ISLAMABAD-The Trade in Goods Agreement between Pakistan and Türkiye has come into force on 1st of May 2023, as per mutual agreement.
In August, 2022 the Trade in Goods Agreement was signed by Turkish Minister for Trade, Mehmet Muş, and Federal Minister for Commerce, Syed Naveed Qamar, which was witnessed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Syed Naveed Qamar said that the agreement would open up new opportunities to boost bilateral trade across various sectors. He stressed the need to increase business-to-business interaction for strengthening trade and investment relations between the brotherly countries.
The agreement would bring into effect reciprocal tariff concessions extended to select exports of both the countries, Naveed Qamar added. He said, the Trade in Goods Agreement signifies a notable milestone in the historic brotherly relations between Pakistan and Türkiye and envisages further integration of the markets and business communities of both countries. Under the agreement, Pakistan has gained preferential access in the Turkish market under 261 tariff lines covering traditional as well as non-traditional sectors such as leather, rice, dates, mangoes, cutlery, sports goods, seafood, processed agricultural products, rubber tubes and tyres, plastics, and engineering goods. Whereas concessions on 130 tariff lines have been extended to Türkiye, including products such as black tea, processed food products and flavorings, industrial raw materials and parts of machinery, and parts of electronic equipment.
Meanwhile, Ahmed Farooq, Ambassador designate to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on Thursday called on Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar to discuss ways to enhance trade ties between two countries. During the meeting, the federal minister stressed upon the need for aggressive marketing in the field of agriculture and technology to expand Pakistani exports to Saudi Arabia.
He emphasized that Pakistan had immense potential to export agricultural products and technology to Saudi Arabia, and both countries needed to work together to identify new areas of cooperation. He also assured the ambassador designate of his full support and cooperation in this regard.
The ambassador designate appreciated the efforts of Syed Naveed Qamar to improve the trade ties between the two countries and expressed his desire to work closely with the Ministry of Commerce to explore avenues for mutual investment. The meeting ended on a positive note, with both sides expressing their commitment to strengthening bilateral relations between Pakistan and KSA in the field of trade and investment.