Islamabad: A team of Pakistani officials is set to leave for China in a day or two in order to finalise the second Free Trade Agreement (FTA-II), a news source reported. The two countries are likely to sign this trade pact in June.
These experts will visit Beijing to fine-tune the amended FTA. In a follow-up to this development, Commerce Secretary Younas Dagha will meet with the Vice Commerce Minister of China in March. These two officials will give the final shape to FTA-II.
So far, Pakistan has negotiated at least 8,000 tariff lines with China. The original FTA, which concluded in 2012, did not yield the required dividends for Islamabad.
China recently pledged to double its imports from Pakistan. Beijing had extended this commitment during the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan in November last year. It also agreed to reserve a special quota for Pakistani sugar and rice products.
