Pakistan Submitted to China List of New Exports under FTA

According to a report on July 9, 2010 from the Pakistani Business Recorder, China has recently received the list of new exports under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) submitted by Pakistan, covering 263 kinds of commodities such as textiles, mechanical and electrical products, chemicals, fresh fruits and vegetables.

According to the Pakistani Cabinet, the FTA previously signed by Pakistan encouraged importation rather than exportation. The potential advantages and disadvantages were not analyzed before multiple agreements were signed. Local chambers of commerce also complained that the Ministry of Commerce of Pakistan did not communicate with them before signing the preferential trade agreement and FTA.

A few months ago, as experts were reviewing on the implementation of the FTA between China and Pakistan, they noticed that Pakistan’s export to China did not grow as expected. Therefore, Pakistan put forward an increase in varieties of exports to China under the FTA.

If the export list is accepted by China, Pakistan may increase its export to China by from USD 1 billion to USD 1.5 billion each year, the report said.