A true friend in London

At a time when other countries are scaling back their operations, British companies are investing heavily in Pakistan.

It is a refreshing change of pace for the prime ministers of Pakistan and the United Kingdom (UK) to meet and for the discussion to be focused on trade and economic development. Given the focus on terrorism in such talks usually, it is easy to forget that our country can be seen as an economic opportunity for investors and traders in other parts of the world.

Prime Minister David Cameron’s effort to make trade and investment front and centre of his agenda in Islamabad was an attempt by a friendly foreign dignitary to remind us of our own economic potential. For our part, we would do well to learn carefully who our true friends are. Pakistan’s economic relationship with Britain — once defined by the remnants of colonialism — is now heavily tilted in our favour.

Trade between Pakistan and the UK is now worth over $2.1 billion, a figure that Prime Minister Cameron said he would like to see doubled in the next two years. It is also biased in Pakistan’s favour: our trade surplus with the UK was just over $461 million in 2012. London is also the second-biggest donor of financial aid to Islamabad — in addition to being one of the most consistent and one of those with the least amount of strings attached.

At a time when companies from other parts of the world are scaling back their operations in the country, British companies are investing heavily in Pakistan. Over the past decade, British investment into Pakistan has reached a net amount of $3.7 billion. Indeed, the numbers seem to suggest that the British can be counted as true friends of Pakistan. The one unsettling factor in recent days has been the UK’s new proposal to require a 3,000-pound bond by visitors from six countries including Pakistan, who visit the UK on six-month visit visas. One hopes that this discriminatory proposal is shot down before it becomes law and leads to increasing mistrust of the West, counteracting other confidence building measures such as increased trade.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd,  2013.

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