Iranian Consul General Mohammad Reza Nazeri on Monday said that despite all odds, the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Iran is good and hoped that mutual trade and economic relations would be stronger in future.
He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). He had a detailed discussion on trade and economic relations between the two countries. Iranian Commercial Counselor Ali Asghar, former Pakistani Ambassador to Iran Asif Durrani were also present on the occasion.
Mohammad Reza Nazeri said that Pakistan and Iran have common borders and cultural bonds. Iran has always tried to strengthen the bilateral relations with its neighbouring countries and its first priority is Pakistan. He said that Iranian Consulate would extend full support to the trade delegations.
He invited the LCCI members to participate in two separate exhibitions of hot & cool equipment and medical equipment being held after 10 days and 40 days respectively.
LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that an Export Desk is being established in the Lahore Chamber soon. He said that Pakistan and Iran have large domestic markets and unique geo-strategic competitive advantage. In order to make use of each other's strong areas, both countries would have to make joint efforts.
He said that the latest trade figures do not reflect the actual potential of trade exists between two countries.
"According to ITC Trade map, the bilateral trade showed upward trend during the last two years. For example, in 2017, the volume of two-way trade was US$354 million which went up to US$397 million in 2018", he said. In 2016, Pakistan exported to the tune of US$36 million to Iran that in following years contracted to US$27 million and last year ended up at US$23 million, he added.
LCCI chief said that there are some bottlenecks in the way of increasing trade between two countries which are required to be addressed on priority basis. By reducing smuggling and undocumented trade, we can quickly improve the figures of bilateral trade, he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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