LAHORE - At a meeting of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) here on Monday, Punjab Governor Ch. Muhammad Sarwar has come up with the idea of establishing Pak-Europe Forum which would serve as a common platform for investors and businessmen from these countries.
     “We should take great advantage of the GSP Plus status and to further develop trade relations with Europe, a joint platform is vital to facilitate the investors and businessmen”, he told the LCCI delegation which called on him at the Governor House led by its President Sohail Lashari.
     The Governor said that in order to increase the proficiency of the proposed platform, it was essential it operated alongside the ministries of finance and commerce. Sarwar said he would discuss the modalities with the high-ups of these ministries to materialise the idea.
     The Governor was of the view that in order to achieve the targets set to achieve economic stability, promotion of trade and business activities was indispensable.
The meeting was also attended by the first Muslim member of the European Parliament, Dr. Sajjad Karim who also did lobbying for granting of GSP plus status to Pakistan.
     Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Karim said that Punjab Governor had bridged the longstanding gap between Europe and Pakistan and had filled the political vacuum between the two nations. He added that the attainment of the GSP Plus status should be accredited to all those who worked according to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s vision and the materialisation of such a vision was due largely to Governor Punjab Chaudhary Mohammad Sarwar. He said that there were numerous trade and economic opportunities available in Europe and it was now up to the Pakistani trade community to rightfully exploit them.
     Dr. Sajjad Karim also said that Sarwar used his personal influence and contacts to get support of European Union members for GSP. 
The governor said that GSP plus status in actuality defines the sense of confidence the international community has placed in the democratic Government of Pakistan and thus it was incumbent upon us to work with unity and make a collective struggle in order to attain maximum benefit out of this concession.
     Ch Sarwar reiterated that overseas Pakistanis were a great asset to our nation as they not only send $15 billion worth of foreign exchange in remittances every year but were also vital in portraying a more positive image of the country abroad.
     The LCCI president lauded the efforts of Prime Minister of Pakistan and Governor Punjab along with the entire team who worked restlessly to accomplish this GSP Plus status. In this regard, he also thanked Sajjad Karim, “Friends of Pakistan,” Dr. David Martin and the European nation on behalf of the entire Pakistani trader’s community.