‘GSP Plus not being adequately utilised’

Ex-Punjab governor urged businesses to play role in enhancing exports to EU

ISLAMABAD:

Former Governor Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar said that he had played an active role in getting the GSP-plus scheme from the European Union for Pakistan and is still working hard to get an extension of this scheme.

Addressing the business community during his visit to the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), he said, “Pakistan will hopefully get the EU GSP-Plus facility for the next ten years. However, Bangladesh has increased its exports by five times with the GSP plus scheme, while Pakistan has not yet taken full advantage of this facility.”

Urging the business community to utilise the facility of the scheme to enhance exports to the EU, he said, “Exports and remittances combined brought around $300 billion to Pakistan in the last five years, but even today we were forced to accept every condition of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for just $2 billion. An outcome of our inappropriate strategy.”

“The business community has a key role in the development of the economy as it creates jobs, promotes wealth creation and boosts tax revenue,” he said, adding regretfully that about 20 departments are hindering the efforts of the business community due to which doing business in Pakistan is becoming difficult. “Many overseas Pakistanis have achieved great progress and if they were given better incentives, many of them would have been keen to invest in their home country.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2023.

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