ISLAMABAD, June 21: European Union Ambassador IIkka Uusitalo has stressed that Pakistan should go beyond the traditional markets and improve its trade ties with all the EU member countries. Addressing the business community at the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on Tuesday, the envoy said seeking of new markets for new products would help increase Pakistan’s share in the total trade with the EU.

He said the trade balance was in favour of Pakistan, and was rapidly increasing since 2001.

He said EU and Pakistan were enjoying good trade and political relations. The ambassador also expressed satisfaction over the ongoing peace talks between Pakistan and India and said it would help both the countries improve their economic conditions. About anti-dumping duty on the export of bed-linen, he said a EU team was analysing the facts and expressed the hope that the matter would be resolved soon.

He said the export of fishery products to the EU markets would resume after improvement in the quality. He emphasized that no government could allow import of food products which were not good for the consumers.

The ambassador said EU was the main source of foreign direct investment in Pakistan, which could be further increased with the improvement in security situation, judicial system and by strengthening the regulatory bodies. He said EU was assisting Pakistan in its efforts to improve primary education and protect intellectual property rights besides technical assistance in other sectors.