Talks on Pak-Turkey FTA to be finalised by December

KARACHI: Negotiations for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and Turkey are planned to be finalised by December 2016, Commercial Attaché of Turkish Consulate in Karachi Murat Mustu said on Friday.

During his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), he said both the parties will meet in Istanbul by the end of October to review request lists. After signing the FTA, trade between Pakistan and Turkey will improve substantially and the agreement will prove very favourable for the two economies, he said.

Terming it a "New Generation FTA", Mustu said that Pakistan-Turkey FTA focuses on liberalisation of goods, services and investment trade. Turkey had signed the FTA with a total of 23 countries, whereas the FTA negotiations with 14 countries, including Pakistan are underway.  Mustu also said that the Ministry of Commerce, government of Pakistan will be holding public consultation meetings in Karachi and Lahore on October 4 and October 6 to solicit suggestions and recommendations from stakeholders on the FTA with Turkey.

Earlier, KCCI President Younus Muhammad Bashir said that the two countries have significant trade volume where Pakistan exported commodities worth $215 million, while it imported commodities worth $249 million during 2015/16.

There is a huge potential to enhance bilateral trade relations between the two countries by exchanging several commodities of interest between each other, he said.

Turkey imports pearls and precious stones, pharmaceuticals, cotton, manmade filaments and cereals from other parts of the world. Pakistan can target Turkey as its potential export market for all these commodities, he suggested.