ISLAMABAD
\nPakistan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have initialised a free trade agreement.
\nIn the Saudi capital, Riyadh, caretaker Commerce Minister Dr Gohar Ijaz and GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed held a delegation-level discussion.
\nAfter the meeting, an agreement was signed for the promotion of free trade between Pakistan and the Gulf countries.
\nCaretaker Commerce Minister Dr Gohar Ejaz and GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi inked the joint statement for the Pakistan-GCC FTA.
\n\u201cBoth parties looked forward to the expeditious signing, ratification, and implementation of the agreement, which will mark a new chapter in the economic relations between our parties,\u201d a joint statement issued by both parties stated.
\nThe final round was held from September 26-28 at the GCC Headquarters in the Saudi capital.
\nThis is a significant development as the FTA is the first by GCC with any country since 2009 and marks a milestone in both sides\u2019 economic cooperation.
\nOn the occasion Dr Ejaz said that Pakistan has excellent relations with all the countries of the GCC and this FTA will ensure that the country\u2019s economic ties are commensurate with these relations.
\nThis will now be followed by an internal administrative and approval process before signing and entry into force of the agreement.
\n\u201cThe Preliminary FTA between the Council and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan comes in recognition of the importance of strengthening trade relations and economic cooperation with countries and international blocs.
\nThe long sought plan was finalised in January 2022 in line with the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Strategic Dialogue between the two sides.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Pakistan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have initialised a free trade agreement. In the Saudi capital, Riyadh, caretaker Commerce Minister Dr Gohar Ijaz and GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed held a delegation-level discussion. After the meeting, an agreement was signed for the promotion of free trade between Pakistan and the Gulf countries. Caretaker […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359247,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12993,20],"class_list":{"0":"post-359214","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-gcc","9":"tag-pakistan"},"yoast_head":"\n