Pakistan joined WTO on 1st January, 1995 in order to boost its export, which 13 years later in 2008 stood at around $18 billion. During 2008, Pakistan's exports remained concentrated in five categories, viz. cotton, leather, rice and synthetic textiles and sports goods. Out of these, cotton exports accounted for 54.7 percent, rice 7.1 percent and leather 6.1 percent. Presently, Pakistan's major exports markets are headed by the USA with 26.4 percent, followed by UK 5.6 percent, Germany 4.3 percent, Hong Kong four percent and Dubai 1.6 percent.
Pakistan government is trying to increase the volume of its exports by gaining access to more markets in the European Union, Asia, Africa and Latin America. It is facing hardships in getting a breakthrough in the EU due to many restrictions under the WTO rules. Pakistan Trade Policy 2008-09 has fixed export target at 22.1 billion dollars. Unfortunately, the developing countries including Pakistan are not enjoying preferential treatment under the WTO regime through which they might increase the volume of their trades.