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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


EU to spend 200 million Euros in Pakistan’s northern areas
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz visited EU headquarters for talks on future relations and brought up Pakistan’s desire to forge a free trade agreement with the 27-nation bloc, along the lines of deals being proposed for India, South Korea and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Pakistan, Switzerland agree to start negotiations on FTA
Pakistan and Switzerland have decided to initiate negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement.
Pakistan, Egypt to start negotiations for Free Trade Agreement
Pakistan and Egypt on Friday decided to start negotiations for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries to promote trade and economic activities.
Pakistan decides to initiate dialogue with EU for free trade agreement: PM
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said Pakistan has decided to initiate talks with European Union (EU) for signing free trade agreement.
Japan must enter FTA or lose market to China: Humayun
Pakistan asked Japan to strike Free Trade Agreement (FTA) otherwise the import of auto parts and machinery from Japan will suffer in the wake of FTA with China, Humayun Akhter Khan, Commerce Minister said Monday.
Pakistan-Mauritius talks on PTA conclude
Pakistan and Mauritius on Saturday concluded the discussion on the bilateral Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and both sides have agreed to expedite the process for its formal signing.
UN body invites Pak to join Asia Pacific trade group
The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) of the United Nations has invited Pakistan to join the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) suggesting that this would help its membership to other important trading blocks such as ASEAN, AFTA, BIMSTEC and SCO.
Khusro Bakhtyar proposes early harvest programme, FTA with Myanmar
Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar, has proposed to sign an Early Harvest Programme to be followed by a Free Trade Agreement with Myanmar.
Pakistan wants to initiate talks on FTA with EU: Shaukat Aziz
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said this week that Pakistan desires to initiate talks on Free Trade Agreement ( FTA) with the European Union.
Pak-China FTA talks continue
An eight-member team of Pakistan is right now in Beijing to finalise the much-awaited Free Trade Agreement with China, which is expected to be formally inked during Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Pakistan this month.

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  • Pakistan FTAs
    Webpage maintained by the Ministry of Commerce