President of Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) Mian Zahid Hussain has welcomed the decision of the government to review and alter Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China and trade deals with all other countries according to the national interest and aspirations of the business community. The FTA with China that operationalised in 2007 is heavily tilted in favour of China which is against the national interest as the deal has resulted in deficit of US 4.8 billion dollars last year, he said.
Pakistan exports stands at 2.2 billion dollars while country's import worth US seven billion dollars need urgent reconsideration, said PBIF president. He expressed these views while talking to Dr Murtaza Mughal, President of Pakistan Economy Watch, here on Monday. He said that local industry has paid a heavy price for the incompetence of commerce officials who negotiated the deal while some sectors including plastic, rubber, shoes, clothing, textiles, fans, tyres, etc were worst hit.
Moreover, local market was flooded with the substandard machinery and parts negatively impacting local manufacturing and output, he added. He urged the government to establish a commission to review all trade agreements with friendly countries and recommend changes. While speaking on the occasion, Dr Murtaza Mughal said that trade deals have only benefited the officials concerned on the cost of country which must be probed.