Pak-Indonesia: Preferential trade deal to be inked next week

Initial agreement signed in Sept, signature of ministers left.

JAKARTA:

Indonesia’s trade minister and Pakistan’s commerce minister are scheduled next week to sign a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) that will boost economic relations between the two countries, Jakarta Post reported on Monday.

Trade Ministry’s international trade cooperation director general Gusmardi Bustami said that PTA would be signed on January 19 or 20 in Jakarta. The long and hard-bargained agreement was earlier signed on September 16 last year in Jakarta by former deputy trade minister Mahendra Siregar and Pakistan’s Commerce Secretary Zafar Mahmood, but it still requires signature of the two country’s ministers.

“After the signing, we will hand over documents to the State Secretariat for ratification,” he said, adding that ratification will likely be completed in April. Gusmardi expected that the trade deal, would boost Indonesia’s export of palm oil, other products, including electronics, to Pakistan.

Under the PTA, Indonesian principal export commodity — palm oil — for example, will enjoy the same level of import duty as Malaysian palm oil. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2012.