Daily Times

It is high time, Pakistani exporters should fully explore the untapped markets of the United Kingdom by exporting international standard branded products, as the UK is currently Pakistan’s third largest source of foreign direct investment after the US and China.

Chairman UK-Pakistan Business Council (UPBC) Mian Kashif Ashfaq made this remarks on Thursday, while talking to a Pakistani origin British investors and traders delegation led by Muhammad Arbab Khan who is also President British Friendship Council North. Mian Kashif said Pakistan is the second largest economy in South Asia after India and the UK being the third top export destination showing an increase of 19.79 percent to 1.14 billion in six months of FY22 against 956.524 million in the corresponding period of last year which showed an upward surge.

He said about 5,000 UK companies were doing business in the UAE, but only 150 companies were in Pakistan even though Pakistan was a huge market of over 220 million people. Mian Kashif Ashfaq, sharing his views with the visiting delegation said there was great potential for promoting bilateral trade between Pakistan and the UK for which better connectivity between private sectors of the two sides was needed.

He said Pakistan under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan was expanding its industrial base through the development of the Special Economic Zones and added that the UK companies should explore joint venture and investment avenues in such facilities. He was of the view that the close cooperation between the UK and Pakistani companies would help in producing value-added products.

Those Pakistani companies which were supplying A-grade products should be connected with British firms to enhance their exports, he said. Ashfaq who is also a former Chairman Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) cited agriculture, industry, IT, mining and tourism as potential areas of cooperation between Pakistan and the UK. He said the UPBC would connect the British High Commission with P@SHA to shortlist at least 200 Pakistani companies which could provide software products and services to the UK.

He added that UPBC would also try to connect local businesses with UK companies to bring their franchises to Pakistan. He said many UK companies in Pakistan were doing better business as compared to some other countries and more should come to capitalise on the emerging business opportunities in the Pakistani market.

Muhammad Arbab Khan emphasized that Pakistan should focus on addressing the issues of red tape and other bottlenecks along with ensuring a predictable and growth-oriented tax regime to attract more investors from the UK and other countries. He said the UK was focusing on four areas for close cooperation with Pakistan which included healthcare, education, green energy and infrastructure.

He said the UK could also cooperate with Pakistan in agriculture, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and other sectors to make its economy more competitive. He added that the UK would try to provide preferential access to Pak products to its market, which would further improve its exports. Talking about the export of fruits and vegetables Muhammad Arbab Khan said the Pakistani exporters should work on meeting the UK standards to gain better penetration into its food market. He stressed that the Pakistani companies should focus on the better marketing of their products as an insufficient focus in that area was keeping them away from promoting exports up to their real potential.