Pakistan Removed From List Of High-Risk Countries By EU

The European Union has removed Pakistan from its “list of high-risk countries”.

This comes in a move that is expected to improve conditions for business activities.

In a statement on Wednesday, Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce said the listing of Pakistan in 2018 had resulted in creating a regulatory burden affecting Pakistani companies doing business with the European Union.

The statement said; “The new development would add to the comfort level of the European economic operators and is likely to ease the cost and time of legal and financial transactions by Pakistani entities and individuals in the EU."

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also said that Pakistani businesses and individuals “would no longer be subjected to Enhanced Customer Due Diligence” by European legal and economic operators.

According to the EU, the high-risk third countries list includes nations that do not have a robust enough regulatory and legal system to prevent financial crimes and “terrorism” financing that could pose significant threats to the financial system.

When a country is added to the list, it is subjected to scrutiny and measures that increase the cost of doing business.