Dutch Ambassador Marcel de Vink stated that the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Netherlands have centred in the past 50 years on development cooperation.
During a press briefing at a local hotel on “Recent developments in bilateral trade, culture and human rights,” he said the main sectors among others were water management, good governance and education, adding; now the focus is on trade instead of aid.
The current trade at about $ 800 million per year, roughly equally divided imports/exports, which is substantial, but Pakistan is the 6th largest country in the world, with only a very small part of total Dutch trade.
The Netherlands is looking to improve this figure looking at two-way trade both imports and exports.
On the import side, Center for Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI) works with Pakistan to make them more competitive. They have had successes in automotive parts, surgical instruments, agriculture and have recently signed a MoU with Pakistani Business Support Organisations to jointly provide training and for capacity building.
Senior Experts Programme (PUM) carries out 40 short consultancy missions to Pakistani businesses per year.
GSP+ expected to provide boost to imports from Pakistan, hopefully not only textiles, but also diversification into other product lines. The NL supported GSP+ from the beginning, and is pleased with the new status. Of course, this also entails responsibilities for Pakistan to keep pre-conditions and standards.
On the export side, our priority sectors are water, energy, logistics and agriculture. Last year we brought in a water expert mission and participated in the energy fair here. This year we will cooperate in the agriculture fair in Lahore. We are also looking to bring in a trade mission focusing on agriculture and water. Netherlands is also the 5th largest investor in Pakistan.
The Dutch Business Circle was created in Pakistan in September last year to facilitate interaction.