The Ministry of Commerce & Textile and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan organized a seminar on the “2nd Phase of Pakistan-China Free Trade Agreement” at a local hotel with an objective to brief the trade about the additional market access negotiated by the Ministry of Commerce in the 2nd phase of the FTA with China. The session was chaired by Mr. Abdul Razak Dawood, Adviser to the PM for Commerce, Textile, Industry & Production; whereas Sardar Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera, Federal Secretary Commerce, Mr. Muhammad Sualeh Ahmed Faruqui, Secretary TDAP, and Mr.Shafiq Ahmad Shahzad, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce were also present.
The session was attended by the top-notch businessmen of Pakistan, members of FPCCI, Associations, and Chambers, etc. The participants were briefed about the details of negotiations through a presentation by Mr.Shafiq Ahmad Shahzad, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, informing about the history of Pakistan-China FTA in its first phase, followed by the negotiations carried in the second phase. He apprised the industry about the tariff reduction modalities and safeguard mechanisms for the bilateral trade with China especially the duty-free access to Pakistan on 313 tariff lines in the Chinese market, which will considerably help Pakistan to reduce the trade gap with China. He further briefed about the existing tariff lines, Chinese import of these products from Pakistan and other countries and the capacity of our industry to meet the Chinese import requirements after the necessary access had been obtained.
Mr. Abdul Razak Dawood, Adviser to PM for Commerce, Textile, Industry & Production also addressed the trade and emphasized that FPPCI being an apex body representing private sector should establish a think-tank for FTA related matters. He further advised that our industry needs to enhance the quality of products as China will be offering market access of around 5 trillion USD by 2023.
Afterward, an open discussion session was held in which queries of businessmen were responded.
