Pak Reviewing FTA With China, Textile Policy Soon

Pak Reviewing FTA With China, Textile Policy Soon
Pakistan’s export target of $23 billion for 2017-18 will be achieved and the commerce ministry is working on a five-year trade policy that will be announced soon, the country’s commerce secretary Muhammad Younas Dagha said recently. Pakistan is reviewing its free trade agreement (FTA) with China and the second phase of talks would be held next month, he said.
Realising that Pakistani products faced the problem of high cost of production and doing business, the government is considering reduction of gas and water tariffs, Dagha said after inaugurating the three-day 19th Textile Asia International Exhibition in Karachi.
Favouring devaluation of the Pakistani rupee, he said the value of local currency would set a pattern of future exports growth, according to a report in a Pakistani newspaper.
Due to rising interest of China in ASEAN countries, Pakistan could not avail of the benefits of the FTA, he said. The country is also trying to overcome the massive under-invoiced imports from China.