ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Minister for Commerce and Industries, Gohar Ejaz is said to have “over exaggerated” Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as neither FTA has yet been signed nor finalised at any forum, well-informed sources in Board of Investment (BoI) told Business Recorder.
On October 4, 2023, the caretaker Commerce minister while addressing a press conference along with other federal cabinet colleagues claimed that “Pakistan has achieved a historic milestone in its trade relations with the GCC by successfully finalizing the FTA which marks the first FTA that the GCC has entered into with any country in the past 14 years.”
On September 30, 2023, the Commerce ministry in a press release had claimed that in a historic moment, the Pakistan-Gulf Cooperation Council Free Trade Agreement (Pak-GCC FTA) was ceremoniously inked on the 12th of Rabi-ul-Awwal, a day of great significance, at the GCC Headquarters in Riyadh.
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According to sources, claims made by the caretaker Commerce minister are inaccurate because neither the FTA document is finalised nor signed in Riyadh.
Both sides signed only a one pager “initiation of signing of agreement on FTA” which has been shared with GoP through diplomatic channels, sources added.
Board of Investment (BoI), sources said, convened a meeting on Thursday to discuss post FTA negotiation and devise future strategy as FTA could not be signed until Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) is finalised. The GCC members including Saudi Arabia and Qatar are eager for the finalisation of BIT before making any investment in Pakistan.
“The teams from Qatar and Saudi Arabia were part of negotiations during the 5th round of Pak-GCC FTA to finalise the treaty in investment. However, some articles which were different from template of BIT approved by the Cabinet, were not agreed by the Pakistan team as approval of competent authority was required for it,” the sources quoted Commerce Ministry as saying in communication with Secretary BoI, Sohail Rajput.
According to Embassy of Qatar in Islamabad, since January 2022, both sides have been engaged in continuous discussions, culminating in the successful completion of four rounds of negotiations, requesting Pakistani authorities to expedite the finalization process, while understanding the mutual benefits that will result from the successful conclusion of the FTA.
“Upon reaching a final agreement, Pakistan will be poised to become the first trading partner of the GCC to establish a FTA since negotiations were suspended with countries and international groups in 2009. The Embassy emphasises the importance of not suspending or delaying the ongoing negotiations, especially in matters that are not of core significance as both sides can substantially undertake the task of further developing or updating the agreement,” Qatar embassy said a letter of October 2, 2023.
Qatar embassy has requested relevant Pakistani authorities to provide a list of specific goods for consideration.
The BoI has argued that during the BIT negotiations, both sides have been successful in finding convergence on most of the articles, divergences on few critical articles/ points have also been highlighted especially with regard to Pakistan’s Model BIT template approved by the federal cabinet.
The BoI has proposed that in order to firm-up Pakistan’s stance before submitting the case to the federal cabinet, concerned ministries and division should share their comments on the BIT template.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023