Scotland's International Framework: Pakistan engagement strategy

Introduction

SCOTLAND'S COMMITMENT TO A STRONG, LONG-TERM, BILATERAL PARTNERSHIP WITH PAKISTAN

Why Pakistan?

Pakistan occupies a geopolitically important location at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East and Central Asia. With over 191 million people and an increasing urban and young population ^[1] , Pakistan's economy is poised to grow steadily in the coming years ^[2] .

Scotland is home to a large and vibrant Pakistani community including a sizeable student population, many of whom maintain close links with family members in Pakistan. The community's contribution to Scotland - culturally, economically and socially - is significant. The early migrants, whose experience has been collected through the Colourful Heritage project, have opened the door for the Scottish Asian community to play a valued and influential role in public life, civil society and business.

Scotland's new Pakistan Strategy recognises the need for specific, focused and collaborative activity with Pakistan, to help us meet our purpose of sustainable economic growth. We have focused on four priority sectors which include: trade, investment and enterprise; education and skills; water and energy; and culture and heritage. Our focus for engagement reflects Pakistan's own priorities, matched with Scotland's expertise and offers scope for mutual learning, benefit and sharing of knowledge.

In our partnership work with Pakistan, we will engage with Pakistani national and provincial government as well as business, academic and cultural communities, civil society and young people.

Scotland's international ambitions

One of the key priorities of Scotland's Economic Strategy is internationalisation and our co-operation with Pakistan fully supports this. As defined in Scotland's International Framework, the aims of internationalisation are:

• to create an environment within Scotland that supports a better understanding of international opportunities and a greater appetite and ability to seize them; and
• to influence the world around us on the issues that matter most in helping Scotland flourish.

As part of this ambition we will aim to co-operate in addressing global challenges such as climate change, tackling inequality and the promotion of human rights. Scotland's engagement with Pakistan will complement these aims as well as contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Strategic objectives for engagement with Pakistan

Our International Framework has four strategic objectives, which we have aligned to our engagement with Pakistan.