ISLAMABAD, July 25: Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan has said that the current market access granted by EU to South Asia was discriminatory as it has excluded Pakistan.

The minister was talking to United Kingdom Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Rt Hon John Hutton in London on Wednesday, according to a message released here by commerce ministry.

Mr John Hutton assured UK’s support for Pakistan’s case for market access with the European Commission. On the invitation of the commerce minister, Mr Hutton expressed his keenness to visit Pakistan in the near future.

In a separate meeting, the minister urged UK Junior Minister for International Development Shahid Malik that the United Kingdom should encourage market access for value-added goods from Pakistan such as rice.

Mr Humayun also discussed with him the prospects of EU and DFID assistance to Pakistan to upgrade its fishing and fish farming facilities in order to bring them up to EU standards.

The minister also held a detailed meeting with Lord Digby Jones of Birmingham, Minister of State for Department of Trade and Industry.

Mr Digby assured UK’s support to Pakistan and said that the relationship of the UK with Pakistan and its people was strategic and that UK would do its best to look for opportunities and ways to further trade relations between Pakistan and the EU.

The minister met with senior trade policy officials at the foreign and commonwealth office and apprised them about the issues pertaining to market access in the EU for Pakistan and the outcome of the Joint Commission on Trade (sub-committee on trade), which held its meeting in May 2007 in Islamabad.