Islamabad, Aug 6: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on Tuesday organized a dialogue on climate regulations by the European Union (EU) and their Impact on exports to highlight the issues and challenges faced by local exporters.
The discussion focused on the EU’s stringent new trade regulations, which are part of the European Green Deal, a comprehensive policy initiative aimed at making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, said a press release issued here today.
The dialogue underscored the urgency of adapting to the EU’s new trade regulations and highlighted the critical role of awareness and collaboration between Pakistani businesses, the government, and international partners like the ITC. The discussions paved the way for future cooperation and set the stage for a more sustainable and resilient trade relationship between Pakistan and the European Union.
The event was attended by Escipion Joaquin Oliveira Gomez, Director International Trade Centre, Robert Skidmore, Chief Sector & Enterprise Competitiveness International Trade Centre, Atif Aziz, Joint Secretary EU Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President ICCI and others.
Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari highlighted the importance of understanding and adapting these new regulations and emphasized that local businesses to proactively align with the EU’s environmental standards to maintain their market access and competitiveness.
“Our exports to the EU are crucial therefore we must not only be aware of these changes but also ready to comply with these regulations”, he said adding that Pakistan’s carbon emissions are significantly lower as compared to the neighboring countries.
Pakistan’s share of global greenhouse gas emissions is only 0.93% but is one of the worst sufferers of the impacts, therefore, it deserves the benefit of the situation, he maintained.He urged the International Trade Centre delegation to visit Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, and Sialkot chambers of commerce and Industry to get the firsthand knowledge of the exporters and industrialists’ ambitions to enhance their exports to EU and the difficulties they are confronting in the matter.
Addressing the secession, Robert Skidmore highlighted the support available to Pakistani businesses to help them transition to more sustainable practices. He outlined Growth for Rural Advancement and Sustainable Progress (GRASP) project of ITC and how this project is supporting SMEs through capacity building and policy initiatives.
Representative of the Ministry of Commerce Atif Aziz highlighted the government’s role in facilitating this transition. He mentioned that the ministry is actively working on developing policies and frameworks to help Pakistani exporters comply with international environmental standards. Adnan Lodhi from ITC briefed the participants that as a major trading partner, Pakistan’s exports, especially in sectors like textiles, agriculture, and manufacturing are expected to be directly affected by these changes.
