LAHORE: All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) President Ibrahim Quraishi has welcomed the signing of MoU by Pakistan and Iran to establish a five-year strategic trade cooperation plan. He said that “despite a huge trade potential, Pak-Iran bilateral trade remained low, because the non-tariff barriers were quite high”.
Iran used to impose heavy customs duty on Pakistani products such as textiles goods. The import process was complicated due to poor conditions of rail and road infrastructure. It is heartening to see a robust initiative with a progressive and friendly country like Iran. APBF is consistently striving to enhance Pakistan’s portfolio of exports.”
The All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) is a vibrant business association which promotes and protects the interests of the business community and a wide range of industries in Pakistan. It also advises reforms to the government sector, regarding policy formulation, regulatory realignments and implementation in the commercial and industrial sectors of the economy. Over the years, APBF has been consistently playing a positive role in elevating the standards and facilitation of business activity in Pakistan.
Majority of the issues of the traders will be resolved with the implementation of TIR Convention, to which Pakistan has recently acceded. Iran has also offered facilitation in Pakistan’s transit trade, through Iran, to the Central Asian Republics and Russia, where the demand for Pakistani food and agricultural products is consistently increasing.
