MULTAN, Feb 9th: British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Thomas Drew CMG stressed the need for further improving bilateral trade and economic relations between Pakistan and UK and said that strengthening the trade and investment ties between the UK and Pakistan was one of his top priorities. He said during his short time in Pakistan, he has already seen good examples from Karachi to Islamabad of British investment in a variety of sectors. He said, "the UK and Pakistan are partners having strong trade ties and many British businesses are operating in Pakistan. But the establishment of the British Business Centres in Pakistan recently is another step forward in building our trade relationship." "I am delighted to meet members of the Multan Chamber of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) He said that British government was keen to further strengthen trade and investment cooperation with Pakistan. “We have increased our trade teams with presence in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore, which is the sign of the importance that we give to strengthening trade relations with Pakistan”, he added.He said that UK government has also appointed Rehman Chishti, a Pakistani descent, as Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy for Pakistan who is very enthusiastic to strengthen trade relations between the two countries whereas the British government has also doubled Export Financing from 200 million pounds to 400 million pounds, which is a significant figure, for British companies who are interested in doing business in Pakistan.
“We are doing a lot on our side to encourage UK firms to explore good opportunities in Pakistan and increase their businesses in Pakistan”, she added.To a question the high commissioner said that British Government would not spare those who make property in UK through unlawful means and stern action would be taken under the law which provides Concealing or disguising property includes concealing or disguising its nature, source, location, disposition, movement or ownership, or any rights with respect to it. Whilst ‘converting’ criminal property is not defined in POCA, it is suggested that this be given its conventional legal meaning, that is that the 'converter' has dealt with the property in a manner inconsistent with the rights of the true owner of the property. For example, a criminal steals cash in a bank robbery and then uses that cash to open a gambling account and gamble.
He said business relationship between the UK and Pakistan was important to the prosperity of both our countries. He said he wanted it to continue to grow. There were already a large number of British companies operating in Pakistan today, with many more working here through Pakistani agents and distributors. He said part of his role was to stimulate more business in both directions. He said the newly launched British Business Centre would be a great asset in doing so.
He said there were are exciting times for Pakistan and for our trade relationship. Increased levels of security, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects and growing UK-Pakistan business links were all laying the foundations for a transformation within Pakistan’s business sector. This will be the cornerstone for economic growth across the country.
He said that Pakistan enjoyed friendly relations with the UK, but that was not truly reflected in their economic affairs.
He said that the UK was extending the best possible facilities in the field of education and vocational training which would certainly give a quantum jump to economic activities in Pakistan.
He said that his country was cooperating with the Punjab government in the field of education to bring about a positive socio-economic change in the province.
He said that many UK-based companies were already working in Pakistan and many were planning to make new investment particularly in the wake of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.He said that, "the UK actively supports the increased participation of women in the area of trade and commerce. UK help, through the State Bank of Pakistan, has already resulted in an increase of six million micro-finance borrowers in Pakistan, more than 50 percent of whom are women." We are also supporting women to acquire new skills through our partnership with Punjab Skills Development Fund, he said. At the same time, the UK's support through Benazir Income Support Programme will help the poorest women in remotest regions of Pakistan, the High Commissioner added. while highlighting British government’s commitment,High Commissioner said that when UK leaves European Union (EU), Pakistan’s GSP Plus arrangements will be maintained by UK, if not improved.
“We will unilaterally agree to put those GSP Plus arrangements in place which is going to be a very positive step in terms of strengthening UK-Pakistan trade ties and it shows UK’s strong commitment and desire to expand trade with Pakistan”, he added .Referring to concerns expressed over issuance of visas, he said that all these concerns were ‘misconceptions’. “Visa applications for Pakistanis are not decided in India as Visa Center continues to operate from Abu Dhabi”, he said.Reacting to concerns expressed over Indian nationals deciding visa applications submitted by Pakistanis, he assured that anyone, including Pakistanis and Indian nationals, working at the Visa Center in Abu Dhabi work under British Values, British Standards and British Rules so there is absolutely no bias in the entire visa applications process.“We don’t want the legitimate businessmen and legitimate students being unable to travel to UK”, he added.
In his welcome address, Malik Asrar Ahmed Awan President of MCCI said that Pakistan and UK have good potential to promote bilateral trade and both countries should facilitate private sectors in developing strong connectivity to explore all untapped areas of mutual cooperation. He said economy of Pakistan offered tremendous investment opportunities in its various sector while China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project was posed to create more opportunities for investment and joint ventures. He said British High Commission should apprise UK investors about investment potential in Pakistan so that they could take benefit by investing in our country. He said bilateral trade between Pakistan and UK was yet below their true potential and assured that MCCI would like to work closely with British High Commission to take two-way trade to higher levels.Malik Asrar awan discussed opportunities to further enhance trade links between UK and Pakistan and explore opportunities for entrepreneurs in Pakistan.He said, “More than 100 UK companies have been operating in Pakistan and many of them have also undertaken joint ventures but we are not where should have been. We should have been too far from where we stand today in terms of business and trade.”
