By Syed Wahaj Ahmed
Ambassador of Iran in Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghadam has proposed to set up border markets with Pakistan to enhance trade between the two countries during a high-profile visit to Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) head office.
He proposed that Iran is one of the world’s top producers of petrochemical and energy sources – and, Pakistan is mostly dependent on imported oil and other energy sources. He said this phenomenon makes Iran a very important country for Pakistan to bridge its energy deficiencies through reliable and inexpensive supplies from Iran.
Moghadam also highlighted that Pakistani rice is popular in Iran due to its good taste and Pakistani textiles are world-famous. The two countries also enjoy cultural and religious bonds. He expressed his desire to enhance people-to-people; business-to-business and chamber-to-chamber contacts with Pakistan.
“We need to increase business tourism between the two countries and Iranian embassy is all-willing to facilitate the Pakistani business community in visas and participation into trade exhibitions and fairs in Iran,” he said.
TIR (the Transports Internationaux Routiers said enhancing trade with Iran can help resolve Pakistan’s chronic trade deficit issues as Iran is the next door neighbor and exporting to Iran will be price-competitive due to negligible shipping and logistics costs due to land-based route.
He reiterated his stance that the lack of banking channels between the two countries is the top most impediment to increasing Pakistani exports to Iran – and, an effective and functional currency swap mechanism can help resolve the issue.
FPCCI Vice President Shaukat Omerson said there are a number of products and services that Pakistan can export to Iran in large numbers; and, rice, fruits, vegetables, value-added textiles, sports goods, surgical instruments, pharmaceuticals and IT services of Pakistan have great potential in Iran.
He also stressed that bilateral trade of $2.4 billion, as per latest statistics, is way below the potential for the combined population of well over 300 million for the two countries. He also called upon capitalizing on land-based transportation opportunities unleashed by Pakistan’s inclusion into TIR (the Transports Internationaux Routiers) convention.
“We can also utilise land-based routes through transit trade from to Central Asian Countries, Turkiye and beyond,” he said.
