As neighbours, Pakistan and Iran can benefit a lot from further strengthening their trade ties and signing mutually beneficial free trade agreements. The statement was made by the President of the Sarhad Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Muhammad Ishaq on Thursday. Historical links between the two countries made it imperative that they should further come together and bridge the gaps in trade and communication.

He hosted the Iranian Counsel General Hamid Reza Ghomi at the chamber’s office and said that “it is necessary that for trade to prosper, both the countries liberalize their tariff regimes. This will help in the utilization of comparative advantages that both the countries have in certain products and will increase the trade volume between the two countries.”

The meeting was attended by the chamber’s senior vice president Shahid Hussain, vice president Ejaz Khan Afridi, First consul/commercial attaché Iranian Consulate Peshawar Hossein Maliki, and other relevant officials of the Iranian consulate Peshawar.

“The bilateral trade volume can be increased by bringing the business community of the two countries together. Networking is very important if both countries want to establish long-lasting trade ties. For this purpose, trade expos should be organized and steps should be taken to enhance bilateral cooperation. Business to business meetings, promotion of barter trade and easy access to manufacturing products of both countries in local markets should be prioritized,” he said.

Hamid Reza Ghomi, for his part, congratulated the newly elected cabinet of SCCI. He said that his country is taking serious steps to further strengthen economic and trade relations with Pakistan. “We are holding business meetings in Karachi and Lahore as part of our efforts to make sure that we keep on developing our trade ties,” he added.

He told the hosts that to increase bilateral trade and to bring the business communities of the two countries together, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) will soon be signed between Mashhad Chamber and the SCCI. Iran is also working on a free trade policy for Pakistan which has neared its completion and will be brought forth soon. “It will give a boost to the trading ties of the two countries and both countries will prosper,” he said.

Various proposals for the enhancement of trade between the two countries were presented during the meeting by the members of the chambers. The counsel general agreed that a lot of work was still needed to be done to increase the trade between the two countries. He welcomed the proposals of the chamber members for mutual trade promotion.

Muhammad Ishaq said that he understands the importance of improvement in Pak-Iran bilateral trade relations. “For this reason, the Sarhad chambers plans to organize a joint Pak-Iran trade exhibition in Peshawar very soon,” he added.

The SCCI chief said Pakistan has given much importance to enhancing trade with Iran. He called for signing a free trade agreement between the two brotherly Islamic countries.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk