ISLAMABAD – The second phase of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Pakistanand China is likely to be signed in next month, a senior official ofCommerce and Textile Ministry said here.
Negotiation on 11th round of Pak-China FTA were being held in China, whereboth side have consensus to conclude the agreement in coming month.
The China has agreed to give unilateral market access and concession of 313tariff lines to Pakistan for enhancing the Pakistan’s export, the officialsaid while talking to APP here.
He said Pakistan wanted market access in China like Association of SouthEast Asian Nation (ASEAN) to get more benefits from the FTA for enhancingthe country’s trade.
He said Pakistan’s exports with China ranged from worth $140 to $170million a month, which needed to be improved by $200 million after signingthe FTA between the two nations.
Besides, the ministry of commerce had also set target for export of $300million per month in coming three years, he said.
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Replying to a question, he said that besides the FTA between the twocountries, China also agreed to give market access worth $ 1 billion toPakistan.
He said that Pakistan’s export to China stood at $1.5 billion per yearwhich could go up to $2.10 billion and then to $3.2 billion afterexploiting these term with China.
The official said that China’s total imports stood at $2 trillion butPakistani entrepreneurs lacked the ability to get a reasonable share fromChina’s total imports.
He said that in the first phase, Pakistan gave concessions on 5,686 tarifflines to China; while China gave concessions on 6,418 tariff lines.
