Pakistan is to start negotiations with Tunisia for signing Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) which will be beneficial for the country's textile sector, well-informed sources in Commerce Ministry told Business Recorder.
Giving the background, sources said, during the sixth session of Pakistan-Tunisia Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) held in Islamabad on September 3-4, 2007, Pakistan side proposed to initiate negotiations on a PTA to enhance trade between the two countries.
Pakistan -Tunisia JMC in its 7th session in Tunis on May 4-5, 2010 discussed the matter and agreed to start negotiations on executing PTA between the two countries. Recently, Tunisian government reiterated its interest in PTA through their embassy in Islamabad. The sources said signing PTA between Pakistan and Tunisia will benefit both the countries. During 2010-11, bilateral trade between Pakistan and Tunisia stood at $90 million, while Pakistani exports to Tunisia were about $25 million which is only 0.13 percent of Tunisia's total import. Thus there is considerable scope for enhancing exports to Tunisia.