(November 16, 2016)
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President AKIA, Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said government should not rush into signing free trade agreements (FTAs).
Trade agreement with China and other some other countries has not helped country gain something but damaged our economy therefore such agreements should be signed after looking deeply into pros and cons, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that deals with Malaysia and Indonesia proved useless therefore government should think twice before entering into trade deal with Turkey, Thailand and Korea.
He said that unending enthusiasm of incompetent officers for signing trade agreements has taken tool on industrial sector as we have few items for export while trade deals provide opportunity to other nations to dump their goods in Pakistan.
He said that around ten items, all commodities and semi- processed goods constitute exports of $400 million to China while in turn all varieties of Chinese goods have literally flooded Pakistani markets.
Government should not ignore concerns of private sector during negotiating trade deals as the officials involved in negotiations have failed to safeguard country’s business interest which must be probed, he added.
The Pakistan Business Council representing big businesses with substantial investments in the country has already termed the under-negotiation Pakistan-Thailand Free Trade Agreement as a non-starter due to the potentially low gains.
FTA with the friendly country would skyrocket imports while exports would show a negligible increase as balance of trade in not in our favour.
Pakistan’s top exports to Thailand include fish, cotton and meat. Pakistan’s top imports from Thailand include vehicles, petroleum products and machinery.
