Trade in Goods Agreement between Pakistan and Turkiye has come into force from May 1, 2023, as per mutual agreement.
In August 2022 the Trade in Goods Agreement was signed by the Turkish Minister for Trade, Mehmet Mus, 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.
Need stressed to further improve Pak-Turkey trade
He emphasized the importance of increasing business-to-business interaction in order to promote trade and investment connections between fraternal countries.
Naveed Qamar stated that the deal would put reciprocal duty cuts on certain exports from both countries into force.
He stated that the Trade in Goods Agreement is a significant milestone in Pakistan’s longstanding brotherly relations with Turkey and envisions increased integration of both nations’ markets and corporate communities.
According to the agreement, Pakistan has gained preferential access to the Turkish market under 261 tariff lines covering traditional and non-traditional sectors such as leather, rice, dates, mangoes, cutlery, sports goods, seafood, processed agricultural products, rubber tubes and tyres, plastics, and engineering goods, while Turkey has received concessions on 130 tariff lines covering products such as black tea, processed food products and flavorings, indu.
Both countries have also committed to work towards a strategic aim of increasing bilateral trade to $5 billion in the medium term. On March 22, 2016, both countries signed a “Framework Agreement for the Establishment of a Free Trade Zone between Pakistan and Turkey.” Both parties agreed under the agreement to eventually develop the Turkiye-Pakistan Free Commerce Zone, which would cover goods commerce.
In cooperation with public and business partners in Pakistan, Pakistan had been engaged in rigorous discussions for a Trade in Goods Agreement with Turkiye. The deal would represent a significant step forward in boosting economic relations between the two nations, and it was a prominent agenda item during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to Turkiye from May 31 to June 2, 2022.
During this visit, Pakistan’s Commerce Minister and Turkiye’s Trade Minister signed a Joint Ministerial Statement on “Developing Bilateral Trade and Economic Relations Between the Two Countries,” in which both sides expressed their determination to work towards increasing bilateral trade to $5 billion in three years, as well as expeditiously concluding the Trade in Goods Agreement on mutual benefit.
