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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


Government announces tariff reductions
Pakistan has announced tariff reduction on the import of 6936 items under five bilateral and regional trade agreements.
Pak-German trade agreement mutually beneficial
Federal Minister for Commerce, Humayun Akhtar Khan met with Dr Bernd Pfaffenbach, State Secretary of German Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology here today. During the meeting they exchanged views on bilateral trade and issues related to free trade agreement.
Shaukat for early signing of FTA with GCC
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has emphasised the need to expedite the process of signing a free trade agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), saying that the attractive demographics of Pakistan have created growing economic opportunities.
Pakistan, Malaysia agree to finalize Free Trade Agreement
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr. Abdullah Badawi Sunday agreed upon the need for early finalization of FTA (Free Trade Agreement) between the two countries.The mutual consent was expressed during a telephonic conversation between the two Prime Ministers this afternoon.
TDAP, Sri Lanka trade board to ink MoU
The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, (TDAP) and the Sri Lanka Trade Development Board (SLTDB) will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate rapid increase in trade between Pakistan and Sri Lanka under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
FTA to help promote Pak, Lanka trade ties
Pakistan and Sri Lanka have great potential to expand their trade relations which will be supplemented by the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries. This was stated by Dr S B Dorakunbura, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Pakistan, at a meeting with Tanvir Ahmad Sheikh President, FPCCI, at the Federation House, Karachi, on Saturday.
Positive headway made on FTA with European Union.: Humayun Akhtar Khan
Minister for commerce Humayun Akhtar Khan has said rise and fall in trade deficit is part of government policies and commerce ministry has no role behind it.
Pak-Malaysia to sign FTA within two months: Humayun
Minister for Commerce, Humayun Akhtar Khan said on Wednesday said that Pakistan -Malaysia have concluded negotiations on a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and it will be signed within next two - month for improving trade and investment between them. "The initiative includes trade in goods, trade in services , investment and Economic cooperation", he told a press conference here at a local hotel today.
EC rules out Pak-EU FTA in near future
The European Commission on Thursday ruled out the possibility of a Pak-EU FTA in the near future and said that this requires a detailed review and better understanding of the proposal.
Italy supports Pakistan’s case for FTA with EU
Italy has strongly supported Pakistan’s case for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union and given assurance to encourage Italian investment in Pakistan.

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  • Pakistan FTAs
    Webpage maintained by the Ministry of Commerce