Key Takeaways
- Raimundas Karoblis, EU ambassador, met with Atif Ikram Sheikh, FPCCI president, to discuss trade expansion.
- The EU emphasized the need for improved compliance with human and labor welfare conventions in Pakistan.
- FPCCI aims to diversify exports and encourage direct European investment in high-yield sectors.
Atif Ikram Sheikh, President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), met with Raimundas Karoblis, the European Union’s ambassador to Pakistan, to discuss avenues for trade expansion and industrial linkages.
Karoblis highlighted the importance of enhanced compliance with human and labor welfare conventions, a key requirement for Pakistan to continue benefiting from the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP+).
Sheikh stated that the European Union remains a crucial trading and development partner for Pakistan, with exports to the European single market expanding by over 108 percent in the past decade under the GSP+ regime.
The discussions focused on strategies to diversify Pakistan’s export basket, moving beyond traditional textiles into sectors such as value-added engineering, IT services, leather, and food products.
FPCCI is committed to facilitating joint ventures and direct European investment in high-potential sectors including renewable energy, digital services, high-value textile manufacturing, and agro-processing.
Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, Senior Vice President of FPCCI, emphasized the need for tangible economic interventions to ensure local industry can fully leverage trade pacts and address global supply chain volatility.
Zubair Baweja, Head of FPCCI’s Pak-EU Business Forum, outlined mechanisms to build lasting business-to-business (B2B) linkages, aiming to establish actionable bridges between European buyers and Pakistani exporters.
The establishment of the Pak-EU Business Forum reflects FPCCI’s dedication to fostering long-term technology transfer partnerships and transforming traditional buyer-seller transactions into more sustainable relationships.
The discussions brought together diplomatic representatives and members of Pakistan’s apex trade body to examine strategies for diversifying Pakistan’s export basket, encouraging direct European investment in high-yield domestic sectors, and reinforcing compliance with international sustainability conventions.
Atif Ikram Sheikh, President FPCCI
Our focus is on transforming traditional buyer-seller transactions into long-term technology transfer partnerships.
Atif Ikram Sheikh, President FPCCI
