ISLAMABAD, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan and Thailand will present their complete final list for a free trade agreement (FTA) in coming round of negotiations between the two sides next month, Pakistan's Ministry of Commerce and Textile announced.
An official from the ministry told media late Thursday that both sides, aiming at increasing trade liberalization, had exchanged the final offer lists of items for a FTA.
The official hoped that Pakistan would get benefits of 250 million U.S. dollars after signing the FTA with Thailand.
"Pakistan wants concession on 115 products of its different export-oriented sectors, including textile, plastic and pharmaceuticals," said the official, adding that Pakistan had relative advantages over Thailand in some 684 commodities, including cotton yarn, woven textiles, ready-made garments, leather products, surgical instruments and sports goods.
According to the official data, the trade between Pakistan and Thailand stood at 1422.17 million U.S. dollars in 2017, out of which Pakistan's exports to Thailand were only 142.85 million U.S. dollars against the imports of 1279.32 million U.S. dollars from Thailand.
The Pakistan's incumbent government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan has been focusing to increase the country's exports by negotiating with trade partners and by providing its export-oriented industries with financial packages to make them competent at the international market.
The Pakistani government is reportedly working on the national tariff policy for the coming five years as part of the strategic trade policy framework 2018-23 for reviewing tariff lines to enhance the country's trade.
The proposed tariff policy draft would recommend a gradual reduction in the duty on raw material and machinery imports for export-oriented industries, the ministry's official said.
