ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: Pakistan and Malaysia have agreed to finalise the draft text of the free trade agreement (FTA) very soon to make it operational from the next fiscal year.

This understanding was reached at the 7th meeting of Pakistan-Malaysia Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) on the FTA, which concluded here on Thursday.

An official announcement said that it had also been decided to convene the meeting of the subgroup on services and rules of origin to settle all outstanding issues before next meeting of the TCN in mid-October.

The two sides also reaffirmed their desire to complete the negotiations on the bilateral FTA before the forthcoming visit of the Malaysian Prime Minister to Pakistan in November this year.

The meeting held in an atmosphere of complete cordiality and understanding and both the sides made substantial headways in finalising the FTA draft.

The Malaysian side had agreed to provide market access to Pakistan’s traditional items of export including mangoes, textile, leather, surgical instruments and other agriculture and manufactured goods.

Already oranges, potatoes and lemon can be exported to Malaysia at zero duty effective from January 1, 2006.

The draft FTA also includes a chapter on promotion and protection of investment. The FTA is expected to provide impetus for attracting the foreign direct investment from Malaysia to Pakistan.