British High Commissioner to Pakistan Philip Barton called on Punjab Chief Minister

Lahore: British High Commissioner to Pakistan Philip Barton called on Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, here today. Matters of mutual interest, promotion of bilateral relations and increase in cooperation in different sectors were discussed during the meeting. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that Pakistan and Britain have close friendly and trade relations and Britain is an important trade partner of Pakistan. He said that cooperation of Britain in education, health, skill development, law and order and other sectors is laudable. He said that Skills Development Programme is being carried out successfully in Punjab with the cooperation of British Department for International Development (DFID). He said that School Reforms Roadmap being implemented with the cooperation of DFID is yielding encouraging results while a major programme of public health is also being started with the help of Britain.

The Chief Minister further said that the government led by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is introducing far-reaching reforms in economic sector and due to solid measures taken by the government, the confidence of foreign investors has restored. He stressed the need for the promotion of bilateral trade and economic relations and exchange of trade delegations between the two countries. British High Commissioner Philip Barton said that Britain attaches high importance to its relations with Pakistan and cooperation with Pakistan in different sectors will be continued.