SEOUL: The government is taking concrete measures to ink a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with South Korea and negotiations started by December, Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastagir Khan said on Friday.
Responding to questions of senators, he said that the Pakistan Institute of Trade and Development (PITAD) and the Korean Institute of Economic Planning (KIEP) were conducting a joint feasibility study regarding FTA between the two countries. The study is likely to be completed by June 2016.
The volume of trade between Pakistan and Korea was $ 1.118 billion in 2011-12 which stood at $1.009 billion in 2014-15. It shows a decrease of 18 percent. This decrease in bilateral trade is due to contraction of imports from Korea particularly road vehicles and their parts dyeing and tanning materials and synthetic textiles etc.
To increase bilateral trade, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with South Korea to formulate a joint trade committee to discuss trade-related matters. In June 2015, the committee was formed in Seoul, the South Korean capital. Both sides discussed various proposals for enhancing trade between the two countries.
Issues related to telecom and electronics would be included in the next meeting. Total trade volume between Pakistan and South Korea included $1087 million in 2010-11, $1,18 million in 2011-12, 1,155 million in 2012-13, $1076 million in 2013-14 and $ 1,009 million in 2014-15.
