Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Monday chaired a high-level inter-ministerial meeting to review ongoing efforts aimed at strengthening Pakistan’s trade and economic cooperation with the European Union.
According to a statement shared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the deputy prime minister emphasised the importance of expanding economic and commercial ties with the EU, describing the bloc as one of Pakistan’s most important trading partners, particularly under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP-Plus).
Dar noted that Pakistan has successfully completed four biennial reviews under the GSP-Plus framework and reaffirmed Islamabad’s commitment to fully complying with its obligations under the scheme to further expand mutually beneficial trade with the EU.
The GSP-Plus is an EU trade arrangement that grants developing countries reduced or zero-duty access to European markets, provided they implement key international conventions related to human rights, labour standards, environmental protection and good governance. The scheme has significantly boosted Pakistan’s exports, especially in sectors such as textiles, leather goods and surgical instruments, which are major contributors to foreign exchange earnings.
The meeting was attended by the federal minister for law and justice, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Tariq Bajwa, Secretary Foreign Affairs Ambassador Amna Baloch, and the secretaries of commerce, interior, overseas Pakistanis and human rights. Pakistan’s ambassador to the EU, along with senior officials from relevant federal and provincial departments, also participated.
The discussion follows Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s meeting with EU Ambassador to Pakistan Raimundas Karoblis in January 2026, during which the premier reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to working closely with the EU to enhance trade ties, particularly under the GSP-Plus framework.
Pakistan was granted GSP-Plus status in 2014, a move that led to a sharp rise in exports to the EU, including a 108 per cent increase in textile exports due to concessional tariffs.
In October 2023, the European Parliament unanimously approved the extension of the GSP-Plus scheme for another four years, allowing Pakistan and other eligible developing countries to continue benefiting from the arrangement until 2027.