ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will get more generous market access to the United Kingdom in post-Brexit era, said British Minister of State for Trade Policy Greg Hands.

During a meeting with Commerce Minister Pervaiz Malik on the sidelines of Commonwealth Business Forum in London, which is an integral part of Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2018, Mr Hands also assured to work with Pakistan to promote it as a safe destination for British investment.

An official statement issued here said that Mr Hands assured Mr Malik that post Brexit, Pakistan will get more market access compared to what it currently enjoys under GSP+ regime. No further details were provided.

Pakistan-UK bilateral trade peaked to all time high of 2.14 billion euros in 2017. Pakistan’s exports registered an increase of 2.2pc to 1.36bn euros where as imports increased by 3.3pc to 780m euros over the last year. The trade surplus for Pakistan increased by 0.8pc to 578m euros.

Pakistan’s main exports to UK consist of apparel and home textiles, which are 76pc of total exports. Other important export sectors are cotton yarn & fabrics, agriculture including rice, edible fruits, spices and ginger, sports goods and articles of leather.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2018