*ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has invited European Union to participate in the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor Project.*
*Pakistan and the European Union have agreed to strengthen their trade andeconomic relations.*
The agreement came at a meeting between National Assembly Speaker AsadQaisar and a delegation of the European Union in Islamabad on Tuesday.
“Pakistan has greatly overcome terrorism. Now foreign investors areinvesting in Pakistan,” Asad Qaisar said while speaking on the occasion.
He said elimination of corruption and promotion of education werepriorities of the government.
The NA speaker invited the European Union to join China-Pakistan EconomicCorridor.
The members of the EU delegation said Pakistan and the European Union hadcommon stance on various global issues.
Earlier in February this year, the EU extended Pakistan’s GeneralisedSystem of Preferences plus (GSP-Plus) status after the EuropeanParliament’s Committee on International Trade expressed satisfaction on theprogress achieved by the country in enacting new laws for implementation of27 core conventions of GSP plus, especially the National Action Plan forHuman Rights.
Pakistan is one of the 10 beneficiaries of EU’s GSP+ Scheme. As a result ofduty free access available to Pakistan in 28 member states Pakistan’sexports to the EU have increased from 4.54 billion Euros in 2013 to 6.29billion Euros in 2016 which implies an increase of 38%.
According to an official statement, a meeting of International TradeCommittee (INTA) was held in Brussels at the European Parliament to discussthe second biennial assessment report of GSP+. The statement said theparliament hoped that Pakistan would continue to engage with the EU andensure to bridge implementation gaps during the next two years of reportingon GSP+.