Staff Reporter
Karachi
President Tehran Chamber of Commerce & Industry (TCCI) Masoud Khansari has stressed the need to enhance interactions between the business communities of Iran and Pakistan in various sectors of the economy through regular exchange of trade delegations and organizing numerous exhibitions to promote the existing bilateral trade relations between the two brotherly countries.
Speaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI), President TCCI said that instead of waiting for trade promotion strategies to be devised at the government level, the business communities will have to sit together and make collective efforts with a view to further promote trade and investment cooperation between the two neighboring countries.
“Tehran Chamber and Karachi Chamber will have to seriously focus on connecting various Iranian and Pakistani companies with each other, besides holding regular interaction to discuss and explore trade and investment related opportunities in Iran and Pakistan”, he added.
Consul General of Iran Ahmed Mohammadi, President KCCI Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan, Senior Vice President KCCI Arshad Islam, Vice President Shahid Ismail and KCCI Managing Committee Members were also present on the occasion. Referring to Karachi’s huge contribution of 70 percent revenue to the national exchequer, President TCCI Masoud Khansari stated that Tehran also contributes around 50 to 60 percent revenue to the Iranian economy hence it was the responsibility Tehran and Karachi Chambers to play a major role in promoting bilateral trade and investment.
He said that due to the sanctions, Iran has focused on producing the required products and services on its own and has also strived hard to improve its bilateral trade with regional and neighboring countries so that the Iranian economy could stay afloat.
He was of the view that the official and documented bilateral trade volume between the brotherly countries stood at around US$1.5 billion but the overall trade figures, including the unofficial and undocumented trade, must be somewhere in between US$3 to US$4 billion.
