Acting Ambassador of European Union (EU), Stefano Gatto says Pakistani trade and industrial community must focus on diversifying their exports to Europe. During his visit to Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said Pakistan’s exports mainly included textiles and leather goods but efforts must be made to diversify the export-range to fully benefit from EU’s GSP-plus scheme.
The EU envoy said Pakistan needs to focus on strengthening its capacity to effectively compete in the international markets. Stefano Gatto noted that Pakistan’s exports to EU have been gradually improving after the grant of generalized scheme of preferences (GSP-plus) for 10 years which commenced from January 1, 2014 but after every two years, the 28-nation European block will assess whether Pakistan is fulfilling the conditions required to get duty-free access to European markets or not. The first assessment has begun and was currently underway which will be officially reported in January 2016, he added.
Commenting on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he said that if it goes well, the corridor can bring economic improvements and Pakistan will be able to play the role of a bridge between the Central Asian Republics (CARs).
