Director Pak-Iran Business Council of FPCCI and Chief Executive, Iran-Pak Wind Power (Pvt) Limited, Khurram Sayeed has emphasised trade with Iran in local currency, immediate start of barter trade with Iran and opening of Iranian bank branches in Pakistan to facilitate trade between the two countries.
He was speaking at the seminar to promote "bilateral relationships between Pakistan and Iran" organised by the Pakistan-Iran Friendship Association recently at the Iran Consulate Karachi. He said sanctions had hurt the bilateral trade between the two countries and had fallen to 450 million dollars from 1.2 billion dollars in 2009-2010, adding that until those measures were not adopted, trade between the two could not be brought back to previous levels. He further emphasised that measures should be taken to stop smuggling of Iranian goods into Pakistan as well as smuggling of live animals into Iran as those were causing loss of revenue to both the governments.
He also said that immediate implementation of the 100MW, 1000MW power projects and the Iran-Pak gas pipeline would greatly benefit Pakistan and help in promoting bilateral investments. He said all those matters were discussed in the Joint Ministerial Commission and such decisions needed implementation in order to bring value to the commission.-PR