Turnkey with Turkey

Prime Minster Gilanis (or rather its Dr Gilani, now that he has been awarded an honorary doctorate in journalism by a Turkish university) trip to Turkey is something to cheer about. Thats because, as Turkey looks to the east while increasing its geopolitical presence, strengthening economic ties with Turkey comes well timed.
After having recovered from its own economic woes in the yesteryears, the Turkish economy is expanding. It has been privatising its state-owned assets, trying to revamp its infrastructure, and even building new ones. And here in are the lessons to be learnt from the Turkish.
One such example may be the case of Turkish Airlines. "Since 2003, Turkish Airlines has shed part of its state ownership, clocked up 6 to 7 per cent annual growth and now competes with British Airways, Lufthansa and Air France-KLM in Europe," according to a recent Financial Times report.
Other such examples may be in the steel and engineering sector, where Turkeys automotive industry has been reported as arguably the countrys greatest success story.
Inviting Turkish investors in targeted areas therefore should be next move on the things-to-do list of Pakistans Board of Investment, where energy - especially alternative energy - is an important explorable option. Historically, Turkeys share in FDI inflows in Pakistan has been quite dismal; the highest ever FDI inflow from Turkey was $17.2 million in FY09.
Turkey can also provide assistance to Pakistan in terms of Halaal Foods as recently she has got authentication from Europe to provide certification, where a university programme could also be started in Halaal Foods with Turkish assistance, a KCCI press statement noted last month
From a trade perspective, Turkey is one of those few countries with which Pakistan has had a trade surplus during the last several years. Pakistans exports to Turkey have grown at double-the-pace than the imports which have grown by 8 percent over the last five years.
Given this, perhaps the formal inking of Pak-Turkey FTA would help Pakistani exporters to have wider access in the Turkish market as tariffs, quota and preferences on most, if not all, goods and services would be eliminated in phases.
Pakistans exports to Turkey mainly comprise of cotton, textile and rice, and so the timing of the FTA to be implemented also becomes vital, as so far no other country in the region enjoys free access to Turkish markets.
Following the understanding to reach the FTA with Turkey, Indian economic managers have also reportedly started working on getting into an FTA with Turkey which could be a vital blow to Pakistans exports that are somewhat identical to that of India. Therefore, it is imperative for Pakistan to materialise this FTA soon to have the first mover advantage, where value added items must also be added in the exchange list.