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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


Islamabad seeks duty reduction on exports to China
Pakistan will demand unilateral concessions on approximately 70 products mostly of export interest to China as part of the second phase of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Saudi investment sought for gas pipeline
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have accelerated negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty.
No progress on FTA with Turkey, Senate panel informed
Despite several rounds of talks and negotiations spanning over a decade, progress has yet to be made on reaching a free trade agreement with Turkey.
Trade deal with Saudi Arabia likely
Pakistan is developing a comprehensive package for the promotion of bilateral trade with Saudi Arabia.
China invites Pakistan for FTA-II talks in February
China wants no more damage to Pakistan in bilateral trade which is why the former has offered to re-initiate the stalled talks on Free Trade Agreement-II in February 2018.
Japan’s farm output to take ¥150 billion hit after new Pacific trade deal’s effects kick in: estimates
Japan’s agricultural, forestry and fisheries output will suffer by up to ¥150 billion ($1.3 billion) once the effects of an 11-member Pacific Rim free trade agreement kick in
Pakistan working towards FTA with Pacific South East nations
Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines in the Pacific region are among the countries in the list to start a dialogue on Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) which will pave the way towards FTA for promoting trade liberalization.
Chile interested in joint partnerships with Pakistan
A Joint Feasibility Group will work to formalize the FTA within six months’ period.
What can we expect from the JCC?
The two-day Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor sets the stage for the second phase of the multibillion-dollar cooperation between the two nations.
9th round of Pak, Thailand FTAs negotiation to be held on November 6-8
A Free Trade Agreement between Pakistan and Thailand will be signed on January 15 for focusing on enhancing the bilateral trade between the two countries, a top official of Ministry of Commerce said.

    Links


  • Pakistan FTAs
    Webpage maintained by the Ministry of Commerce