FPCCI claims trade agreements fail to deliver

Islamabad: The Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Wednesday said strategy to boost exports through trade agreements with other countries has failed to deliver.

The government has hurriedly finalised Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) with some countries but the exports continue to fall while imports have jumped which is contrary to the objectives, it said.

In the last one year the country has suffered revenue losses to the tune of Rs41 billion due to trade deals while FTAs with Turkey and Thailand will increase the losses, said Atif Ikram Sheikh, chairman, FPCCI Regional Committee on Industries.

The faulty trade deals have also damaged the local industry, therefore, all such pacts should be revisited and FTAs with Turkey and China must be suspended unless the private sector’s concerns are addressed, he demanded.

Atif Ikram Sheikh said that according to an estimate after FTA, for every additional dollar increase in our exports to Turkey, Turkish imports to Pakistan would increase by $3.  In other words, exports from Pakistan to Turkey will result in 200 per cent more imports into Pakistan while the imports from Thailand will increase by 300 per cent.