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Pakistan High Commission commercial counselor Shahzad Hussain Rana said the
agreement will boost bilateral trade as well as drive Malaysian investments
in Pakistan’s manufacturing, agriculture, telecommunications, infrastructure
and information technology sectors.
<p>"It will enable us to not only increase trade with Malaysia, a small market,
but expand our market in the Asean region as well," he said in an interview
with the Business Times.</p>
<p>So far, seven meetings have been held between both negotiating parties and
the eighth meeting is expected to be held in Kuala Lumpur this month. The Pakistani
negotiators are being led by Shahid Bashir from the Ministry of Commerce in
Pakistan.</p>
<p>The FTA with Malaysia was mooted when Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi visited Pakistan last year, to liberalise trade in goods and services
and investment as well as enhance economic cooperation between both countries.</p>
<p>Both countries signed an early harvest programme which came into effect early
this year, covering 125 tariff lines from Pakistan and 114 tariff lines from
Malaysia.</p>
<p>Shahzad stated that trade has been in favour of Malaysia and as of July, Malaysian
exports totalled US$676.5 million (RM2.41 billion), mostly of vegetable oils
and fats, compared with Pakistan’s US$65.59 million exports to Malaysia.</p>
<p>The FTA will also expand Malaysian businessmen presence in Pakistan from the
current locations in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.</p>
<p>About 40 Malaysian firms, including Petronas, TM, and Malakoff, have operations
in Pakistan and their investments cover oil and gas exploration, telecommunications,
ports and shipping and construction.</p>
<p>"There is a need for infrastructure development all over Pakistan and
we seek Malaysian expertise and involvement in this sector," he said.</p>
<p>Last month Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, speaking during a visit by
Abdullah, hoped for more investment in the country by Malaysian companies already
working in the energy and construction sectors.</p>
<p>He said a significant development in bilateral cooperation is the recent agreement
under which 100,000 Pakistani workers will fulfil the Malaysian manpower requirement.</p>
<p>Pakistan boasts a thriving textile industry with spinning mills, weaving mills,
"home made ups" (linen products), knitted garments and many world
known sports products manufacturers such as Nike and Adidas have plants there.</p>
<p>It invested up to US$7 billion to upgrade its textile industry to enable it
to compete in the international market and today, said Shahzad, "we’re
competitive and cheapest in the world".</p>
<p>It also has one of the largest coal resources in the world.</p>
<p>Pakistan, with a population of 150 million, has four provinces namely Punjab,
Sind, North West Frontier Province and the underdeveloped Baluchistan.</p>
<p>The country’s gross domestic product grew by 6.6 per cent in 2005 on the back
of a 131 per cent increase in foreign direct investments totalling US$3.52 billion
into the country that year.</p>
<p>Its foreign reserves also jumped from US$600 million to US$12.14 billion.
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