KARACHI, Oct 24: Danel Jouanneu, Ambassador-designate of France, has advised the government to take up the matter of Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) Plus with the European Union (EU) vigorously so that Pakistan exports could be exempted from customs duty from January 1, 2009.Speaking at a dinner organised by Pakistan Bedwear Exporters Association (PBEA) here on Thursday, the French envoy suggested that Pakistan should also work on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the EU to overcome its economic crisis.

He said presently there was a lack of confidence between Pakistan and the West and this needed to be overcome by adopting other methods to extend financial assistance to pull the country from financial crisis.

Mr Danel said his country, which presently holds the chairmanship of the EU, would assist Pakistan in getting GSP Plus which would give Pakistan exports duty-free access to EU member states.

The envoy said that the previous government worked hard for getting GSP plus but the link had been broken after a political turmoil engulfed the country for over a year. “Therefore, the present government should immediately take up the matter for duty-free market access with the EU,” he suggested.

PBEA Chairman Shabir Ahmed said that in 2001 the EU had offered Pakistan duty-free market access which helped it to generate employment and also enhance export earnings.

He said the business community would like to have duty-free market access which would help to jumpstart the economy and generate employment. “The cost of production is much higher than the regional countries rendering our exports uncompetitive on world markets,” he added.