TEHRAN (Iran News) –The head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) considered the attention to barter trade and transit as the basis for the expansion of economic relations between Iran and Pakistan.
Gholam-Hossein Shafei made the remarks in a meeting with Muhammad Sheryar Khan, the Pakistani consul-general in Mashhad.
He also underlined the significant cultural and historical commonalities of Iran and Pakistan, as well as the opportunity of transit cooperation between the two countries with Russia.
Emphasizing the need to develop Iran-Pakistan trade relations and especially the implementation of agreements related to barter trade, the ICCIMA head said: “The economies of Iran and Pakistan complement each other due to the proximity of the two countries, and they have significant capacities for cooperation in this field, the use of which will lead to a jump in bilateral trade.”
“During the past two years, the government has taken new measures to develop economic relations with Pakistan, and efforts in the field of preferential trade and moving towards free trade have been put on the agenda. However, there are still problems in the implementation of these programs and economic interactions have not been realized as they should have been”, Shafei further noted.
The Pakistani Consul General Muhammad Sheryar Khan, for his part, said, “I believe that the bilateral economic, political and cultural relations between the two countries are getting stronger and strengthening these relations as much as possible should be a priority for both sides. In this regard, we are ready to pursue any matters at the Pakistani consulate in Mashhad.”
Touching upon the problems regarding the transportation and challenges drivers facing, Sheryar stipulated that Pakistan truck drivers have problems for getting Iran visas, expressing hope that during the upcoming talks, both countries could find solutions for the problems of drivers and on the whole the transportation.
He pointed to the importance of the presence of Pakistani traders in economic exhibitions in Mashhad or any part of Iran and noted that presence in such events will boost economic interactions between the traders of the two states and urged Iran Chamber of Commerce to send information and invitations for those exhibitions at least two months before the start of the events.
As announced by the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), Iran has exported commodities worth $704 million to Pakistan during the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-October 22).
Morteza Emadi put the weight of exported goods at 1.6 million tons, and named petroleum gases, oil bitumen, industrial dry milk, liquefied natural gas and liquefied butane as the major exported products.
