ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan and Turkey would hold the seventh round of negotiations on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of May 2017 in Turkey to finalize the agreement.
Talking to the state-run news agency in Islamabad on Tuesday, a senior official of the Ministry of Commerce said that during the negotiation, the two Countries would also discuss specific sectors including textile sector.
The official said that the two sides would exchange provisional lists for a final agreement in upcoming round of dialogue.
“Pakistan’s trade balance with Turkey remained positive until 2011, however, it started decreasing since 2011, when additional duties on various commodities were imposed by the two countries,” he said.
The official said the two sides would hold discussions on agreement on goods, services and investment.
The senior official of the Ministry of Commerce said that after signing of new FTA, both the Countries would be able to improve their trade balance.
The official said that Pakistan would get market space in agriculture and pharmaceutical sector in Turkey. He said that Pakistan’s major imports from Turkey included manmade textiles, towels, steel structure, tanning and plastic chemicals, processed milk and whey.
Whereas, he said that Pakistan’s major exports to Turkey were denim PET, ethanol, cotton yarn, fabric and rice, garments, leather, carpets, surgical instruments, sports good and chemicals.
