ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: Pakistan and Indonesia on Tuesday agreed to negotiate a preferential trade agreement (PTA) on selected products and commodities based on mutual benefits.

Official sources in the Commerce Ministry told Dawn that the understanding was reached during a meeting of the visiting Indonesian technical team with Pakistani trade officials here on Tuesday. The PTA would eventually lead to a free trade agreement between the two countries, the sources said.

For this purpose, the officials said both sides would establish a task force or technical team for negotiation and implementation of the agreement.

The Indonesian technical team was led by director, bilateral cooperation, ministry of industry and trade, Indonesia, Slamet Effendi, while Pakistani side was headed by joint secretary, ministry of commerce, Dr. Zafar Iqbal Qadir.

The two sides also agreed to bring any trade disputes—dumping, subsidy and safeguard measure— for bilateral consultation prior to invoking any mechanism under disputes settlement body of the WTO.

According to an official announcement, Pakistan and Indonesia agreed to extend cooperation for the promotion of trade between the two countries.

Both sides agreed to exchange information, trade delegation for mutual benefits. Further, it was also agreed to link up FPCCI and TPOs of both the countries.

The first round of negotiations would start during the forthcoming visit of Indonesian Trade Minister, M. S. Rini M. Sumarno Soewandi to Pakistan on Aug 21.

During her stay, she would call upon President, General Pervez Musharraf and would hold bilateral meeting with Commerce Minister, Humayun Akhtar Khan.

During her meeting with Pakistani counterpart, commerce minister, bilateral trade issues would be discussed at length for increasing the volume of trade between the two countries.

The meeting would also discuss at length the modalities of the proposed PTA and its implementation.

The two ministers are also likely to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the end of the meeting for facilitating trade between the two countries.