Afghanistan Joins SAFTA, Approves Ukrainian and Indonesian Defense Pacts
The federal cabinet on Wednesday approved the Protocol of Accession of Afghanistan to the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), to help the war-torn country promote trade within the SAARC region.
The agreement was signed by the seven SAARC foreign ministers during the 15th SAARC summit in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in August. Afghanistan joined as the 8th member of SAARC, and became a contracting party to SAFTA in 2007.
The ratification of the agreement by all SAARC members will be followed concessions and obligations for Afghanistan that are applicable to other least-developed contracting states of SAFTA. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will notify a tariff reduction for Afghanistan on the receipt of the SAARC Secretariat’s notification of approval. The cabinet – which met under Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani – also approved the ratification of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on military and defence production between Ukraine and Pakistan.
The MoU will improve co-operation between the armed forces of the two countries and promote collaboration in the defence industries. The scope of co-operation includes military training, joint military exercises, the exchange of defence equipment and services. The MoU also envisages the promotion of scientific and technological research in defence production, in addition to the exchange of information on research and development.