Interview with head of EC delegation

As Pakistan's principal trading partner, the EU says that, as a result of bad publicity and security lapses, persuading investors to put money into the country has become an uphill struggle. However, the EU has implemented measures to help Pakistan's weak economy by instituting a quota increase of 15 percent for textiles and clothing products and duty free imports of clothing products under the Generalised Scheme of Tariff Preferences for the period 2002-2004 [tariff arrangements for developing countries]. In an interview with IRIN, head of the EC in Pakistan, Iikka Uusitalo, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, that relations between the two were leading to increased input from the EC, and that his delegation would continue to keep human rights issues such as violence against women and the death penalty on the agenda. QUESTION: How would you describe relations between Pakistan and the EU/EC today? ANSWER: I would say that the relations between the two are at a very good level. Of course, a lot has happened, especially since the events of 11 September and, in the European case, this led to further contact between the European Union and Pakistan. That meant increased contacts on the political level and trade relations too, so there have been various levels of development. This good cooperation has also led to an increase in development aid cooperation. Q: The EU is the principal trading partner with Pakistan. How have relations changed since 11 September in this respect? A: After 11 September, we provided certain concessions to Pakistan, especially in the textile sector, and based on these extra quotas and removal of duties, there has been a clear increase in textile exports to Europe. Over 60 percent of Pakistan's exports is textile, so it has really had an important effect on trade. Trade has been increasing over the past few years, and the combined import and exports is a little over five billion US dollars, and this is very much in favour of Pakistan. I think the main thing to look at now is diversification of the trade, because Pakistan is heavily dependent on textiles, and this is a very competitive area, and I think there is a need for expansion. Q: How has the EC's humanitarian work changed over the past few years? A: Before 11 September, our humanitarian office, ECHO, was funding and assisting Afghan refugees on the Pakistani side of the border. Now, of course, things have changed. The Afghan refugees are returning, and our aid activities have moved to Afghanistan and more work is done there. But we still continue in Pakistan, through UNHCR [office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees] supporting their activities, and we are providing assistance to various NGOs which are working with the remaining refugees in Pakistan. In addition to this, we also have support in Balochistan for the drought. Q: The EU is working on human rights in Pakistan. What progress has been made on this issue from your side? A: We have regular dialogue with the Pakistani government on the issues of concern to us, especially questions raised to us on the death penalty. We have raised this issue regularly. As a new feature, from this year onwards we are going to have the facility to fund so called micro-projects carried out by human rights NGOs, and we will be looking for proposals for this soon. Our focus for this will be on violence against women. Q: We heard recently that those found guilty of killing the 11 French nationals in Karachi last year have been handed the death penalty. Will you be taking this issue up with the government? A: Even in this type of case, and there have been similar cases where Europeans have been targeted, we still don't promote the death penalty, and would still need to see the other options. Of course, we still need to see the implementation of the death penalty in Pakistan, as it is not necessarily carried out and there are strict rules related to that. But we would hope to see Pakistan move towards a moratorium in implementing the death penalty and later the abolition of the death penalty. Q: Education is a big area for the EU in Pakistan. What progress is being made on this front? A: If we look at our new programme for the next three years, out of the €79 million [US $91 million] for this, 59 million is for education sector support in the north and in the southern Sindh Province; €20 million has gone to the northern areas and Chitral in the North West Frontier Province [NWFP], and our implementing partner for the northern areas is the Aga Khan Foundation. We have been working in the northern areas for the past five or six years, and this is the second phase. What we are seeing there is that there has been increased [school] enrolment of girls. What we hope to do with this second phase is widen the base to cover the five districts of the northern areas and look more into the quality of education, as parents are concerned about how useful it really is for the children, as they won't be able to work and help support the family if they are studying. This is a reality that we have to consider. In the south, we are due to have an identification mission to work with the provincial government programme, supporting primary education, specifically looking into enrolment of children, how to keep children in school, and how to increase female enrolment. There are also other aspects related to teacher training and the quality of education, and this amounts to 39 million euros allocated to Sindh. Q: The EU has also put money into HIV/AIDS, some 67 million rupees [1.1 million US dollars]. How big a concern is this now? A: HIV/AIDS has not become endemic in Pakistan, but that is why it is extremely important that work is done in this field, and raising awareness is crucial. In Pakistan, it is still possible to do a lot to prevent the spread of the disease. At the same time we have to remember that there is an increase in the number of drug users, and HIV/AIDS and drugs are related. It would be a mistake not to invest now in fighting against AIDS and HIV. Q: Moving on to the general election in Pakistan last year, the EU described the process as being seriously flawed. What is your assessment of what is happening now with the Legal Framework Ordinance and the introduction of Shariat Law in the NWFP? A: The EU election observation mission to Pakistan was one of the largest missions ever seen here. Since then, the developments in politics have not been what we were expecting. Without commenting in detail, even the president very often speaks about introducing democracy in Pakistan, that he needs to keep the two positions of president and chief of army until democracy is established in the country. This of course still implies that there are problems in that respect. We would hope that the democratic process is started sooner rather than later and parliament is fully operational and functional. It is in the long-term interest of Pakistan to have a fully fledged democratic system in place. With regards to what is happening in the NWFP, as we all know the MMA [Muttahida Majlis-e Amal] won with a majority there and introduced measures like the Shariat bill, which was passed. We don't know what this Shariat bill introduces in practice. My understanding of the situation is that three committees have been set up to look at the practical implications and what it means. There are very different views of what Shariat means even within Islamic scholars. I think that at the moment we still have to wait and see what the implementation of this law means in the NWFP. I can comment on incidents such as the destruction of advertisements, and I really don't see how that is Islamic and [it] is [actually] an example of [how] people are taking the law into their own hands while the police is watching. I don't think it is anybody's interest that this type of lawlessness continues. Q: There has been a lot of concern from the aid community about what effect the Iraq war will have on this region and more specifically on funding. What is your response to this ? A: I don't see any direct link between Iraq and Pakistan. We have our national indicative programme which runs until 2005. Of course, next year we have to start looking beyond this. Our future cooperation is linked to development within Pakistan itself, and to see where our input is most valuable. I'm quite sure education will be one of the key sectors, but also anything which is trade related and improving possibilities for Pakistan to be involved in the global trade systems. Those are the areas where we will continue in the future. Q: Security remains a big concern in Pakistan. How is the EU dealing with this ? A: Security considerations in the sense of security for our staff and project people has been a concern. I think at the moment there is the slight feeling that security has improved, but we still need to be careful in all the areas we are working, and we are taking all the necessary measures to try and ensure that our people are not endangered. It has not greatly affected our projects, but I would say that it has had a negative impact on the economy in the sense that it is not easy to convince European investors to come to Pakistan - especially Karachi, which is the main business centre of the country. It is considered at the same time to be the most difficult or the most dangerous city in the country.