NEW YORK: Pakistan is pressing the European Union to keep its preferential trade access in place, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif telling the EU’s top two officials on Thursday that the bloc’s GSP Plus scheme is vital to his country’s economy and jobs.
Sharif raised the issue in a meeting with European Council President António Luís Santos da Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, according to a statement from his office.
The program has been a cornerstone of Pakistan’s trade with Europe since 2014, when the country gained duty-free access to the EU market for about two-thirds of the bloc’s tariff lines. Pakistan’s exports to the EU rose 108% between 2014 and 2022, and total trade grew from 8.3 billion euros in 2013 to 14.85 billion euros in 2022.
Sharif said Pakistan is committed to continued engagement with the EU under the framework. He also pledged to fully implement the Pakistan-EU Strategic Engagement Plan and called for sustained leadership-level contact to give the relationship more direction, the statement said.
The three leaders reviewed the broader relationship and expressed satisfaction with the pace of recent high-level exchanges. They also discussed regional and global developments and stressed dialogue, diplomacy, international law and the peaceful settlement of disputes.
Sharif renewed his invitation for Costa and von der Leyen to visit Pakistan and said he wants to work closely with EU leaders to deepen the partnership.
