Pakistan and Turkiye signed the preferential trade agreement, commonly known as the ‘Trade in Goods Pact’, on Friday, aimed at boosting the bilateral trade to $5 billion which now stood at $1 billion.

“Let the world know we mean business,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said after the signing ceremony in Islamabad. Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar and Turkish Trade Minister Dr Mehmet MUS signed the agreement.

The agreement includes comprehensive provisions on bilateral safeguards, the balance of payment exceptions, dispute settlement, and periodic review of the agreement. The key highlights of the trade concessions offered by both sides under the agreement are as follows: (i) Turkiye had offered concessions to Pakistan on 261 tariff lines, which include key items of Pakistan’s export interest to Turkiye from both agriculture and the industrial sectors.

Around 10 rounds of negotiations on the free trade agreement were held between the two countries before the deal, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

The agreement follows PM Shehbaz’s visit to Turkey in May-June when he stressed the need for tapping the potential of the historic ties between the two countries. “There are historic relations between Pakistan and Turkey. Unfortunately, our relationship is not reflected in bilateral trade. Both the countries have to remove all the bottlenecks in order to boost the bilateral trade,” he had said while addressing the Turkiye-Pakistan Business Forum in Ankara on May 31.

PM Shehbaz described the agreement as “a great moment and a milestone” in the brotherly relations between Pakistan and Turkiye. He recalled that following his official visit to Turkiye in May, the untiring efforts of the ministries of both sides resulted in the signing of the agreement.

“Immense business opportunities exist between the two countries,” he said and expressed confidence that the accord would further explore the trade avenues in diverse sectors.

The prime minister reiterated that Pakistan would continue to work with Turkiye on strengthening bilateral ties.

Trade Minister Dr Mehmet Mus said the occasion marked a “significant milestone” that would contribute a long way to further strengthening and expansion of trade ties.

“Meeting expectations of all stakeholders was not easy,” he said, adding that dedication and step-by-step measures led to the conclusion of the agreement.

The Turkish minister thanked the premier for his leadership to seal the agreement for the betterment of the two countries and enhance linkages between their business communities.

Commerce Minister Naveed expressed hopes that the agreement would open up new opportunities to boost bilateral trade across various sectors.

“Pakistan also looked forward to working towards materializing a Free Trade Agreement with Turkiye,” he said and stressed the need for increasing business-to-business interaction for strengthening trade and investment relations between the brotherly countries.