ISLAMABAD: The Developing Eight (D-8) countries on Wednesday agreed to implement the much-awaited preferential trade agreement (PTA) from July 1, 2016.
The treaty is believed to accelerate intra-trade of D-8 member states to 15-20 per cent of their global trade or about $500 billion by the end of 2018.
The decision was announced through Islamabad Accord which was signed by representatives of the D-8 countries.
It was also agreed that the customs officials of the member countries will convene a meeting within three months to prepare rules of origin for the implementation of the treaty.
The meeting was attended by delegates from Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey, Bangladesh and Egypt.
A source privy to the meeting told Dawn that six countries — Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey have completed all internal procedures for the implementation of the PTA.
However, the Bangladeshi delegation apprised the meeting that Dhaka is working on ratification as they await for the resolution of rules of origin issue.
The representative of Egypt maintained its reservation concerning 40pc value added criterion adopted previously by the majority of the states.
According to Islamabad declaration, the supervisory committee has been tasked to finalise the dispute settlement document in its special session in Istanbul in May 2016, encourage remaining countries to ratify the PTA, expedite its gazette notification and urge members to expand revised offer lists so the private sector finds incentives in trading.
In 1997, a shared vision had motivated the leaders of D-8 countries to gather in Istanbul to lay the foundation of Developing-Eight in order to promote economic, trade and technological cooperation among member states.
Addressing a press conference Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan said D-8 is a step in the right direction to provide boost to Pakistan’s exports by reducing over-reliance on China and the Western markets.
He said the D-8 countries will provide concessions under the PTA on 8pc of tariff lines and Pakistan has already provided its concessionary list to the D-8 secretariat.
He said that the PTA was a start towards trade liberalisation while the eventual aim remains to reach to a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) among D-8 countries.
Answering a question, the minister said that keeping in mind the fact that negotiations in multilateral trade agreements move at a very slow pace, the conclusion of a PTA among D-8 countries was a great achievement for Pakistan’s trade prospects.
Secretary General of D-8, Dr Syed Ali Muhammad Mosavi while replying to a question said the D-8 was negotiating to remove hurdles in issuance of visas to business persons.
The secretariat was expecting a visa regime in which business persons, recommended by the respective chambers of commerce and industry, would receive guaranteed visas of D-8 countries.
The commerce minister said commercial integration among D-8 countries will boost development through trade and investment which could lead to decrease poverty and uplift millions of people to a brighter and mutual prosperous future.
“Our deep historic, cultural and religious affinities can be consolidated into solid and quantifiable economic gains”, he remarked.
Pakistan’s total exports to D-8 countries in 2014-15 were $1.602bn while the imports were $3.67bn. The exports to Iran stood at $30 million, Turkey $309.2m, Bangladesh $697.6m, Indonesia $143.2m, Malaysia $205.1m, Egypt $150.9m and Nigeria $66.7m.
