Pakistan and EU Vow to Further Strengthen Economic Partnership

Islamabad: Pakistan and the European Union have reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening their economic partnership and exploring new avenues of cooperation. This development emerged from a meeting between Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and newly appointed Ambassador of the European Union Raimundas Karoblis in Islamabad.

According to Radio Pakistan, during the meeting, both sides discussed matters of mutual interest, particularly focusing on enhancing economic cooperation and strengthening bilateral trade and investment ties between Pakistan and the European Union. The Finance Minister encouraged European Union companies to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan, especially in the oil and gas, mining and minerals, information technology, and agriculture sectors.

Muhammad Aurangzeb welcomed plans to activate the EU-Pakistan Business Forum and offered full support in this regard. He also highlighted that Pakistan recently received positive assessments from all three leading global credit rating agencies, which are now well-aligned on Pakistan’s economic outlook, reflecting growing confidence from bilateral partners, including the EU. Additionally, he mentioned the damages caused by floods and that federal and provincial governments are managing rescue and relief operations from their own resources. Damage assessment is being carried out by the National Disaster Management Authority and through satellite imagery.

In his remarks, Raimundas Karoblis noted that over three hundred EU companies are currently operating in Pakistan across various sectors. He expressed his commitment to further expanding bilateral trade and investment ties. He termed the GSP Plus regime as instrumental in boosting Pakistan’s exports to the EU, noting that over thirty percent of Pakistan’s exports are destined for the EU market. The Ambassador also expressed his condolences on the loss of lives and damage to infrastructure caused by the floods in Pakistan.