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
Pakistan and China on Wednesday started second-round of negotiations on Free Trade Agreement (FTA), with a pledge to make it an effective document, giving boost to their bilateral trade and establishing mutually beneficial cooperative partnership.
Pakistan is pressing for a bigger reward for its alliance with the United States in the war on terror, with the country’s Commerce Minister calling for a Free Trade Agreement that would open up the American market to Pakistani goods.
Pakistan and United States’ have agreed over a mutual investment agreement that will smoothen the way to talks for a Free Trade Agreement between the two countries.
US senators and lobbyists have strongly recommended the signing of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Pakistan to rebuild its impaired economy.
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.
Pakistan and Singapore would go into the second round of talks on proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of November.
Pakistan and Indonesia have started talks on a framework agreement for a comprehensive economic partnership.
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.
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 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.
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Pakistan FTAs
Webpage maintained by the Ministry of Commerce
