It is easy to forget that the European Union is not only a distant block from 27 countries, but the second trading partner in Pakistan and, by far, our largest export destination.
In 2023, the bilateral trade between Pakistan and the EU oscillated around 12 billion euros, the Pakistani exports benefiting from preferential access within the framework of the generalized EU preferences (GSP +). For numerous exporters in Siackot, Faisalabad and Karachi, Europe is not a distant market but a rescue buoy.
However, despite this strong dependence, our economic relationship remains narrow and transactional. It is dominated by a handful of sectors and assailed by compliance costs as European environmental regulations, the workforce and the safety of products are becoming more and more strict. Europe’s investment flows remain modest and Pakistani companies have not done much to integrate into the EU value chains beyond basic manufacturing.
If Pakistan seriously wishes to diversify its exports, attract sustainable foreign direct investments and maintain its place in European markets, it must go beyond ad hoc lobbying and adopt a deeper and more structured conversation with Brussels and with European affairs. This is precisely what the EU-Pakistan sales forum was designed to do.
The forum, sometimes called UE-Pakistan Business Network or UE-PKBF, was designed as a high-level platform to bring together government actors, private and institutional sector on both sides. Its objective: to strengthen economic ties, to stimulate investment and promote constructive dialogue on commercial, regulatory and sectoral challenges.
The high-level inaugural edition was scheduled for May 2025 under the theme “stronger together”, with plenary sessions on trade and investment, sectoral eruptions on agro-industry, technology and green logistics, and direct B2B and B2G matchmaking. He also considered the launch of an EU-Pakistan sales network to serve as a continuous bridge between European companies and their Pakistani counterparts. Although the event has been postponed due to geopolitical tensions, the concept behind it remains healthy and urgent.
Why is it important? Because such a forum can fulfill several functions simultaneously. First, it provides a structured political interface where Pakistani exporters and European importers can express real -time challenges concerning customs, standards, digital trade or sustainability requirements. This helps regulators on both sides to prioritize reforms and align the rules, rather than allowing businesses to carry the cost of the dishealthy.
Second, by pre-identifying bancable projects and investment opportunities, the forum can go from discussion to real conclusion and joint ventures. Third, thanks to its proposed sales network, it can institutionalize continuity, follow progress and defend reforms long after the closing ceremony. And fourth, it offers a scene to present the innovation and priority sectors, green technologies, digital services, logistics, agro-industry and the circular economy, where Pakistan can increase the value chain and connect to the future EU growth areas.
In other words, the forum is not only another conference; This is a potential support point to transform a transactional relationship into a strategic partnership. But the potential is not the same as the impact. To make these advantages, Pakistan must prepare seriously.
This preparation begins with the substance. Bancable projects must be packed with clear finances, risk profiles and investor protections, ideally linked to EU instruments such as Global Gateway or to the European Fund for Sustainable Development. Our exporters must understand and plan the next EU regulations, from carbon border adjustments to reasonable diligence requirements, and use the forum to co-conceive of transitional routes.
The government should create a joint secretariat or a working group with chambers of commerce and the EU delegation to ensure that the recommendations are monitored and implemented. Participation must be inclusive, extending beyond large capital to SMEs, provinces and poorly served regions, so that the gains are wide rather than captured by a few.
We also have to reframe the way we are talking about Europe. Too often, Pakistani comments on the EU are reactive, focusing on conditionalities attached to GSP + or human rights resolutions. However, these conditionalities do not disappear; In fact, they will then intensify that Europe integrates sustainability and reasonable diligence based on rights in its commercial policy.
The question is whether Pakistan uses a forum like the UE-PKF to shape these expectations in a realistic way for our businesses, or if we allow ourselves to be blind by changes in rules announced from Brussels. This is particularly relevant in sectors such as textiles, where carbon accounting, chemical restrictions and circularity requirements become the standard. If Pakistani companies cannot comply with these upgrading standards, they will be excluded despite the preferential rates.
There are, of course, risks beyond the regulations. Geopolitical volatility has already derailed a planned event. Implementation gaps, regulatory ambiguity and domestic instability could reduce the forum to a discussion shop. The EU clearly indicated that the benefits of GSP + depend on continuous progress in human rights, labor rights and media freedom; The drift of policies could compromise access to European markets. For Brussels, the consistency of rights is now part of the commercial policy. For Islamabad, this should be a signal to take reforms seriously, not an excuse to disengage.
None of these obstacles is insurmountable. In fact, they precisely explain the reason why a structured and high-level platform is important. The EU-Pakistan commercial forum can help both parties face uncomfortable truths in a commercial setting: Europe needs stable and diverse suppliers at a time of geopolitical disintegration; Pakistan needs market access, investment and technology transfer to climb the value chain. If it is executed with strategic rigor and sustained monitoring, the forum can increase bilateral engagement of opportunistic trade to a real economic partnership, facilitate new investment flows and innovation links, help Pakistan to diversify its exports and to align themselves with global sustainability standards and to provide a credible mechanism for structured public cooperation.
The opportunity is greater than trade. A dynamic EU-Pakistan commercial corridor can serve as a counterweight to over-dependence on a single geography, improve our lever effect with other partners and report to investors that Pakistan is committed to reforming and connectivity. It can also anchor dialogue on questions such as digital trade, renewable energies, gender inclusion in supply chains and skills development, all areas where European companies provide experience and Pakistan brings a scale.
But the keyword is “can”. Forums do not transform savings; People and politicians do it. To make the EU-Pakistan commercial forum more than a symbolic gesture, Islamabad will have to treat it not as a photo session, but within the framework of a broader economic strategy, that which links regulatory reform to the house to market access to the foreigner and integrated commercial diplomacy in our foreign policy. Brussels, for its part, will have to see Pakistan not only as a case of conformity, but as a partner capable of contributing to European objectives on sustainability, connectivity and diversification.
In a period of economic uncertainty and geopolitical flow, Pakistan cannot afford to let this opportunity slip into symbolism. The EU-Pakistan commercial forum offers an opportunity to transform trade into a real partnership. If we grasp it with preparation, openness and clear story of the reform, it can become a lasting pillar of the economic diplomacy of Pakistan. If we treat it like another event on the calendar, it will disappear in the long list of missed opportunities. The choice and responsibility are ours.
Warning: The points of view expressed in this play are the own writers and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of PK Press Club.TV.
The writer is an expert in public policy and directs the Partner Institute of the World Economic Forum in Pakistan. He tweets / publishes @amirjahangir and can be reached: [email protected]
Originally published in the news
