Iran, Pakistan Eye $5bln Trade Volume

Top trade officials from Iran and Pakistan held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the promotion of trade exchanges between Tehran and Islamabad.

At the meeting, Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mines, and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh and Pakistan’s Minister of Commerce Khurram Dastgir Khan urged that the trade volume between the two countries should be raised to $5 billion.

Although the two states have excellent relations in most fields, they have yet to tap into the existing potentials in trade and commerce, Nematzadeh said.

The Pakistani minister, for his part, underscored the necessity for the expansion of trade volume between Tehran and Islamabad.

The two sides also exchanged views on new border crossings between Iran and Pakistan, and reinforcing the infrastructures including roads, railroads, and airlines between the cities of the two countries.

Joint ventures in gas transfer, export of electricity and chemical fertilizers to Pakistan, and import of such goods as cotton from Pakistan as well as joint ventures in different textile and construction projects were also discussed in the meeting.

Earlier in December, Iran and Pakistan signed five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) as part of their efforts to promote mutual cooperation and strengthen trade ties between the two neighboring countries.

The MoUs were related to the establishment of Joint Investment Committee, cooperation between Pakistan’s Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority and Iran’s Small Industries, and establishment of sister port relationship between the ports of Karachi and Chabahar as well as cooperation in the field of investment, economic and technical assistance.