Business community widely hailed result oriented hectic efforts of the Punjab Governor Muhammad Sarwar Ch for mustering European Union (EU) support in getting two years extension of Generalised System of Preferences plus (GSP-Plus) for Pakistan endeavouring to strengthening national economy. SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) president-designate and veteran trade leader Iftikhar Ali Malik in his statement issued here on Sunday, appreciating Governor Punjab Ch Muhammad Sawar for helping Pakistan for extending GSP Plus status urged the business community to diversify their exports to capitalise on this opportunity to the optimum. He said since the grant of GSP Plus in 2014, Pakistan’s exports to the European Union have enhanced from 4.538 billion euros in 2013 to 7.492 billion euros in 2019, registering an increase of 65 percent.
“The main sectors that benefited from GSP Plus have been textile and garments, which besides earning foreign exchange for the country, provided employment opportunities, especially for females,” adding he said Pakistan can now export textile goods to European member countries till 2022 without having to pay duties, adding that it would increase exports worth $1 billion.
He further said because of the high cost of production, China’s share in the global textile and clothing market is at stake. Pakistan’s duty-free access to the EU can capture greater share of the textile and clothing market since this is a lifetime kind opportunity for Pakistan’s textile exporters.
Throwing light on the future of South Asian countries and European countries, Iftikhar Ali Malik said the European Union (EU) has realized that in the long term, more than 90% of the world’s economic growth will come from non-European areas, mostly Asia.
