Pakistan invites EU to join CPEC
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*ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has invited European Union to participate in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor Project.*
*Pakistan and the European Union have agreed to strengthen their trade and economic relations.*
The agreement came at a meeting between National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar and a delegation of the European Union in Islamabad on Tuesday.
“Pakistan has greatly overcome terrorism. Now foreign investors are investing in Pakistan,” Asad Qaisar said while speaking on the occasion.
He said elimination of corruption and promotion of education were priorities of the government.
The NA speaker invited the European Union to join China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The members of the EU delegation said Pakistan and the European Union had common stance on various global issues.
Earlier in February this year, the EU extended Pakistan’s Generalised System of Preferences plus (GSP-Plus) status after the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade expressed satisfaction on the progress achieved by the country in enacting new laws for implementation of 27 core conventions of GSP plus, especially the National Action Plan for Human Rights.
Pakistan is one of the 10 beneficiaries of EU’s GSP+ Scheme. As a result of duty free access available to Pakistan in 28 member states Pakistan’s exports to the EU have increased from 4.54 billion Euros in 2013 to 6.29 billion Euros in 2016 which implies an increase of 38%.
According to an official statement, a meeting of International Trade Committee (INTA) was held in Brussels at the European Parliament to discuss the second biennial assessment report of GSP+. The statement said the parliament hoped that Pakistan would continue to engage with the EU and ensure to bridge implementation gaps during the next two years of reporting on GSP+.
