ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Industry and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on Saturday said the European Union had extended the GSP plus status to Pakistan till 2022.

In a statement on his twitter handle, he said after this extension, Pakistan would continue to avail tariff preferences in European Union under the GSP Plus.

This would strengthen our resolve to continue to improve the social and economic conditions of our people. I urge the business community to diversify their exports to capitalise on this opportunity to the optimum. 2/2 @aliya_hamza @pid_gov @appcsocialmedia @PTVNewsOfficial

— Abdul Razak Dawood (@razak_dawood) March 6, 2020

The advisor said this would strengthen Pakistan’s resolve to continue to improve the social and economic conditions of its people.

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He urged business community to diversify their exports to capitalise on this opportunity to the optimum.

GSP+ is an extension to the GSP system – it includes developing countries which have proved their commitment to sustainable development and good governance. Most duty rates are ‘zero’ under this part of the scheme.

While the GSP-Plus facility has been available to Pakistan since January 2014, its continuation is an award for Islamabad’s progress in enacting new laws and developing new institutions for implantation of 27 core conventions of GSP-Plus, especially the National Action Plan (NAP) for human rights.

Pakistan’s third biennial assessment report, which was published by the Euro­pean Commission on Feb 10, was discussed by the INTA on Feb 19 and by the GSP Working Party of the European Council a week later.