EU pushes Pakistan to focus on leather exports

Value addition can help country capture markets, says EU ambassador

ISLAMABAD: The European Union (EU) has urged Pakistan’s business community to make better use of the GSP Plus status and diversify their exports from textiles towards neglected sectors like value added leather.

Talking to media, European Union (EU) Ambassador to Pakistan Jean Francois Cautain stressed that the business community needed to explore opportunities in sectors other than textile and leather, in a bid to take advantage of the GSP Plus scheme.



“The leather sector is an important sector in Pakistan, due to the sheer size of its economic footprint, employment, and potential for value creation,” said the ambassador.

He added that despite being an export earner, Pakistan’s leather sector has a small share in the global trade of value added goods and products.  “In the wake of the current incentives given by the EU, which includes the GSP+ status for Pakistan, the value added leather sector needs to seize the opportunity and further develop the sector to become an even greater export earner for Pakistan,” he noted.

“Events such as the Pakistan Mega Leather Show help improve confidence of international investors in leather sector,’’ said Jean-François.

Besides the EU ambassador, delegation of the European Union (EU) also attended and addressed an international symposium held in connection with Pakistan Mega Leather Show (PMLS) 2016 in Lahore last month.



The event was arranged by the EU funded “Pakistan Leather Competitiveness Improvement Program (PLCIP)” under European Union’s Trade Related Technical Assistance Programme. The EU funded Programme (PLCIP) is working to improve the overall value chain in the leather sector of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2016.

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