Pak-Thailand FTA: Pakistan wants duties eased on 100 products

Ninth round of negotiations to start in Nov for ironing out differences

ISLAMABAD: A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and Thailand will be signed on January 15 for enhancing bilateral trade between the two countries, a top official of the Ministry of Commerce told APP on Tuesday.

The ninth round of FTA negotiations will be held between Pakistan and Thailand from November 6-8 this year in which both sides will present a complete offer list of products to be included in the FTA, the official added.



Both sides had exchanged the final offer lists of items for free trade including automobile and textile sectors in order to remove the reservations of different sectors.

Pakistan wants concessions on 100 products including textiles, agro-products, plastics and pharmaceuticals at the same level as that granted by Thailand to other FTA partners in these products, he said.

During the 9th round, he said, talks would be held on the text of the agreement, tariff reduction modalities, complete request lists from both sides and offer lists.

The official claimed that Pakistan has a comparative advantage over Thailand in 684 commodities including cotton yarn and woven textiles, readymade garments, leather products, surgical instruments and sports goods.



The official also provided an update on the second phase of Pak- China FTA, claiming that China has agreed to provide market access to 65 products while providing concessions on all the items included by Pakistan in its offer list.

The coming round of negotiations with China will be held in the first week of January 2018 in Islamabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2017.

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