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KARACHI: Ankara is ready to sign the much-awaited Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with Islamabad as “nothing is pending from the Turkish side but it is being delayed by the Pakistani government”, a Turkish official said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Wednesday, Murat Mustu, Commercial Attaché at the Consulate General of Republic of Turkey in Karachi, said that with the signing of PTA, concession on many goods will be granted to Pakistani exporters to penetrate deeper into the Turkish market.
“It is the desire of Turkish government to strengthen trade ties with Pakistan. We must make efforts to increase trade volume and investments in our countries.”
The attaché mentioned that Pakistan’s livestock sector has the potential to considerably raise exports as its meat was more delicious and cheaper when compared with Turkish meat, said a KCCI’s press release.
He informed that a three-member delegation will be visiting the KCCI on Aug 13 to brief its members about 15th MUSIAD International Fair and 18th International Business Forum Conference scheduled to be organised at CNR Centre in Istanbul from Nov 26-30. Besides Karachi, this delegation will also be visiting Lahore and Islamabad to seek advices on how to boost bilateral trade.
Another two-member Turkish delegation will also be arriving in Pakistan soon to ensure participation of Pakistani businessmen in ‘Istanbul Jewellery Show’ to be held from Oct 16-19.
KCCI President Abdullah Zaki stressed the need to fast-track work on signing of the PTA which would substantially improve the trade volume.
Chairman Diplomatic Affairs Sub-Committee KCCI, Abdul Jabbar, pointed out that the Turkish government imposed anti-dumping duty on textile products in July 2011 which affected Pakistan’s textile exports. He sought Turkish attaché’s help in convincing its government to abolish this duty which, if removed, will noticeably improve Pakistan’s textile exports to Turkey.
Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2014
