ISLAMABAD: The government officials are in process of building consensuswith their Turkish counterparts and other stakeholders to chalk out ameaningful Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
The other objective is to corroborate with the close political and culturalrelations that both countries enjoy.
Sources at the Commerce Division, while listing steps taken by presentgovernment so far to improve trade relations with Turkey, said on Thursdaythe first ever Single Country Exhibition planned would be held soon byTurkish Pakistan Tourism Council along with Federation of Pakistan Chambersof Commerce and Industry, Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and otherrelevant trade associations.
They said Pakistan’s exports to Turkey grew at a good pace and crossed $850million in 2011. However, it started declining after the imposition ofadditional duties by Turkey in August 2011. The exports amounted to $323million in 2017.
Sources said that Pakistan has engaged Turkey for a preferential marketaccess arrangement to increase bilateral trade, adding that both countrieshad announced to initiate talks on Pak-Turkey Free Trade Agreement in aHigh-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) meeting in Islamabad.
The FTA would help address market access issues due to the imposition ofadditional duties by Turkey. So far seven rounds of negotiations have beenheld.
Moreover, the sources said Prime Minister Imran Khan led a high-leveldelegation to Turkey last month with aim to give a much-needed boost to theexisting economic relations between the two countries. The visit had astrong economic component.
The prime minister held meetings with the Union of Chamber and CommodityExchanges of Turkey (TOBB), Turkey Pakistan Business Council and variousTurkish business groups representing sectors such as construction, food,dairy, feed production, electronics and mobile manufacture, wastemanagement, furniture, engine and disposable hygienic items.
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The Turkish side showed a keen interest in investing in Pakistan and bothcountries expressed their resolve to further strengthen the existingeconomic, trade and commercial relations.
Sources said over 25 leading business groups from Turkey participated in“Pakistan-Turkey Business Opportunities Forum” organized by TurkishPakistan Business Council during visit of the president of Pakistan toIstanbul in October 2018.
Other steps, included confirmation of the visit of leading Turkish textileimporters/buyers for forthcoming TEXPO 2019 in April in Lahore, andpossible joint ventures in textiles manufacturing, machinery and relatedchemicals used in production.
The number of trade fairs for Pakistan’s participation in Turkey haveincreased from 2 to 5, focusing on leather garments, surgical instruments,auto-parts, sports goods and processed food items, they added.
The other important initiative included Export Enhancement Plan ondeveloping Turkish market for non-traditional products, i.e. auto-parts,fans, chemicals etc. from Pakistan, besides strengthening Pakistan’sposition in traditional export products, i.e. textiles, leather, surgicalinstruments, sports goods etc.
