'Pakistan has a bright future': UK keen to liberalise trade, identify investment opportunities

UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Pakistan, Mark Eastwood, who also serves as a Member of Parliament (MP), has reaffirmed commitments to liberalise trade and identify new investment opportunities in Pakistan.

At the conclusion of his first visit to Pakistan on Thursday, Eastwood said, “Pakistan has a bright future.

"This visit has reaffirmed my view that there is a lot more we can do together, whether its liberalising trade, opening up opportunities for investment, bringing in new technologies, or helping Pakistan on the path to sustainable growth and clean energy – there is so much we can do.”

As per a statement, Eastwood concluded his four-day visit to Pakistan on Thursday, a part of the Trade Envoy’s programme, which included wide-ranging discussions in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad with senior figures from the federal and provincial government and leading British and Pakistani businesses.

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“The visit underlined the UK’s commitment to Pakistan and the trade envoy’s ambitions for a deeper and mutually beneficial bilateral relationship,” read the statement.

Deputy High Commissioner and Trade Director Sarah Mooney, while giving her views on the UK Trade Envoy’s visit, said, “Mark’s visit will open up new avenues for trade and I look forward to building on the existing trade momentum.”

During his visit, Eastwood, who has been a Trade Envoy to Pakistan since 2019, met with the Federal Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, Interim Punjab Industries Minister S.M Tanveer, Chairman Pakistan Business Council Muhammad Aurangzeb and other business leaders.

It is pertinent to mention that Trade Envoys promote “UK trade, drive economic growth, and encourage inward investment to help level up every part of the UK”.

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UK is Pakistan’s largest export market in Europe and 3rd largest globally (after the United States and China); and 3rd biggest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

For the four quarters to the end of Q3 2022, total trade in goods and services between the UK and Pakistan was £4.1 billion (USD 4.91 billion) with exports to UK amounting to £1.5 billion, while Pakistan imported goods worth £2.6 billion, reflecting an increase of 39.3% or £1.1 billion from 2021.