GSP Plus status: Ishaq Dar reviews measures to expand trade ties with EU

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Monday chaired a high-level inter-ministerial meeting to review measures aimed at strengthening Pakistan’s economic and trade cooperation with the European Union.

FM Dar underscored the importance of deepening and expanding trade and economic engagement with the EU, noting that the EU remains a key economic partner for Pakistan, particularly under the GSP Plus framework.

“Pakistan has successfully completed four biennial GSP Plus reviews,” he stated and reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to fully meeting its obligations under the scheme to expand mutually beneficial trade opportunities.

The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Tariq Bajwa, Secretary Foreign Affairs Ambassador Amna Baloch, the secretaries of commerce, interior, overseas Pakistanis and human rights, Pakistan’s ambassador to the EU, along with senior officials from relevant federal and provincial departments.

READ MORE: Pakistan committed to closer EU ties, trade expansion under GSP+: PM

GSP Plus is a preferential trade arrangement offered by the EU to developing countries, providing duty-free access to the European market for most of their exports, conditional on their implementation of international conventions on human and labour rights, environmental protection, and good governance.

Raimundas Karoblis, Ambassador of the European Union to Pakistan, on January 29 called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the PM Office in Islamabad.

Talking to the ambassador, the prime minister had said Pakistan was committed to working closely with the EU on mutually beneficial trade enhancement initiatives, especially through the GSP Plus.

Welcoming the EU ambassador, who has assumed his responsibilities in Pakistan only a few months ago, PM Shehbaz had reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to further strengthen cooperation with the EU in all areas of mutual interest, particularly trade, investment, development, security, migration and climate change.

He had emphasised upon the critical role of the GSP Plus scheme in enhancing trade between Pakistan and the EU, and said the government of Pakistan was committed to working closely with the EU on mutually beneficial trade enhancement initiatives, especially through the GSP Plus.