Pakistan, UK reinforce bilateral trade relations

July 23, 2026 (MLN): Pakistan and the United Kingdom have agreed to deepen bilateral trade ties, boost business-to-business cooperation and explore elevating their current Trade Dialogue into a more structured economic and trade framework, complete with defined sectors, working groups and implementation timelines.

The understanding emerged from a meeting at the Ministry of Commerce between Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan and British High Commissioner Jane Marriott, also attended by Secretary Commerce Jawad Paul and senior officials from both countries.

During the discussion, Jam Kamal Khan noted that Pakistan was pushing forward with tariff rationalization, digitalization and regulatory reforms aimed at boosting competitiveness and easing the path for businesses, according to the press release.

He added that predictable tariff regimes, improved access to financing and cheaper industrial inputs would enable SMEs, e-commerce ventures and export-focused firms to tap into new markets.

He pointed to Africa and Central Asia as promising markets for Pakistani exports, urging closer collaboration on standards, certification, traceability, environmental compliance and value addition.

For her part, Jane Marriott praised Pakistan's ongoing economic reforms and noted that the UK was weighing the option of converting the Trade Dialogue into a more robust institutional setup, one with clearly defined sectors, working groups and timelines for implementation.

Jawad Paul noted that two Pakistan-UK working groups were already functioning, with additional ones proposed to widen the scope of cooperation.

He also pressed for a more active role for the UK-Pakistan Business Council in supporting businesses, encouraging investment and generating commercially viable projects.

He further shared that Pakistan was reinforcing its intellectual property enforcement framework, revealing that a new Chairman for the Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan was set to be appointed soon.

Both sides committed to staying in close coordination, with plans to hold the next round of the Pakistan-UK Trade Dialogue in Islamabad this autumn.

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