ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Thailand have agreed on presenting the complete offer list of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by October 15, 2017, for reaching the final agreement. Ninth round of talks between Pakistan and Thailand will be held from November 14-15 in Thailand to reach a final decision on Free Trade Agreement (FTA), official sources said. Both sides had exchanged the final offer lists of items for free trade, including automobile and textile sectors in order to remove the reservations of both sectors,a top official of Ministry of Commerce said.
Pakistan wants concession on 100 products as same Thailand granted to other FTA partners in these products,he said. During the 9th round, he said, talks would be held on the text of agreement, tariff reduction modalities, complete request lists from both side and offer lists.
The official said that Pakistan had relative advantages over Thailand in some 684 commodities including cotton yarn and woven textiles, readymade garments, leather products, surgical instruments and sports goods.
While talking on second phase of Pak- China FTA,he said China has agreed to provide market access to 70 items, shared by Pakistan besides providing concession on all items included in the offer list.
This acceptance came during the negotiations held under 2nd phase of Pak-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in China. “We want the concession on 70 import items and low tariff line on products for further trade liberalization in 2nd phase of FTA between Pakistan and China”,he said.
He said that Pakistan was desirous to have duty relaxation on 70 products before launching the phase-II as same China given to Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) countries.
