Pakistan

Pakistan, thailand: Sixth round of FTA talks in progress

The ministry has hired consultants to study the trade regimes

APP January 19, 2017

“After implementation of PTA, we will take further steps to deepen economic cooperation by initiating negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA)" says Gani.

ISLAMABAD: A high level delegation from Thailand, which arrived Tuesday, is negotiating Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Pakistan. The agreement is likely to be signed within three months after both sides finalise recommendations to be accommodated in the agreement. In its sixth round of FTA negotiations, which is currently in progress, both sides discussed the text of agreement, tariff reduction modality, request list and under preparation offers list, said a senior official of the Ministry of Commerce. Thailand has comparative advantage in around 1,000 commodities, while Pakistan also has relative advantages in 684 commodities, said the official. He said that the ministry had hired consultants to study the trade regimes and feasibility of FTA between the two countries.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2017.

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COMMENTS (1)

Naseeb Zada | 7 years ago | Reply Pakistan has to be careful in providing market access to Thai exports, we have not a good experience with Bilateral FTAs, i.e. with China and Malaysia. We instead have lost our own small scale industry due to cheap imports coming from China, same is the case with Malaysia. However, due to the inappropriate tariff concessions to Pakistan, by the bilateral trade partners, Pakistan has not been successful to boost up exports. The existing figures also show that Pakistan has been facing a persistent trade imbalances with Turkey and Thailand and so must be careful in undertaking new bilateral FTAs.

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