Pak-Indonesia trade reaches $2.2bn
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HYDERABAD: The bilateral trade between Indonesia and Pakistan has shot up by 215 per cent from $700 million in 2010 to $2.2bn in 2014 and efforts are being made to further boost it, said Indonesian Consul General Hadi Santoso on Monday.
The Indonesian CG was delivering a lecture at an international seminar on Monday at the Area Study Centre Far East, University of Sindh, Jamshoro.
He said currently the balance of trade was in favour of Indonesia, but hoped that the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) would help strike a better balance.
“Both sides have agreed to provide market access by granting tariff concessions and removing non-tariff barriers,” the consul general said.
Under the PTA, Indonesia and Pakistan offer preferential rates on 216 and 287 tariff lines, respectively.Indonesia will be able to export edible palm oil products at a 15pc margin of preference, similar to the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariffs granted to Malaysia.
The PTA follows the Framework on Comprehensive Economic Partnership signed between the two countries in November 2005 which envisages an eventual Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
“The PTA is a precursor to such an open trade agreement”, he said.
Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2015
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