Islamabad, Mar 4 (PTI) Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday met European envoys based in Islamabad as part of the government's efforts to promote economic diplomacy.

During the meeting, Qureshi told the European diplomats that the purpose of their interaction was to review Pakistan's economic engagement with European countries, identify impediments to fulfilling its true potential, and chart a way forward.

He shared with the envoys the outcome of his two recent virtual meetings with Pakistani Heads of Mission in Europe.

Highlighting Europe's position as Pakistan's largest trading partner, Qureshi "underscored the importance of consolidating and expanding Pakistan's economic outreach with the continent."

He noted that Pakistan's bilateral trade with the EU had doubled over the past eight years. There, however, was still room to realize the full potential.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan's exports to and investments from many European countries had increased, he said.

He also apprised the European envoys of the various reforms introduced by the government to improve business and investment climate which have brought an impressive improvement in Pakistan's Ease of Doing Business ranking.

The meeting was attended by envoys from the EU, Italy, Germany, France, Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Norway, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Russia, Ukraine, Spain, Greece, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, Belgium and the UK.

This was the second region-specific interaction focused on economic diplomacy this year. The first one was held with African Envoys in January.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)