Commercial Attaché of Turkish Consulate, Murat Mustu has said that negotiations for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and Turkey are planned to be finalised by December 2016 which will be followed by signing of FTA between the two brotherly countries.
Delivering a presentation "Recent Developments in Turkey & Turkey-Pakistan FTA Negotiations" during his visit to Karachi Chamber, Commercial Attaché added that both parties will meet in Istanbul by the end of October to review request lists. He was fairly optimistic that after the FTA comes into force, the trade between Pakistan and Turkey will improve substantially and this agreement will prove very favourable for the two economies.
Vice Chairman Businessmen Group & Former President KCCI Anjum Nisar, President KCCI Younus Muhammad Bashir, Senior Vice President KCCI Zia Ahmed Khan, Vice President KCCI Muhammad Naeem Sharif, Former President KCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, Former Senior Vice Presidents KCCI Shamim Ahmed Firpo and Muhammad Ibrahim Kasumbi along with KCCI Managing Committee members attended the presentation.
Terming it a 'New Generation FTA', Murat Mustu said that Pakistan-Turkey FTA focuses on liberalisation in trade of good, services and investment. According to the presentation, Turkey has signed Free Trade Agreement with a total of 23 countries whereas FTA negotiations with 14 countries including Pakistan were also underway.
Murat Mustu further mentioned that the Ministry of Commerce, Government of Pakistan will be holding public consultations meetings in Karachi and Lahore on October 4th and October 6th respectively to solicit suggestions and recommendations from stakeholders on Free Trade Agreement with Turkey.
Earlier, President KCCI Younus Muhammad Bashir, while welcoming Murat Mustu, appreciated the Turkish government for their support and cooperation being accorded to Karachi Chamber through the Turkish Embassy and its Consulate in Karachi. Commenting on Pakistan-Turkey economic relations, he said that both countries have significant trade volume where Pakistan exported commodities of worth $215 million while imported commodities of worth $249 million during 2015-16. He was of the view that there was a huge potential to enhance bilateral trade relations between Turkey and Pakistan by exchanging several commodities of interest between each other.-PR