THE sixth round of negotiations to conclude a Free Trade Agreement with Thailand ended with no substantive deal on any of the agenda items brought by either side. According to reports that came out of the two-day-long negotiations, both sides presented their respective ‘offer lists’ but neither could agree on accommodating the other. In time, hopefully, a fuller press briefing will be given to update the public on the negotiations, but the fact that the Pakistani side is holding its ground and preferring to delay the agreement rather than rush into an ill-conceived agreement is a hopeful development. Trade negotiations are always a hard-fought and long-drawn affair, and if more time is required to build consensus then so be it. Pakistan has a bad track record when it comes to negotiating trade agreements. Our other FTAs with China and Malaysia have caused our trade deficit with those countries to balloon, with the reason primarily being that the agreements did not secure concessions on those items that have high trade export potential for those economies.

In negotiating with Thailand, the potential for trade is considerable and the government must ensure that any agreement includes those items that have high export potential. Thus far, as per reports in a leading business daily, the talks have focused on the auto sector, but very high export potential is available in surgical goods, cotton-based products and seafood. It is not clear how much these sectors have been factored into the negotiations, or even if representatives from these sectors have been asked to become involved in the process. The auto sector, however, is sufficiently represented. One hopes that the authorities are not repeating the mistakes of the past by remaining too focused on a few sectors alone, and allowing the entire process to hinge on their requirements. There are at least 50 items at the six-digit HS code that alone enjoy an export potential of $2.8bn to Thailand, according to research done by the Pakistan Business Council on an FTA with that country. Building a comprehensive list of items for which concessions are being sought is key to maximising gains from trade through bilateral agreements. In this time of depressed trade, opening markets one by one through skilfully negotiated bilateral trade agreements is the surest way to build our future export potential. Let us give the process all we have.

Published in Dawn January 24th, 2017