By Our Staff Reporter
Islamabad: European Union hosted the fourth edition of EU-Pakistan Business Forum in Peshawar today to widen bilateral trade opportunities for both the EU and Pakistani businesses.
After three previous programmes held at Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi on 8 September, 13 October & 17 November respectively last year, the current event in Peshawar was attended by representatives of local SMEs from key sectors including: Handicrafts & Carpets, Tourism, Stone and Gems.
During the Peshawar session of the Business Forum, the participants were informed about making the Pakistani SMEs a part of the country’s export supply chains using the GSP+ scheme granted to Pakistan by the European Union. The programme will also help identify new sectors for expanding the export base and diversifying exports. EU-granted GSP+ status to Pakistan provides two thirds of tariff lines duty free access to the EU market with the rest on preferential duties.
The EU Charge’d Affaires to Pakistan Mr.Thomas Seiler a.i. said, “We have come to Peshawar today to hold the 4th EU-Pakistan Business Forum, with the hope and confidence that it will widen trade opportunities – especially for the small and medium enterprises. We also expect that the programme will enable exporters to reap full benefits from the EU-granted GSP+ concessions to Pakistan by developing contacts in the EU market and thus pave the way for the SMEs to become real engines for economic development.”
