ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is aiming to start negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with Indonesia sometime this year, to expand on the current preferential trade agreement (PTA), which began in 2013.
As a result of the PTA, which had been mooted between Pakistan and Indonesia since 2008, bilateral trade rose dramatically from around US$1.1 billion in 2013 to $2.2 billion in 2014.
Pakistan's charge d'affaires to Indonesia, Syed Zahid Reza explained that Pakistan was aiming for a 25 percent rise in trade figures by the end of 2015.
"With a free trade agreement, Indonesia will also have easier access to Central Asian trade markets, using Pakistan as a transit point, which will benefit them as well," Syed was quoted as saying by `The Jakarta Post' on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 75th Pakistan National Day celebration event in Kuningan, South Jakarta.
He explained that a major slice of Indonesian exports to Pakistan came from palm oil, as Pakistan was one of the world's largest buyers of Indonesian palm oil.
He added that people-to-people relations between the two countries would also be improved further, with cooperation on think tanks and education being part of the plan.
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