The United Kingdom is attempting to expand trade and investment in Pakistan, according to Sarah Mooney, Deputy High Commissioner and Trade Director for Pakistan. Speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), she said that the high commission is doing research to identify those goods that have a significant chance of succeeding in the UK market. Sarah Mooney said that Pakistan was devastated by the floods and that she is really heartened by the approximately 100 million pounds that British residents have donated to the flood relief operations.

She said the UK has 96% duty-free products coming from Pakistan and is working on the rest. When it comes to collaborating with Pakistani institutions and fostering collaboration, education is a top priority for Britain. "We are also keen to support education below the university level. The others in which we are interested are sustainable growth, green energy, and infrastructure development." Healthcare is the UK’s other priority area, she added. She expressed the need to alter the manner in which Pakistan and the UK collaborate.

"It should be a genuine partnership where we bring investment and expertise to Pakistan and take advantage of the expertise in Pakistan," she added. According to LCCI President Kashif Anwar, the UK has historically been one of Pakistan's significant trading partners and is the country's fourth-largest export market. According to figures from the State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan's exports to the UK increased from around 2 billion dollars in 2020–21 to over 2.2 billion dollars in 2021–22. However, Pakistan's imports from the UK increased from 780 million dollars in 2020–21 to 869 million dollars in 2021–22.

"It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan’s exports to the UK are dominated heavily by textiles. We are of the view that the bilateral trade volume, which currently stands around 3 billion dollars, should be taken to at least 10 billion dollars," he added. Kashif Anwar said there are numerous prospects for British businesses to partner with Pakistani businesses and expand their economic cooperation in the fields of healthcare, education, green energy, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, information technology, mining, and tourism.

He said that fighting climate change is a crucial issue where the two countries' collaboration has to be improved. He said that there is a lot of room to grow Pakistan's exports of food to the UK. To achieve this goal and further penetrate the UK's food industry, Pakistani exporters require better guidance on how to fulfil the criteria. The LCCI president commended the UK for continuing to grant Pakistan the same degree of market access as it had under the GSP+ programme, despite Brexit.

Pakistan will continue to gain from duty-free exports to the UK thanks to the Developing Countries Trading Scheme, which was established by the UK government, he said. Additionally, this programme will abolish duties on more than 150 Pakistani exports, he added. In order to reduce Pakistan’s reliance on imports, he said that renewable energy output must be increased and dams must be built. This is a crucial area where Pakistan may receive assistance from the UK government, he added.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk