Malaysia suggests expanding FTA list

KARACHI: Malaysia and Pakistan need to agree upon on a new concessional list under the existing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as both countries, a Malaysian diplomat said on Wednesday.

“We have been receiving a lot of requests from different segments for addition of numerous items in the FTA list in which Pakistani Basmati rice is also not included hence Malaysia is importing it from India and Vietnam,” said Khairul Nazran Abd Rahman, Consul General of Malaysia, at Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI).

“This rice variety is not in the list because it was not competitive compared with other countries exporting this important commodity to Malaysia.” He said, meanwhile, the business communities of both countries must hold regular interactions in order to fully benefit from the existing FTA, which would certainly improve the existing trade ties between the two brotherly countries.