huge help to increase country's exports to European Union.

He noted that a number of textile related goods have already been granted duty free access to EU market with an objective to strengthen its economy. Thiebuad said the EU is a huge market and Pakistani businessmen would definitely drive benefit from it as soon as the country gets the GSP Plus status.

Over the ongoing energy crisis being faced by Pakistan, the Ambassador said that France Development Agency was working on several energy related projects and would extend maximum cooperation in hydropower and other alternate energy projects.

He said that a number of French companies were planning to make investments in Pakistan’s energy sector that would help bridge supply-demand gap being faced by the country for the last many years. The Ambassador said that the EU has very recently designed a five-year Development Plan for Pakistan and under this plan, Pakistan would be getting EU support for a number of Energy, Education, Health and Livestock projects.

The French envoy said as a democratic country, France supports democracy in Pakistan and would continue to do so in future as well. The Ambassador said the keen desire of French businessmen and the government has led to the increase of Pakistan's exports to France by 48 per cent in 2010-2011.

Thiebaud said the French companies would initiate joint ventures with their Pakistani counterparts in near future that would not only send a positive signal to other developed countries but would also be giving a boost to foreign investments in Pakistan.

Earlier, the speaking on the occasion, the CEO SDV Anjum Firdous Khan said that any French investment in Pakistan would find its way to Central Asian states as they have huge market.

He said that though the country was passing through very challenging times of its recent history but its products are second to none on many counts. He also gave the Ambassador an update on available business opportunities in Pakistan.

Copyright Reuters, 2012