Despite the COVID-19-fuelled lockdown and supply chain disruption, Pakistan has fared quite well by registering a visible growth in textile exports to the Italian market in FY20, said Ambassador of Pakistan to Italy Jauhar Saleem.

Saleem said Italy was the eighth largest economy of the world with gross domestic product (GDP) of $2 trillion. It is the third largest economy in the European Union (EU) after Germany and France and the ninth top export destination for Pakistan as it hosts the largest Pakistani diaspora in the EU.

Italy is facing tough times due to the widespread impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its economy and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected a 9-11 per cent contraction in the Italian economy whereas the Italian central bank is anticipating a decline of 9-13 per cent in its GDP this year.

The ambassador pointed out that in FY19 Pakistan had a trade deficit of $164 million with Italy. However, in fiscal year 2019-20, despite the coronavirus outbreak and lockdown in the country, Pakistan managed to record a trade surplus of $210 million.