Pakistan, Turkey to conclude PTA by first half of 2014

26 Dec '13

2 min read

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey, and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif have agreed to conclude Pakistan-Turkey Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) by the first half of 2014.

This was announced after the end of the sixth round of negotiations for the PTA, where Pakistan raised the issue of additional protective duties imposed by Turkey in 2011 on fabric and garments from Pakistan.

Addressing Pak-Turk Business Forum in Lahore a day earlier, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif invited Turkish businessmen to invest in the country’s textile sector, and said his Government would ensure full protection and support to the Turkish investment.

“Textile sector is the largest manufacturing industry in Pakistan and main source of export earnings for us. The recently awarded GSP Plus status to Pakistan by the European Union is a testimony to the confidence of the international market in the quality of Pakistani products,” Mr. Sharif said.

“Turkish textile companies with their superior technical capabilities and investment capacity could explore this sector for joint ventures. The abundance of raw material in the shape of bumper cotton yields coupled with low-cost and skilled labour provides an additional incentive for any investor,” he added.

He said the Board of Investment of Pakistan is working with the Pak-Turkey Business Council in promoting cooperation in textile sector.

Turkey is an important market for Pakistan’s exporters and importers and the trade volume between the two countries surpassed US$ 1 billion mark in 2010-11. However, the volume declined after Turkey imposed 18 percent additional duty on import of fabrics/made-up textiles and 27 percent additional duty on apparel from Pakistan in 2011.

Pakistan and Turkey had started discussions on closer trade ties in 2004, but a PTA could not be concluded because Turkey was under obligation by the EU’s Customs Union not to offer duty reduction on industrial goods.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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