Iranian Minister of Industry, Mining and Trade Mohammad Atabak and Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan have discussed trade ties between the two countries, with both agreeing that economic exchanges should be promoted further.
The two ministers met in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Atabak told IRNA that he and the Pakistani minister discussed trade ties between the two countries and agreed to hold further talks in order to explore ways to remove obstacles to the promotion of bilateral trade.
“Considering the historical and cultural commonalities of the two countries, we should take advantage of the strong potentials to expand trade exchanges between Iran and Pakistan,” Atabak said.
The Iranian minister also said that he invited Kamal Khan to visit the Islamic Republic. According to the official, the necessary measures will be taken to prepare an agreement to be signed between the two countries during the visit of the Pakistani minister to Iran.
He stated that the current amount of trade exchanges between the two countries is not acceptable from the point of view of both Iran and Pakistan, and considering the strong relations and common links of the two countries, the two sides are confident that they will be able to increase the volume of trade exchanges several times.
The Pakistani minister spoke with IRNA as well. He described his talks with the Iranian minister as constructive, and said that visiting Iran is on agenda of his plans.
“We had good talks with my Iranian counterpart and reached constructive agreements, and we believe that there are many remaining tasks that the two countries are determined to pursue,” he said.
As announced by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the value of non-oil trade between Iran and Pakistan rose 10 percent in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-August 21), as compared to the same period of time in the past year.
The two countries’ bilateral trade stood at 1.906 million tons worth $1.128 billion in the mentioned five-month times, indicating also two percent growth in weight, year on year. Pakistan was the fourth top trade partner of Iran among the Islamic Republic’s neighbors in the first five months of the present year.—Tehran Times
