LAHORE: Consul General of Iran Reza Nazeri has said that Iran wants stronger trade and economic ties with Pakistan therefore barter trade should be encouraged as it would be equally beneficial for the both countries.
He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Friday. The LCCI President Almas Hyder, Senior Vice President Khawaja Shahzad Nasir, Vice President Fahim-ur-Rehman Sehgal, Former LCCI Presidents Syed Mohsin Raza Bukhari, Mian Misbah-ur-Rehman, former Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa, EC members Mian Zahid Javaid, Atif Akram, Haris Attique, Aqib Asif, Zafar Iqbal, Khaliq Arshad and Dr. Muhammad Arshad were also present on the occasion.
Iranian Consul General 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 Pakistan is its first preference in this regard. He said that Iranian Consulate will extend full support to the trade delegations. He said that Iran will also arrange an exhibition of Iranian products in Punjab province.
He said oil, chemical, gas and other sectors of economy should be focused for mutual trade. He said that Pakistan has a distinguished status in milk production. Experience of Iran in dairy sector can be beneficial for Pakistan. He said that Iran has great potential in the field of construction and can cooperate with Pakistan in this field. He said that both countries should join hands for promotion of tourism sector as Iran and Pakistan have immense potential in this sector.
While answering to a query, Iranian Consul General said that lack of banking channel is a real issue. He said that last year Iran signed an agreement with previous Pakistani government in this regard. He said that he will contact the present government to re-activate this agreement.
He said Allama Iqbal is a spiritual asset of both Pakistan and Iran. People of Iran, belong to any field of life, love Iqbal. He said through Iqbal’s poetry one can be familiar with Iran without direct travel. He appreciated role of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry for promoting the trade and economy of Pakistan.
The LCCI President Almas Hyder said that the relation of LCCI and Iran consulate requires no introduction as over the years both offices have worked hand in glove with each other. He appreciated the efforts of Iranian Consul General in creating ease of doing business through frequent direct flights between Pakistan and Iran. He said that Iranian consulate is facilitating LCCI members through honoring recommendations for granting business visas to the them. There are hundreds of members of LCCI who have benefited from this facilitation, along with other Chambers of Commerce of Punjab.
The LCCI President said that both the countries have large domestic markets and unique geo-strategic competitive advantage. In order to make use of each other’s strong areas, Pakistan and Iran have to make joint efforts. Almas Hyder informed the Iranian Consul General that he led a businessmen delegation to Iran in February 2016 and found a lot of potential for Pakistani products in Iran. By establishing banking channels between two countries, business communities can be facilitated. He said that regional trade is at its lowest and there are sectors which have great potential in Iran, such as surgical instrument, textile, rice, engineering parts and IT. Almas Hyder said that Pakistan will be the primary source of rice for Iran very soon.
Almas Hyder said that there are some bottlenecks in the way of increasing trade between two countries which are required to be addressed on priority basis. Through ensuring strict vigilance on both sides on smuggling & undocumented trade, we can straightforwardly improve the figures of bilateral trade. The trade figures of year 2017 show that Pakistan’s total exports to Iran were around Dollar 26.5 million whereas our imports from Iran were Dollar 327 million.
The LCCI President sought the support of Iranian Consulate for facilitation of frequent flow of cargo through ECO train to Iran and also giving access to the Central Asian States.
The LCCI Senior Vice President Khawaja Shahzad Nasir said that lack of money transfer system between the two countries is hindering the growth of two-way trade therefore this issue should be resolved at the earliest.
