November 30, 2006	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 8, 1427

ISLAMABAD, Nov 29: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has approved a proposal of the commerce ministry to ink a protocol with the OIC secretariat for initiation of talks on preferential trade agreement (PTA) with 57 members of the Islamic bloc.

A senior official told Dawn on Wednesday the proposed PTA, which would lead to a free trade agreement, would help in facilitating movement of trade resulting in greater intra-OIC trade.

Under the proposed PTA, all the OIC member countries would scale down tariff to 10 per cent on 7 per cent of the tariff lines of their respective countries in a bid to encourage more intra-OIC trade.

The official said that Pakistan would sign the protocol in the next meeting of the OIC, which was expected to be held in the next three months.

The 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference represents almost 1.8 billion people. The OIC countries meet almost 75 per cent of global energy needs and supply the world with 40 per cent of its raw material.

The official said the trade among OIC countries was not substantial.

He said that the proposed PTA among the OIC member-countries deserves close attention. In the emerging global atmosphere of free trade, such an arrangement can help promote greater economic cooperation among the member countries, he added.