Pakistan’s exports to Italy reached all-time high this year: Ambassador Andreas Ferrarese

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Islamabad: Ambassador of Italy to Pakistan Andreas Ferrarese said this week that Pakistan’s exports to Italy reached an all-time high of $805 million during the first 9 months of this financial year according to the Pakistani official reports.

He maintained Italy was now home to the largest Pakistani diaspora in the European Union (EU).

In the Financial Year FY 2021-22 (July-March), he said workers’ remittances from Italy reached $639 million, which marks a 48 percent increase over the last year, and is an all-time high figure, making Italy Pakistan`s biggest source of remittances in the EU and the 7th largest in the world.

He expected the growth streak to continue in the last quarter of this financial year to take workers’ remittances from Italy around one billion dollar.

Earlier, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Italy Jauhar Saleem revealed that Italy will give Pakistan a comprehensive market access to its labour market.

Jauhar Saleem said that Pakistan and Italy are working on a labour agreement that will give Pakistan a comprehensive market access to Italian labour market.

He informed that Pakistan has shared the draft agreement with Italian authorities and formal negotiations will be started soon.

He stated that Pakistan has been included in the Italian seasonal work visa for 2022 also, which would offer many opportunities for Pakistani workers in agriculture and services sector to work in Italy.

Italy is expected to allow 69,700 seasonal workers from selected countries in 2022 to come to Italy for work, he added. He also elaborated upon various initiatives for promoting welfare of Pakistani diaspora in Italy.

Jauhar Saleem also shared that Pakistan has posted a trade surplus of $372 million during the financial year 2021-22 (July-March), which is 65 per cent higher than the previous year.

Despite the difficult conditions propelled by the pandemic, Pakistan has registered an impressive growth of 41 per cent in FY 2021-22 (July-March) as compared to corresponding period, he mentioned.

The Ambassador informed that Pakistan’s exports to Italy reached an all-time high of $805 million during the first 9 months of this financial year. The value added sectors were the main drivers of this growth which produced a trade surplus of $372 million. Italy is expected to be one billion export market for Pakistan in FY 2021-22.