Accords with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman will be sought preferentially by Pakistan, according to Razak Dawood

 Accords with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman will be sought preferentially by Pakistan, according to Razak  Dawood : As ta...

 Accords with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman will be sought preferentially by Pakistan, according to Razak 

Dawood :

As talks with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) continue to stagnate, Pakistan would pursue bilateral trade agreements with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, according to Prime Minister Imran Khan's Commerce Adviser Abdul Razak Dawood on Sunday..........

A free trade agreement with Pakistan was initiated in 2004 by the GCC, which includes these three nations as well as Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain. Since 2015, no new free trade agreements have been put in place.

Pak hopes bilateral talks for preferential trade agreements with the three Gulf Arab states to begin in 6-12 months, Dawood said Reuters

It's better to execute individual transactions now than to work with the GCC as a whole, he said in Dubai, according to Reuters.

In a preferential trade agreement, specific products, such as tariff reductions or removals, are granted privileged access.

Negotiations would only cover a small number of products, according to Dawood, and they wouldn't be as comprehensive as a free trade agreement, but if they were successful, the agreements may be expanded in the future as well.

He didn't specify specific products Pakistan hoped to get included.

Including India, Britain, and Turkey, the UAE stated this month that it would seek broad economic agreements spanning trade and investment with eight countries.

Officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Sultanate of Oman could not be reached for comment on the words of the PM's adviser.

As of next month, Dawood is in Dubai assessing Pakistan's preparations for the six-month Expo world fair, which will begin there.

According to him, Pakistan will emphasise safety and diversity at Expo in the hopes of attracting more tourists and investments to the South Asian country of Pakistan.

New Zealand's cricket team cancelled a tour of Pakistan due to safety concerns earlier this month.

Because of this, Dawood says, "we have to overcome the impression that something like this will happen."