FPCCI urges government not to finalise trade deals in haste

The Federation of Pakistan chambers of Commerce and Industry has called upon the government not to finalise trade deals with friendly countries in haste before learning lessons from Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) signed earlier which damaged the economy.
Chairman FPCCI Regional Committee on Industries, Former President ICCI Atif Ikram Sheikh said on Sunday that our negotiators have failed to hold meaningful negotiations and safeguard national interests before finalising such trade deals which have proved counter productive. In a statement he said that the trade deals increased imports by 300 percent and closed hundreds of local industries, the government lost revenue, and banks lost money due to defaults while many jobs were destroyed.
He said that trade talks with Turkey, Thailand, and Korea should be suspended unless private sector is taken on board and their reservations are considered otherwise masses will suffer on account of short sightedness and professional inefficiency of the official negotiators of trade agreements.
Pakistani products are not only uncompetitive in the international market but also in the local market. Sheikh who is a prominent industrialist and business leader pointed out that our markets are flooded with general items smuggled or imported from other countries which are cheaper and usually of better quality which proves that local industry is not competitive at home.
He demanded that trade deals should not be left to some officials or a ministry and these should be debated thoroughly in the National Assembly before approval. "China is a friendly country but she is getting undue advantage from the FTA signed in 2006 resulting in heavy losses to our economy, therefore, she should cooperate to make the deal balanced and beneficiary for both the country he said. He said trade officials should not compromise national interests at any cost and realize that Pakistan cannot afford faulty deals that flood domestic markets with foreign goods.