This is apropos a Business Recorder news item "Consensus still eludes China, Pakistan on FTA expansion" carried by the newspaper yesterday. According to it, Commerce Ministry has not yet decided to go for the second phase of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China due to the inability of domestic industry to withstand the immediate opening of 90 percent of its trade as is being demanded by Beijing. Pakistan and China have held several rounds on FTA-II but the outcome shows that both sides are still reluctant to proceed further due to disagreement on some of the issues.

Entering into an FTA is always a tricky business. Insofar as Pakistan is concerned, such preferential and free trade deals have accrued little or no benefits to it owing to a variety of reasons. But our policymakers do not frame policies or take decisions based on intensive consultations and thought-through processes. Think of the consequences before you act. Our policymakers are, therefore, required to draw a lesson from Aesop's fable about the fox who is unable to climb out of a well and persuades a goat to jump in.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017