It is easy to forget that the European Union is not only a remote block of 27 countries, but Pakistan’s second largest trading partner and far from our largest export destination.
In 2023, bilateral trade between Pakistan and the EU hovered around 12 billion euros, with Pakistani exports, which benefits from preference access under EU generalized schemes with preferences plus (GSP+). For many exporters in Sialkot, Faisalabad and Karachi, Europe is not a distant market but a lifeline.
Despite this heavy addiction, our financial conditions remain narrow and transactionally. It is dominated by a handful of sectors and obsessed with compliance costs, as European rules on the environment, labor and product safety are still becoming stricter. Investment flows from Europe remain modest, and Pakistani companies have done little to integrate into EU value chains in addition to basic production.
If Pakistan is seriously looking at diversifying its exports, attracting sustainable foreign direct investment and maintaining its place in European markets, it must move beyond ad hoc lobbying and embrace a deeper, more structured conversation with Brussels and with European business. That’s exactly what the EU-Pakistan Business Forum was conceived to do.
The forum, sometimes referred to as the EU-Pakistan Business Network or EU-PKBF, was designed as a high-level platform to bring together the government, the private sector and institutional players from both sides. Its goals: Strengthen financial ties, stimulate investments and promote constructive dialogue on trade, regulatory and sector challenges.
The high -level initial edition was planned for May 2025 under the theme ‘Stronger Together’, with plenary arms on trade and investment, sector outbreaks on Agribusiness, technology and green logistics and direct B2B and B2G matchmaking. It also imagined the launch of an EU-Pakistan business network to act as a continuous bridge between European companies and their Pakistani colleagues. Although the event has been postponed due to geopolitical tensions, the concept of the sound and urgent remains.
Why does this mean something? Because such a forum can earn more features at the same time. First, it provides a structured policy interface where Pakistani exporters and European importers can express real -time challenges around customs, standards, digital trade or sustainability requirements. This helps regulators on both sides to prioritize reforms and adjust rules rather than allow companies to carry the cost of incorrect adjustment.
Secondly, by identifying bankable projects and investment opportunities, the forum can change from discussion to actual agreement and joint ventures. Third, through its proposed business network, it can institutionalize continuity, trace progress and advocate for reforms long after the closing ceremony. And for the fourth, it offers a scene to showcase innovation and priority sectors, green technologies, digital services, logistics, Agribusiness and the circular economy where Pakistan can move up the value chain and connect the EU’s future growth areas.
In other words, the forum is not just another conference; It is a potential focal point for transforming a transaction relationship into a strategic partnership. But potential is not the same as influence. To realize these benefits, Pakistan must prepare seriously.
This preparation starts with fabric. Bankable projects must be packed with clear economies, risk profiles and investor protection, ideally linked to EU instruments such as Global Gateway or European Fund for Sustainable Development. Our exporters must understand and plan for upcoming EU rules, from carbon boundary adjustments to requirements for due diligence and use the forum to co-design transitional roads.
The government should create a common secretariat or task force with the Chambers of Commerce and the EU delegation to ensure that recommendations are monitored and implemented. Participation must be inclusive and extend beyond great capital for SMEs, provinces and underrated regions, so gains are widely based rather than captured by a few.
We also need to refresh how we talk about Europe. Too often, Pakistani comment on the EU is reactive, focusing on conditions related to GSP+ or human rights decisions. Yet these conditions do not disappear; In fact, they will intensify as Europe embeds sustainability and rights -based due diligence in its trade policy.
The question is whether Pakistan uses a forum like EU-PKBF to shape these expectations in a way that is realistic for our companies or whether we allow ourselves to be blind-sided by rule changes announced from Brussels. This is especially relevant in sectors such as textiles where carbon accounts, chemical limitations and circularity requirements become the norm. If Pakistani companies cannot meet these developing standards, they will be excluded despite preferential tariffs.
Of course, there are risks beyond regulation. Geopolitical volatility has already derailed a scheduled event. Implementation holes, regulatory ambiguity and domestic instability can reduce the forum to a speech shop. The EU has made it clear that GSP+ benefits the hinge over continued progress in human rights, labor rights and media freedom; Policy operation could jeopardize access to European markets. For Brussels, consistency in rights is now part of commercial policy. For Islamabad, it should be a signal to take reforms seriously, not an excuse to free itself.
None of these obstacles are invincible. In fact, they are precisely the reason why a structured, high -profile platform matters. The EU-Pakistan Business Forum can help both sides to confront unpleasant truths in a business surroundings: Europe needs stable, diversified suppliers in an era of geopolitical rejection; Pakistan needs market access, investment and technology transfer to climb up the value chain. If performed with strategic rigor and sustained follow-up, the forum can raise the bilateral commitment from opportunistic trade to a genuine economic partnership, facilitate new investment flows and innovation connections, help Pakistan diversify its exports and adapt to global sustainability norms and provide a credible mechanism to structured public-private collaboration.
The opportunity is greater than trade. A vibrant EU-Pakistan business corridor can serve as a counterbalance to excessive dependence on a single geography, which improves our negotiation development with other partners and signal to investors that Pakistan is obliged to reform and connect. It can also anchor dialogue on issues such as digital trade, renewable energy, gender uptake in supply chains and skills development, all areas where European companies bring experience and Pakistan bring scale.
But the key word is ‘can’. Fora does not transform economies; People and policies do. To make the EU-Pakistan Business Forum more than a symbolic gesture, Islamabad has to treat it not as a photo-up, but as part of a larger economic StateCraft strategy, one that connects regulatory reform at home to market access abroad and integrate business diplomacy into our foreign policy. Brussels, in turn, will have to see Pakistan not only as a matter of compliance, but as a partner capable of contributing to European goals of sustainability, connection and diversification.
During a period of economic uncertainty and geopolitical flux, Pakistan cannot afford to let this opportunity slip into the symbolism. The EU-Pakistan Business Forum provides an opportunity to transform trade into a genuine partnership. If we grab it with preparation, openness and a clear tale of reform, it can become a durable pillar in Pakistan’s financial diplomacy. If we treat it as yet another event on the calendar, it fades into the long list of unanswered options. The choice and responsibility are ours.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and does not necessarily reflect Pakinomist.tv’s editorial policy.
The author is a public political expert and leads the Country Partner Institute of the World Economic Forum in Pakistan. He tweets/posts @amirjahangir and can be reached at: [email protected]
Originally published in the news
