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EU envoy's clarification

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Kurt Juul, Ambassador European Union Commission, has clarified the following points in respect of his interview published on Sunday.

"Firstly, I did not comment on the sentiments of European investors vis-a-vis the present set-up of Pakistan."

"Secondly, total trade between the EU and Pakistan now stands at 3.9 billion euro. What I said in this context was that the increase in bilateral trade over the past eight to nine years had only been 300 million euro."

"Thirdly, responding to a question, I commented that European businessmen looking at the region could not be blamed if they looked more intensely at the Indian economy, by sheer size seven to eight times bigger than Pakistan's and with higher annual growth rates. Therefore, a particular need for Pakistan to be attentive to its business climate and investors confidence."

"Fourthly, I mentioned that Pakistan would have to decide whether or not to met the challenges of globalization. The EU was hopeful that Pakistan would be positively disposed to a new round of global trade negotiations, having learnt the lessons from the WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle in December 1999."