Islamabad, June 16, 2021 (PPI-OT):Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi says Economic Diplomacy has assumed centre stage in modern diplomatic practice. Chairing a virtual meeting on Economic Diplomacy with participation from Pakistan’s Envoys to Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, Ukraine and the United Kingdom today (Wednesday), he underscored the growing significance of geo-economics in international politics.

Highlighting the valuable role played by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Missions abroad in safeguarding Pakistan’s economic interests, he stated that the Ministry and the Missions are pivotal in the successful implementation of the Government’s initiatives like the Prime Minister’s ‘Global Initiative on Debt Relief’ for developing countries, Economic Outreach Initiative and the Roshan Digital Account Initiative.

He asked Envoys to cultivate and broaden mutually beneficial trade and economic partnerships with Europe, focusing on trade promotion, financial inflows, investments, remittances, tourism and technology transfer. He further emphasized the need to constructively engage with Parliamentarians in Europe with a view to maximizing avenues of economic outreach and collaboration. The Minister also instructed the Envoys to work on removing bottlenecks that hinder expansion of economic collaboration with host countries and identifying new sectors for promotion of economic cooperation with Europe.

In order to expand Pakistan’s economic outreach to Europe and to maximize trade gains under the GSP plus Scheme, he emphasized the need for diversification of exports. While expressing satisfaction with increased inflow of remittances and investment, the Foreign Minister asked Envoys to showcase the investment potential of the country. Highlighting the governments robust reform measures for improvement of business climate in Pakistan, he shared that Pakistan’s ranking in Ease of Doing Business has significantly improved. Pakistan has secured 6th place among the world’s top 10 business climate improvers.

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