The 7th meeting of Pak-Iran joint trade committee was held in Tehran on Wednesday.
Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir Khan headed the Pakistani delegation while the Iranian side was led by Minister for Industry, Mines and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh.
The two sides reviewed the present trade level and agreed to formulate a five-year plan to increase bilateral trade from the existing one billion dollars to five billion dollars. Both the sides also agreed to form a working group to widen the scope of 2006 Pak-Iran Preferential Trade Agreement.
The two sides urged the need for joint investment in agro-food processing and infrastructure, particularly in the field of establishing effective rail, air, road and sea links between the two countries.
They also called for opening new border trade-posts at Mand-Pishin and Gabd-Reemdan. Khurram Dastgir Khan enunciated Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s vision to achieve shared prosperity through economic integration by enhancing trade, investment and connectivity of infrastructure and banking systems.
He emphasized on early elimination of all non-tariff barriers between the two countries under the 2006 Preferential Trade Agreement.
On Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, Commerce Minister said Gwadar to Nawabshah gas pipeline was part of Pak-China Trade Corridor and was slated for early implementation. He said Pakistan would also arrange construction of the remaining portion of gas pipeline from Gwadar to Iran border thus paving way for import of Iran’s gas by Pakistan.
The Iranian commerce minister assured that hurdles and obstacles in the way of bilateral trade would be removed through effective measures. He offered maximum facilitation for Pakistan’s private sector to hold and participate in trade exhibitions in Iran.
