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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


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.
Pakistan’s free trade ambitions threatened
One of the key impediments to Pakistan’s ability to become a robust performer in free trade tie-ups with a growing number of countries is the country’s worsening internal political environment. As someone said once, investors are like pigeons. They come one by one but all fly together when the going gets rough.
Free trade agreement with Malaysia soon
In a major breakthrough, Pakistan and Malaysia have decided to announce the much-awaited deal for free trade agreement (FTA) during the visit of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to Kuala Lumpur scheduled for May 27-29.
Talks on Pak-Czech investment treaty under way
Prime Minister of Czech Republic Mirek Topolanek has assured Pakistan that being the European Union member, Prague would play its role in strengthening Islamabad’s relations and striking a Free Trade Agreement with the bloc.
FTA with Brunei likely by year end
Modalities for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and Brunei Darussalam are being finalised and hopefully the agreement would be in place by the end of this year. This was stated by Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam Major General (retd) Syed Haider Jawed, while speaking at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Thursday.
US plans to proceed to free trade agreement with Pakistan
US intends to go ahead to Free Trade Agreement with Pakistan after striking a mutual investment deal with Pakistan.

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  • Pakistan FTAs
    Webpage maintained by the Ministry of Commerce