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Pakistan

The government of Pakistan is a keen pursuer of bilateral trade and investment agreements. It has a full FTA with Sri Lanka (2005), a PTA with Iran (2004) and Mauritius (2007), Early Harvest Schemes with China (2005) and Malaysia (2007), and is part of both ECOTA and SAFTA. It is in various stages of FTA talks, or preparations for talks, with Brunei, Indonesia, Jordan, Thailand, Malaysia, Morocco, Singapore, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Canada, Switzerland, Indonesia, Nepal, China, Turkey and Russia (among others). In July 2006, it signed a Framework Agreement on Trade with Mercosur.

Negotiations on a US-Pakistan bilateral investment treaty, as a step towards a US-Pakistan FTA, have been quite controversial and are unconcluded. After talks restarted in mid-2010, a draft US-Pakistan BIT was sent for approval to Pakistan’s Cabinet in April 2012. The Pakistani government has already signed almost 50 BITs with other countries. In 2011 Germany ratified a BIT with Pakistan.

On a wider scale, there is talk of possible Pakistani FTAs with Afghanistan, Algeria, the EU, Japan, Laos, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Tunisia.

last update: May 2012
Photo: Asian Development Bank/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0


Investment treaty gets go-ahead
The investment treaty with Saudi Arabia and Qatar would be annexed with the free trade agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), highly placed sources told The Express Tribune.
Pakistan seeks early implementation of free trade agreement with Gulf Cooperation Council
Pakistan called for early implementation of a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Gulf Cooperation Council, Pakistan sign Free Trade Agreement
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Pakistan initialized a free trade agreement, The agreement was signed by GCC Secretary-General Jasem al-Budaiwi and Pakistani trade minister Gohar Ejaz.
Signing of FTA with UAE likely this month
Pakistan was expected to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the upcoming visit of an Emirati delegation in the last week of this month.
Pakistan, Iran chalk out five-year trade plan
Pakis­tan and Iran on Thursday chalked out a five-year trade cooperation plan aimed at doubling trade volume to $5 billion, prioritising removing trade impediments and finalising a free trade agreement.
Iran, Pakistan to begin free trade talks in September
Iran and Pakistan will start direct talks for a free trade deal in September, according to a senior Iranian trade official who said an agreement may be possible until the end of the Iranian calendar year in March 2024.
Pakistan, Iran agree to accelerate work on Free Trade Agreement
Pakistan and Iran have agreed to accelerate work on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries and finalize it at the earliest.
US wants Pakistan to ‘do more’ for intellectual property enforcement
Pakistan has made significant progress in improving intellectual property legislation, but a lot still needs to be done in the area of enforcement, says US report.
Pakistan-China Economic Partnership stalled
The FTA has been repeatedly been criticised by businessmen in Pakistan, who believe that Pakistan had negotiated poorly.
Iran, Pakistan negotiating free trade agreement
Iran and Pakistan are negotiating a free trade agreement with the aim of boosting their mutual trade to a targeted five billion dollars per year, an official with Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization said.

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  • Pakistan FTAs
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