As multilateralism ebbs, preferential trade agreements are on the rise

Early proponents of FTAs/PTAs were of the view that they could somewhat circuitously support the cause of multilateralism that was then and now seen as the first best approach to trade liberalization and the one that minimizes the risk of trade diversion. That optimism has faded.

The Pakistan Business Council (PBC) has requested IGC-Pakistan to support a study on a preliminary analysis of the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA) Phase-II.

This project report provides lessons from global Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) for smaller partner countries, which have succeeded in securing advantages from FTAs with larger partner economies. This project can help PBC obtain deeper insights about key parameters, such as price, quality, capacity, skills or technology that could help firms get a foot into the Chinese market. This would add a valuable global/ regional perspective on how smaller partners have benefitted from FTAs in the past, and how Pakistan’s firms could seek to do the same.