Islamabad, Sep 9: During a thorough discussion with a group of British-Pakistani members of parliament in London, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar talked about the potential for growing investment from the United Kingdom as well as the volume of bilateral trade, according to an official statement made available on Sunday.
Following the change of administration in the UK, where the Labour Party won the general elections in July and came back to power after a 14-year absence, Dar left for his first five-day official visit to the country last week.
In his discussions with senior administration officials in London, he covered a wide variety of topics, stressing that the government’s “major priority” was the restart of Pakistan International Airlines’ flights to the UK.
Fifteen members of parliament with Pakistani ancestry were elected in the most recent UK elections; many of them had dinner with the deputy prime minister at the diplomatic facilities, hosted by Pakistan’s High Commissioner, Dr. Muhammad Faisal.
In a statement issued by his office, the Deputy Prime Minister congratulated the recently elected British-Pakistani Members of Parliament, saying that their electoral triumph demonstrated the resilience of British democracy and the prosperity of its Pakistani-American inhabitants. It further stated, “The Deputy Prime Minister requested recommendations from the Members of Parliament regarding ways in which the government could enhance bilateral trade volume and attract more British foreign direct investment into Pakistan.”
He gave the British-Pakistani parliamentarians a briefing on his government’s plan for the nation’s economic recovery, noting that security concerns had presented Pakistan with serious difficulties in recent years.
He did stress, though, that Pakistan’s leadership was determined to return the country to economic expansion and progress. Dar clarified that politically unpalatable steps had to be implemented by the Pakistani government, but noted that they were gradually beginning to produce favorable consequences. In addition to stabilizing the currency, he said that the current account deficit had been brought under control and that inflation had dropped to single digits.
The Special Investment Facilitation Council, which was established by the government last year, is drawing international investors to Pakistan’s energy, mining, information technology, and agriculture sectors, according to Dar, who also emphasized the broad institutional backing for economic changes.
The deputy prime minister also emphasized the significance of young British-Pakistanis maintaining ties to their heritage and mentioned that the government of Pakistan had just instituted a new visa-free travel policy in an effort to attract Pakistani expats to the nation.
