Islamabad: Pakistan and Turkiye on Friday (August 12) formally signed the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to promote bilateral trade, news sources reported. The two countries signed the agreement after 14 rounds of talks between trade officials.
Reportedly, the newly-signed PTA will take effect on January 1, 2023, and the concessions will be available as per three specified timelines: starting immediately, for up to five years, and for up to ten years. Under the agreement, concessions will be granted to the following product categories: leather, footwear, glass and ceramics, items of base metal, plastics and rubber, furniture, beds, and lights, sports and engineering goods, chemicals and cosmetics, agriculture products, and processed agriculture.
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Additionally, the following trade-related concessions will be available for the traders:
● The Turkish side has offered concessions on 261 tariff lines in total. Pakistan’s tariff line exports are worth USD 5.1 billion, or 16% of overall exports, whereas Turkish purchases of the same items are USD 7.6 billion.
● Duty on 123 tariff lines, comprising five agricultural and 118 industrial items, would be cut to zero per cent. These items’ current export value is USD 714 million, while Turkish worldwide imports of these products total USD 3.920 billion.
● Turkiye will cut duty to zero per cent on 92 tariff lines over five to ten years. Pakistan’s exports of these items are worth USD1.608 billion, whereas Turkish worldwide purchases are worth USD2.084 billion.
Moreover, Pakistan has granted Turkiye incentives on 130 tariff lines and would cut the tax to zero per cent on 16. Similarly, Pakistan would exempt Turkiye from duty on cocoa powder, acrylic filament and staple fibre, nonwoven man-made filament, black tea, modems, wire condensers, food industry flavours, reception and transmission machines, enzymes, and gum base immediately.
Nauman Ahmad is an imaginative Pisces whose love for literature and nature is unparalleled. When he's not reading or hiking, he's sleeping and eating, which gives him plenty of energy for his next adventure.
