Pakistan
China has approved the premature activation of the free trade agreement with Pakistan. This is the second phase of FTA with china that was signed in Beijing in April 2019.
Thailand has already submitted a list of around 200 items to be traded between the two countries under the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA), but Pakistan government’s response and progress was waited.
The Karkey dispute between the government and a Turkish ship-based energy firm has finally been resolved due to efforts of Turkish government, Prime Minister Imran Khan said.
International institutions, through high-level backdoor contacts, have agreed to waive off the $1.2 billion penalty Pakistan has to pay to Turkey’s Karkey, senior lawyer Babar Awan said.
The Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and the Attorney General for Pakistan are meeting with the company’s board.
Australia has refused to offer preferential market access to Pakistan on the grounds that the country has a very limited basket of tradable goods and services.
Pakistan has paid over $100 million to Turkish rental power company Karkey as a penalty out of $800 million, Senator Sherry Rehman has said.
The Senate Special CPEC has opposed setting up CPEC Authority through Presidential Ordinance, arguing that they would not accept any proposal without being presented to Parliament for approval.
China, he said, had never pursued a trade surplus and the trade imbalance with India was “largely the result of differences in their industrial structures.
The government is set to launch 13 mega projects across the country in an effort to give a fresh boost to the agriculture sector with assistance from China.
Pakistan government is going to challenge the verdicts of International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), said Minister for Power Division.
For defence minister Rajnath Singh, the immediate tasks at hand include blocking Korean funds from flowing into Pakistan.
The Reko Diq mine case shows the overreach of a secretive arbitration system.
Enhanced access for products of Pakistan’s export interest, particularly textile and clothing, to the United States market has been a long-standing demand of both the government and private sector.
Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) has approached a court in the United States for enforcement of US$6 billion penalty imposed on Pakistan
Pakistan Secretary Commerce, Sardar Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera emphasized on the need of positive consideration from Australian side regarding Pakistan’s request for preferential treatment through Preferential or Free Trade agreement (FTA).
TCC is trying to use the $5.9 billion ICSID penalty to scare the Balochistan government into giving it the Reko Diq project.
In June 2000 the government in power signed a joint venture with Pakistan getting 25% and BHP getting bulk 75%. It was in violation of the internationally established practice of sharing half revenues.
It is astounding that the Supreme Court judgment is being criticised due to an unfair award by the ICSID tribunal against Pakistan when that judgment is completely defensible.
The question for Pakistan now is what lesson can be learned from events that led to the ICSID Tribunal making a $5.9 billion award against the Government of Pakistan.
