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PRESS/TPRB/293 
18 January 2008 
 
(08-0230) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: PAKISTAN 
Openness to trade and investment has supported growth 
Pakistan’s economic growth has been impressive since its previous Trade Policy Review in 2002 mainly as a result of its relatively open tr ade and investment regimes, sound macroeconomic 
policies and structural reforms that have also contributed to lower unemployment and reduced 
poverty, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of Pakistan.   
Trade liberalization has resulted inter alia  in noticeable improvements in customs procedures, the 
considerable reduction of tariff protection and the widening of the scope of tariff bindings, giving more predictability to the trade regime. Despit e these improvements, a complex tariff structure 
remains in place in some sectors. In addition, the protection of Intellectual Property Rights has 
been strengthened.  
The report also notes that Pakistan still lags behind in export diversification still depending heavily 
on textiles and clothing, which account for two thirds of the total exports. This sector now faces stronger competition in major markets. Also, State involvement in certain activities like 
engineering and key services persists. 
 Continued trade liberalization and other productivity-boosting structural reforms to address 
bottlenecks, excessive regulatory controls and labour market rigidities would help improve 
Pakistan’s international competitiveness and the prospects for sustainable economic growth, according to the report. 
 
The WTO Secretariat report, along with a policy stat ement by the Government of Pakistan, will be 
the basis for the third TPR of Pakistan by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 16 and 18 
of January 2008. 
 The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp293_e.htm  
 • Secretariat reports 
> Contents and summary observations  
> Economic environment  > Trade and investment regimes  PRESS/TPRB/293 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
 > Trade policies and practices by measure  
> Trade policies by sector  
> Appendix tables  
• Report by Government of Pakistan 
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). 
Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO Agreement, in which member 
countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each 
review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William 
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews  
 
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States 
Next reviews: 
Ghana: 28 and 30 of January 2008 
Mexico: 11 and 13 of February 2008 
Brunei Darussalam: 25 and 27 of February 2008 
 For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews  
 
 
END