Trade & Investment

Major Pakistani imports from the UK are specialised industrial machinery, power generation machinery, Telecom & Broadcasting Equipment, chemicals, pharmaceutical and medical products and Metalliferous ores and metal scrap. Major Pakistani exports to UK are textiles (yarn, fabric, garments, towels & bedding), rice, leather and leather products, carpets and fruit. The UK is the fourth largest trading partner among OECD countries. There are over 100 British companies operating in Pakistan .

International Power (IP) of the United Kingdom plans to invest a further (~£600m) in Pakistan to expand Kapco by 400 megawatts and Uch power plant by 600 megawatts to meet the future growing demand of electricity.

Seeking further avenues of expansion in Pakistan , BP has acquired significant offshore acreage for petroleum exploration. £30million have been invested in 2D and 3D seismic acquisition and related activities in the last three years. In 2008, BP added 2 further concessions in its portfolio and the investment outlay is likely to be around £266 million.

In 2008 Barclays commenced its operation in Pakistan and so far have invested ~£66million.

Major players include Unilever, Shell, BP, GlaxoSmithKline, Standard Chartered Bank, International Power, HSBC and Barclays.

Thanks to its pro-business regulatory regime, which allows 100% remittance of capital and profits in many sectors, (top in South Asia on the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business survey) experienced international firms are comfortable doing business here and make impressive profits. Six of the 16 foreign petroleum companies and two of the 16 private independent power producers are British. British pharmaceutical firms have a 31% share of the market. There is a substantial and growing presence in the health, education and retail sectors. Karachi boasts the largest Toni and Guy hairdressing salon in the world.

FDI

UK FDI to Pakistan was £175 million in 2008/09. (source: Pakistan Board of Investment 14 April 2010). Pakistan FDI to UK was £98 million in 2008 ( source BIS, Statistics and Analysis, 14 April 2010 ).