Bilawal eyes extension of GSP+ status after FATF grey list exit
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that after exiting the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, the government now aims to extend the GSP+ status to boost Pakistan's exports to Europe.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Bilawal said that Pakistan's exports to Europe recently surged to 60 percent. He was accompanied by Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Baloch and Acting Foreign Secretary Jauhar Saleem.
He said coming out of the FATF grey list was a big achievement for the country. Earlier, after a gap of over four years, Pakistan was removed from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) 'increased monitoring list', also known as the 'grey-list', as the global money laundering and terrorism financing watchdog concluded its two-day Plenary in Paris.
During the press conference, FATF President T. Raja Kumar said Pakistan was coming off the FATF's grey-list. Delegates representing 206 members of the Global Network and observer organisations, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations (UN), the World
Bank, INTERPOL, and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units participated in the Working Group and plenary meetings in Paris.
Recounting the diplomatic achievements of this government, the foreign minister said in the first meeting with the Chinese foreign minister, he successfully resolved the issue of the return of Pakistani students to China amid Covid travel restrictions.
Thousands of Pakistanis studying in China have been waiting for Beijing to greenlight their return and lift coronavirus-related travel restrictions. A Pakistan International Airlines special flight, PK-6854, with 90 students on board took off from Islamabad International Airport and landed at Xian Xianyang International Airport at 15.00 local time, APP reported citing official sources.
All the students will undergo 14day quarantine in Xian as per Covid19 control and prevention measures imposed by the local government for the passengers arriving from abroad. Later, the students will go to their universities in different cities to continue their education. Shedding light on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's visit to China, Bilawal termed it a successful visit as 17 important agreements had been signed.
Speaking on relations with the United States, the foreign minister said that the government wants their relations to be on an equal basis, and added that the relations between the two countries were headed in the right direction. He said Pakistan and US enjoy historic relations and recalled how China has proved to be an allweather-tested friend of Pakistan.
Reflecting on the Afghan policy, he said the government doesn't want to take a solo flight on the matter of recognition Afghan government.
"When we came to power, we decided to engage with Afghan authorities regardless of our differences for the greater national interest. We won't take a solo flight on the matter of recognition of Afghan govt."
Responding to a question about Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan's claims that the US government was behind the regime change operation, Bilawal said Imran in his latest speech had himself backed down from his claims.
"We welcome Imran Khan's latest U-turn on the matter of leaving American conspiracy behind," Bilawal said, adding that he wouldn't like to drag this matter any further.