TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mine and Agriculture (ICCIMA) says it is ready for setting up council for barter cooperation with Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).
A delegation from Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) met Iranian business activists at Iran Chamber of Commerce where they explored ways for boosting cooperation especially in fields of rice, agro products ad LPG, and both sides presented capacities of their countries.
In the meeting, bilateral and multilateral relations manager of ICCIMA Ms. Niloofar Asadi highlighted some actions in the field of barter trade between Iran and Pakistan and announced readiness of ICCIMA for setting up council for barter cooperation with Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce Industry and other related bodies.
Asadi pointed to the close cooperation between ICCIMA and FPCCI and with specialized formations in this country for hosting different Pakistani trade delegations after lifting some COVID restrictions, and expressed hope that these exchanges of delegations would continue and could lead to boosting level of bilateral cooperation, noting that currently ICCIMA is working to dispatch a delegation to Pakistan.
She added that implementation of barter trade and also signing the free trade zone are two issues on the agenda of both countries for talks, and noted that implementing barter is important because it will reduce costs of forex exchange because currently banking transactions between the two states for transfer of money is a big hurdle and it costs dear, and barter will reduce those costs. She added that for this reason officials of both states have taken some actions on this regard and it is in the final stage and currently a delegation from REAP is in Tehran to talk on implementing this barter trade between the two states.
Asadi pointed to the necessity of a mechanism to be accepted by governments and central banks of the two countries and suggested a council in the private sector level to be launched for cooperation between chambers of commerce of the two countries for barter cooperation, and required data and information is provided for the economic activists of Iran and Pakistan.
Asadi went on to say that in the field of free trade zone, the list of proposed items of both countries is being discussed and if it bears fruit as soon as possible, then it will create new advantages for both countries.
Then Chairman of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) Mr. Ali Hassam Asghar, for his part, pointed to $2.5b rice export capacity of this association and said that Iran’s share of this figure is considerable and noted that the association exports some 600,000 tons of rice to Iran and it is keen to increase the figure to one million tons.
He added that unfortunately there is no banking relation between the two countries and it is necessary barter of trade to be implemented as soon as possible because Pakistan rice is welcomed great by Iranians and it meets Iranians’ taste.
He stated that on the barter of goods, several meetings between officials of the two countries have been held but barter mechanism has not been implemented yet. He reiterated that Pakistan has reformed some laws for implementing the barter and hurdles have been removed, and called for the launc of an executive committee for implementing barter between the two countries comprised of the related bodies in order to remove hurdles and launch required mechanism.
