The European Union may give duty-free market access to Pakistani products under a new General System of Preferences (GSP) from April 2005, it is learnt. Sources said that Commerce Secretary Tasneem Noorani is leaving for Brussels on Tuesday, as his meeting with the European Union Commission Chairman has been fixed for Wednesday, to discuss the GSP for Pakistan, free access to European markets and other trade related matters.

They said that Noorani's visit to Brussels is a follow-up of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's visit to EU late last month where he had called upon the EU leaders that as a frontline coalition partner in fight against terrorism and drug trafficking Pakistan deserves EU's duty-free GSP facility for sustained economic development.

Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar also visited the 25-member EU to lobby for the continuity of the GSP and withdrawal of 12 percent duty on Pakistani exports.

Sources said that the European Union remains Pakistan's largest trading partner, receiving about 30 percent of Pakistan's exports and providing 18 percent of its total imports.

Pakistan's trade with the EU is mainly composed of textiles, which account for over 68 percent of the total Pakistani exports to the EU, followed by leather products, which account for 13 percent of the total Pakistani exports.

Sources described EU's intentions to extend fresh GSP to Pakistan as a diplomatic achievement.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2005