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
Articles
-
2-Sep-2012 Pak-US hectic talks on BIT draft
Pakistan and the United States remained engaged on Friday to narrow their differences over the draft of Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) which Islamabad and Washington have been discussing since March 2012 -
30-Aug-2012 Pakistan, China FTA review: MoI, industrialists begin consultations
Ministry of Industries (MoI) has started consulting with industrial representatives ahead of talks between Pakistan and China as part of the process to review Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Both countries signed FTA on November 24, 2006 which according to business circles has hurt some local industries very badly. -
6-Aug-2012 Bernama Pakistan businessmen want legal cover for their investment in India
Pakistani businessmen who intend to invest in India should be given legal cover to ensure that no future government in Delhi reverses the decision to allow investments from Pakistan, a leading trade lobby has said. -
5-Aug-2012 Daily Times MoC seeks trade agreement with South American countries
Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce is negotiating trading arrangements with Mercosur countries like Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela and Andean Community (CAN) a trade bloc comprising the South American countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to increase it’s trade market access. -
29-Jul-2012 Express Tribune FPCCI against trade agreement with UAE
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Saturday opposed the signing of a Free Trade Agreement with the United Arab Emirates which, it said, would ruin the local industry by inundating the domestic market with foreign, cheap products. -
9-Jul-2012 Express Tribune US agrees to take disputes to Pakistani courts first
Amid calls to make public the draft of bilateral investment treaty, the government claims that it has gained much and lost nothing to the United States as Washington has agreed to first taking any business dispute to Pakistani courts for settlement. -
24-May-2012 The News Investment treaty with Canada opposed
Pakistan’s ministry of commerce has opposed the proposed bilateral investment treaty with Canada on a number of grounds as the controversial clause of covered investment is only to favour Canadian companies, The News learnt reliably on Thursday. -
17-May-2012 BIT of no use if FTA between Pakistan, US not signed
The signing of Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) will not bear fruit without signing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and United States of America (USA). -
10-May-2012 Pakistan now ready to engage with EU on GSP plus, FTA: Zardari
President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan is now ready to engage with the European Union (EU) on Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) plus and a Free Trade Agreement. -
4-May-2012 Bilateral trade: Pakistan, South Korea reiterate ties
Islamabad and Seoul can raise bilateral trade up to $3 billion, for which both governments should expedite negotiations to sign a free trade agreement and encourage the visit of business delegations and exhibitors from either side, said a press release obtained from the Karachi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Thursday. -
24-Apr-2012 Pakistan puts tariff, trade barriers on the EFTA table
An official delegation of Pakistan led by Secretary Commerce has discussed tariff preferences and reduction of non tariff barriers with the officials of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member in Geneva. -
3-Apr-2012 The News Pak-US investment treaty draft sent to cabinet
The draft of the Pak-US Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) has been sent to the Pakistani cabinet for approval, official sources told The News on Monday. -
17-Mar-2012 ‘Time is ripe to finalise Pakistan, Morocco FTA’
Pakistan and Morocco should finalise Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as it is conducive to enhance overall trade, which provides comprehensive and legally binding protection to foreign capital, repatriation of principal amount and the profits. -
10-Mar-2012 Turkey’s steel exporters stress PTA/FTA
Though trade agreements like Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) or Free Trade Agreement (FTA) are yet to be signed Pakistan and Turkey despite the claims from both sides for the last eight or so years, visiting Turkish steel exporters have stressed the need for just such agreement in order to boost bilateral trade. -
23-Feb-2012 Pakistan, GCC negotiating Free Trade Agreement: Dr Asim
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain on Thursday said that the Pakistan-Qatar Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) would provide an excellent opportunity to enhance economic and trade relations between the two countries. -
28-Jan-2012 Heart breaker: US says Pakistan cannot offer much in free trade
The United States has said that a free trade accord is too big for Pakistan as there is no match between the economies of the two countries, says a top official of the commerce ministry. -
28-Jan-2012 Pakistan keen to move towards FTA with Thailand: Gilani
Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Friday said Pakistan was keen to move towards a Free Trade Agreement with Thailand and stressed focussed talks for increased bilateral trade between the two countries. -
11-Jan-2012 Express Tribune Shaukat Aziz not optimistic about free trade with US
Pakistan’s former finance and prime minister Shaukat Aziz is not optimistic about a free trade agreement with the US saying that even when Congress was very friendly, they couldn’t get things through. -
6-Jan-2012 APP Pakistan, Indonesia to sign PTA this month
The signing of the Preferential Trade Agreement by Pakistan and Indonesia is expected this month and will lead to a Free Trade Agreement between the two countries -
24-Dec-2011 Senate body briefed on MFN status to India
Trade liberalisation with India has partially been linked to signing of four agreements to remove all tariff and non-tariff barriers that hinder Pakistani exports to Indian market.
-
Pakistan FTAs
Webpage maintained by the Ministry of Commerce
