ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Jawad Sohrab Malik held a productive meeting with European Union Ambassador Dr Riina Kionka in Islamabad to exchange views on future prospects of EU-Pakistan business, trade and development cooperation under the prevailing political and economic context of Pakistan. While underlining the European Union’s humanitarian support to Pakistan in its post flood rehabilitation and reconstruction program, the present status of progress upon the three new development programmes with a funding of EUR87 million by the European Union was specially discussed.
The EU Ambassador apprised the SAPM how EU’s upcoming grants in agricultural value chains, access to clean energy and uplift of the skilled labor force in the country would be materialized through the Team Europe Initiative.
SAPM Jawad Sohrab Malik who had won a title of pandemic hero, discussed the state of affairs of vulnerable communities in the country in the context of post Covid aftershocks. The EU ambassador while acknowledging his concerns expressed their commitment to allocate 50 percent share for welfare of Covid and Climate affected communities in Pakistan in its future Official Development Assistance. Ambassador Dr Riina Kionka underscored the need to harness Pakistan’s huge potential in SMEs and discussed enhanced business opportunities in various sectors of economy between EU and Pakistan.
Both sides agreed to enhance bilateral trade by addressing issues that are hampering trade and investment, improving the business climate, and maximizing the benefits of EU’s unilateral trade preferences scheme, the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) especially after the recent delisting of Pakistan from the “list of high-risk third countries” by EU. Other issues of bilateral and regional importance also came under discussion during the meeting. –Agencies
