After a lapse of 10 years, Pakistan is yet to pursue the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for holding third round on conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to remove existing tariff and non-tariff barriers.
Pakistan and GCC have signed a framework agreement on economic cooperation on August 26, 2004. Under the framework both sides have held only two rounds of talks, with the last one in the year 2008.
An official said during the first round of negotiations held in Riyadh, in 2006, GCC agreed to engage with Pakistan to establish a free trade area to boost foreign direct investment, joint ventures and greater economic cooperation.
In the second round held in 2008, the text of FTA modalities, regarding the concession lists and rules of origin were discussed.
According to the official, the ministry of commerce has already circulated draft text to the stakeholders, preparation of concessions lists, circulation of concessional lists and convening of inter-ministerial meeting.
In the year 2010, the official said a memorandum of standing of strategic dialogue between GCC and Pakistan was signed, which included conducting negotiations on FTA. But the signing of the FTA has been delayed for ‘unknown’ reasons.
The only response that came from the ministry of commerce about the delay was that GCC suspended all its ongoing FTA negotiations in 2008.
