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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


US senators recommend FTA with Pakistan
US senators and lobbyists have strongly recommended the signing of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Pakistan to rebuild its impaired economy.
’Pakistan-US FTA would help quake recovery’
A free trade agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and the United States would help Pakistan cope with the impact of the devastating earthquake of October 8, said Ed Gillespie, former chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), on Saturday.
Pak-Singapore second round of talks on FTA by end of Nov
Pakistan and Singapore would go into the second round of talks on proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of November.
Pakistan, Indonesia begin free trade talks
Pakistan and Indonesia have started talks on a framework agreement for a comprehensive economic partnership.
Pakistan to sign FTA with GCC soon
Pakistan will soon sign free trade agreement with the member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a senior official at the ministry of commerce told the Daily Times on Monday.
FTA talks with Singapore in November
The second round of talks between Pakistan and Singapore on the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be held from Nov 28 to 30 at Islamabad, an official at the ministry of commerce told the Daily Times on Tuesday.
Malaysia, Pakistan sign accord to reduce trade tariffs
Malaysia and Pakistan on Saturday agreed to remove tariffs on scores of products they trade with each other including fish, fabric, fruit and machines as the first step toward a planned free trade agreement.
PM to visit Russia, may sign FTA
Pakistan agreed on Sunday to eventually sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with Russia, as Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is set to visit the country soon.
Pakistan to hold talks with Sri Lanka over FTA
Pakistan is going to hold secret talks to make some changes in the existing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Sri Lanka, which has been operational since June 2005. Pakistan fears that under the FTA, Indian products can enter its market through Sri Lanka, particularly automobile parts.
Pakistan-US differences over BIT persists
Pakistan has asked the United States to sign the proposed Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) by dropping its demand that in case of an arbitration only the Washington based International Centre for Settlement of Disputes (ICSID) should be approached for a decision.

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  • Pakistan FTAs
    Webpage maintained by the Ministry of Commerce