LONDON – British Minister for Asia and the Pacific, Mark Field on Fridaysaid that the launchof direct flights between Pakistan and United Kingdom (UK) would helppromote business and trade besides increasing links between the twocountries.

“The launch of direct flights between our two capitals is excellent newsfor both our countries, and for the many people with links to the UK andPakistan”, Mark Field saidwhile briefing the UK based group of Pakistani journalists here at ForeignandCommonwealth Office about the resumption of British Airways service toPakistan after a decade.Mark Field said, “I personally very much look forward to using this serviceon mynext visit to Pakistan – which I hope will be very soon.”

The British Minister said that it was a demonstration of the close andstrong linksbetween the two countries and a symbol of the future health of an historicrelationship, and of the potential of the Pakistan and the UK as importanttrading partners.”It is these connections, and the familiarity we have with each other’scountry, that means British Airways has been able to offer a tailoredservice that will feature an Urdu-speaking flight crew on most flights, andwill be offering halal food to customers,” he remarked.

He said that with the new flights would come more business opportunities –not only will it be cheaper and easier for British businesses andentrepreneurs to travel to Pakistan and see the opportunities forthemselves, it was also a powerful symbol of stability in Pakistan and themarket’s confidence.

“So I am sure this will be a trigger for more British businesses to investin Pakistan, and hopefully too for Pakistani companies to invest in the UK,generating business and employment here,” he remarked.

Mark Field said that the UK had more people of Pakistani origin withcitizenship than any other country.

“There are around 1.5 million people of Pakistani origin in the UK,approximatelytwice as many people of Pakistani origin as in the rest of Europe puttogether”, he remarked.

Highlighting the contribution of British-Pakistanis, he said that peopleof Pakistaniorigin played a huge role in the UK: “The Home Secretary – one of thegreatest offices of state – is of Pakistan origin, as is the Mayor ofLondon, 12 MPs, 9 members of the House of Lords, and over 250 councillors”,he said. All MEPs of Pakistani descent are from the UK.

“As a Foreign Office Minister, I am also proud that Pakistan is host to oneof theUK’s biggest diplomatic networks in the world”, he remarked.”The British High Commission in Islamabad, led by our High Commissioner TomDrew, is one of our biggest overseas missions,” he said.

“And our commitment to Pakistan is also demonstrated through our DeputyHigh Commission in Karachi and an office in Lahore”, he added.

Highlighting the Pakistan and UK relationship, he said that Investing inPakistan’s future was extremely important to the UK.

The UK, he said spends more money on development aid in Pakistan thananyone else – more than double that of the rest of the EU member states puttogether.

“And we spend more on development aid in Pakistan than it does anywhereelse in the world”, he remarked. “I am extremely proud that millions of Pakistani people are benefittingfrom UKsupport every day”, he said.

Mark Field informed the media that between 2015 and 2021, two millionPakistani children will gain decent education, 6.8 million Pakistanis willget sustainable access to clean water and sanitation, 6.6 million peoplewill benefit from our nutrition programme, and over 1.8 million Pakistaniswill have accessed UK-backed microfinance loans to increase their economic opportunities.

He said, “Our British Council teams also do a fantastic job. Thelibraries in Karachi and Lahore play an important role, we hostexaminations in around 40 cities across

Pakistan, and British Council is supporting the development of more than300,000 school leaders and teachers across Pakistan over the next twoyears”.

The British Minister said that Vice-Chancellors from all of Pakistan’spublic universities had benefitted from leadership training and supportfrom the British Council as part of the UK-Pakistan Education Gateway.

The deep ties between the UK and Pakistan will not be affected by Brexit,he remarked adding that the UK is a committed partner and Brexit is anopportunity for the UK to develop even closer ties with non-EU partnerssuch as Pakistan.

The British Minister for Asia and Pacific ,Mark Field said that the UK wasPakistan’s largest trading partner in Europe and second largest exportmarket globally – our bilateral trade in 2017 stood at £2.9 billion ingoods and services.He added that Pakistan exported more last year to the UK than it did toChina.

He said that the UK was also a major source of investment: last year, itwasPakistan’s second largest source of foreign direct investment.

“We are very proud that there are already around 150 British firmsoperating inand investing in Pakistan. Major UK businesses are succeeding there,including Mott MacDonald in infrastructure development; Unilever andReckitt Benckiser in consumer goods; Standard Chartered and UBL in banking,GlaxoSmithKline in pharmaceuticals; and Shell in oil and gas.

British brands are doing well too – Debenhams, Toni & Guy, and Monsoon”.

The UK, he said was firmly committed to encouraging the brightest and besttalentand welcomes all genuine visitors from Pakistan.

” More than 79,500 Pakistani nationals were granted UK visas and over 4,200Pakistani nationals were granted Tier 4 student visas, in the year endingMarch 2018. Pakistan issued just 15,927 visas in 2017 to people of allnationalities, while only 50,045 European Schengen visas were issued in2017″,he said.

“The average processing time for non-settlement visas for Pakistaninationals is 10working days, well within the global service standard of 15 working days”,he remarked.He said that with a new Visa aplication Centre in Islamabad and an evenfaster priority visa service, the UK continues to invest in supporting visacustomers inPakistan.

Replying to a question, he said that UK wants to work with Pakistan for thepromotion of freedom of media in the country. Replying to another question, he saidUK wanted to resolve Kashmir dispute through negotiations between Pakistan,India and people of Kashmir.

Regarding China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) , he said itsinfrastructureprojects would benefit the people of Pakistan.

Regarding Cricket World Cup 2019, he said “We all agree, cricket is thesport that brings us together. We are very excited that the Cricket WorldCup is hosted by the UK this year.””I’m sure that given the skills of the Pakistani cricketers, this will bean excellent opportunity for Pakistan to show off its cricket team to therest of the world. Ilook forward to watching their successes over the course of the World Cup!”he said.