Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Saturday left for London on an official visit.
Talking to media prior to his departure from Noor Khan Airbase he said that during his visit, he will further enhance the existing friendly relations between the UK and Pakistan. The PM would call on the British leadership and parliamentarians. He said talks will be held to further promote bilateral relations between the two countries. He said “the UK is Pakistan’s second largest trading partner in the EU. The bilateral trade reached the £1.9 billion (around US$ 2.99 billion) mark in 2012, with the balance of trade in Pakistan’s favor. Sustained efforts are needed to achieve the target set under Pakistan-UK Trade and Investment Roadmap to raise the volume of trade to £2.5 billion by 2015. The visit will also provide an opportunity to reiterate Pakistan’s interest for inclusion in the GSP Plus in 2014”. He said that the UK has been an important development partner of Pakistan and granted generous humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of 2010 and 2011floods
Under the UK Operational Plan for Pakistan (2011-2015), almost £1.4 billion has been allocated for Pakistan, primarily in the education sector. This makes Pakistan the largest recipient of UK development assistance in the world. The assistance package was announced during Prime Minister Cameron’s visit to Islamabad in April 2011
Britain is also the largest funder of the Education sector of Pakistan.
