Pakistan, Turkey hold 3rd round of talks on FTA

ISLAMABAD: Officials of Pakistan and Turkey discussed the draft for the free trade agreement (FTA) during the third round of negotiations, held at the Ministry of Economy, Ankara from July 25-27, according to a message received from Ankara on Thursday.

The two sides discussed draft texts for agreements on trade in goods services and investments.

During the negotiations on the free trade agreement, matters pertaining to tariffs, Customs facilitation, safeguard measures, rules of origin, tariff reduction, modality, bilateral investment mechanisms and services were discussed extensively.

Both the sides expressed satisfaction at the progress made in the negotiations so far.

Robina Athar, additional secretary (Trade Diplomacy) Ministry of Commerce, led the Pakistan delegation, comprising officials of the Ministry of Commerce, Board of Investment and the Federal Board of Revenue.  The Turkish side was led by Husnu Dilemre, deputy undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy, Government of Turkey.

Consul General of Pakistan in Istanbul Dr Yusuf Junaid and Ambassador to Turkey Sohail Mahmood were also present on the occasion, it said.

Building upon excellent political relations and vision of the political leadership of the two countries to forge a strong economic partnership, both the sides agreed to continue to pursue the free trade agreement negotiations on a fast-track basis with a view to spurring development through enhanced levels of bilateral trade, it said.

The decision to initiate negotiations for a comprehensive bilateral free trade agreement, covering trade in goods, services and investments was taken at the fourth session of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) in Islamabad in February 2015 co-chaired by the prime ministers of Pakistan and Turkey.