Pakistan's exports will exceed $17 billion during the current fiscal year, according to Commerce Minister Hamayun Akhtar Khan, He told the Voice of America that six years ago, Pakistan's total exports were $7.2 billion. The Commerce Minister said developed countries imposed duties on products of developing countries while giving incentives and subsidies to their farmers. Due to this, Khan said, developing countries cannot compete with them and suffer losses. He said the U.S. government had signed trade agreements with several countries of Latin America and Sub Saharan Africa and recently with Jordan, which benefited these countries to a large extent. The Commerce Minister said Pakistan would have greatly benefited from a free trade agreement with the United States as 85 percent of Pakistan's textile products were exported to it.
