Pakistan’s exports to Canada are up 4.6 per cent. Textiles, leather and food products account for 74 per cent of Pakistan’s exports to Canada. Non-textile exports are also growing. Canada is mulling a preferential trade partner status for Pakistan to encourage exports from developing economies under preferential tariffs.

Inclusion in the program would boost Pakistan’s exports to Canada. It aims at assisting developing countries and their small and medium enterprises take advantage of new export opportunities created by free and preferential trade agreements with Canada. The program places an emphasis on initiatives that will help ensure that free and preferential trade access to Canada will ultimately contribute to job growth and poverty reduction in developing countries, and those which also address gender inequality or environmental concerns in doing so.

The priorities for the bilateral international assistance program are based on Pakistan’s development priorities and Canada’s comparative advantage in line with its feminist international assistance policy. Canada’s development assistance to Pakistan also includes multilateral, partnership and humanitarian programming. Additionally, project funding in Pakistan has come from the International Development Research Centre. The Canada fund for local initiatives provide direct funding assistance for small projects to local non-government organisations and, in exceptional cases, international NGOs and government institutions.