Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has expressed the desire to work for more robust relations between Pakistan and United Kingdom (UK), state-owned Radio Pakistan reported.

According the report, the finance minister engaged with the British Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan Hamish Falconer in Portugal.

Furthermore, the two sides dicussed “matters of mutual interest including investment opportunities in Pakistan in energy, minerals, and infrastructure sectors”.

During the meeting, Muhammad Aurangzeb also said that Pakistan and the United Kingdom have enjoyed close and cordial relations marked by mutual trust and engagement.

The role of people-to-people contacts through the Pakistani diaspora in fostering the bilateral relationship was also lauded in the meeting.

The UK has remained the top export destination of Pakistani products during the first five months of the current fiscal year. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Pakistan exported products worth $935.018m to the country.

In 2024, Pakistan was the UK’s 51st largest trade partner, while the UK is Pakistan’s third biggest trade partner after China and the United States and the third-largest source of remittance inflows, trailing Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Workers’ remittances totalled $3bn in January 2025, reflecting year-on-year growth of 25.2pc, the central bank announced in its press release. Inflows during January were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia ($728.3m), the United Arab Emirates ($621.7m), the United Kingdom ($443.6m).