Commerce & Trade Group

The Commerce and Trade Group (CTG) is responsible for the commercial diplomacy and economic development of Pakistan. It safeguards Pakistan’s commercial interests and enhance market access by developing Pakistan trade ties abroad. It also caters the modern needs of specialized officer for trade policy and implementation.

CTG officers negotiate bilateral, multilateral and unilateral trade deals with the trade partners of Pakistan. They are not only responsible for international trade but domestic commerce as well. They formulate and implement trade policy, which lays out the fundamentals of the commercial choices for the country. The job description also includes formulating the Tariff Policy of Pakistan.

The CTG is a part of the Ministry of Commerce. They lead foreign trade negotiations with different countries to secure trade deals. Pakistan has successfully negotiated three Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Sri Lanka, China, and Malaysia, as well as three Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) with Iran, Mauritius, and Indonesia. Pakistan is also part of SAFTA and ECOTA. Through successful negotiations, Pakistan secured GSP-plus status from the EU, which means that more than 90% of Pakistan’s exports are received at zero import duty by the 28 countries of the EU. Besides commercial diplomacy, the CTG officers mainly deal with exports, imports, tariff, WTO, foreign trade, regulation of Chambers of Commerce and trade bodies, trade defence laws, intellectual property, public sector insurance organizations (State Life Insurance, National Insurance (NICL), Pakistan Reinsurance (PRCL), trade disputes, and more.