Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri on Tuesday said Malaysia and Pakistan have agreed to start negotiations for free trade agreement. He stated this while addressing a press conference at the end of a two-day Malaysia-Pakistan Joint Commission meeting concluded here.
Kasuri said: "We have agreed to invite a (Malaysian) delegation to Pakistan to come and look at a preferential trade arrangement leading to Free Trade Area (FTA) framework."
He noted that trade between the two countries was heavily tilted at Malaysia's favour, saying a preferential trade arrangement (PTA) could address the imbalance.
At present, the total bilateral trade in 2003 was $713 million with $623 million going to Malaysia, he added.
He said major trade items are palm oil, which accounts for some $500 million, and electronic products from Malaysia, while rice and textiles from Pakistan.
Malaysia is also actively involved in oil and gas projects, construction, and communications in Pakistan, he added.
Kasuri said the joint commission, which aims to boost bilateral relations, would meet again in Islamabad next year.
Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) Vice Chairman Abid Javed Akbar hoped that the PTA could be signed by October 2005.
"We want to start talks on the PTA in the next three months with Malaysian trade officials and willing to sign the PTA at the next joint commission meeting", he said.
Abid Javed Akbar said Malaysia could enjoy lower duties on palm oil if it signed the PTA, adding that Pakistan hoped to export more rice and textile to Malaysia.
The PTA would allow both countries to identify a list of goods that would be given market access with lower duties, he said, adding: "We will then work towards the FTA." Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Kuala Lumpur and Islamabad should forge a closer partnership to advance their economic interests.
He urged Pakistanis to invest in Malaysia's manufacturing industry, particular in the dairy and textile sectors.
He hoped that Pakistan's national airline would fly into Kuala Lumpur and boost tourism to Malaysia, noting that last year only 9,984 Pakistanis visited the popular Southeast Asian nation.
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