Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan hopes to discuss Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and resumption of banking channels between Iran and Pakistan during his perspective two-day visit to Iran next week.
Talking to the media, the minister said, ‘We are quite hopeful that Iran and Pakistan would be able to sign FTA by the end of 2017, which is aimed at expanding the bilateral trade’.
Giving details of his upcoming visit, the minister said that he was going to visit Iran to follow up the valuable visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Pakistan earlier this year.
The minister added that Iran and Pakistan have already held their first negotiations on FTA and there was great positivity on both sides to conclude it ideally by the end of 2017.
Dastgir Khan ensured that any outstanding issues in the signing of FTA would be resolved quickly. He added that during his visit to Iran, he would also discuss the prospects of broader energy ties with Iran, particularly in reference to the electricity that Pakistan was buying from Iran for the Gwadar Port.
