The world is exploring new business opportunities in Iran after lifting of decades old sanctions on that country. However, the Pakistani government and businessmen are still groping in the dark as if it is possible to revive and strengthen business and trade relations with Tehran or not. Iran has advanced cottage industry and Iranian oil is cheap and accessible when it comes to freight and transportation charges. There is also very lukewarm response from the government and the business community to the trade and investment offers from Iran and one fails to understand who stops Pakistanis to accept the business proposals from Tehran. On the government to government level, Iran has supported every stand of Pakistan on the international fora and has comfortably launched various mega projects one of which is the Pakistan Iran gas pipeline. One fails to understand why the government is going at a snail’s pace on the pipeline project when sanctions on Iran have long been lifted. Millions of dollars have been spent on the project without any positive outcome so far.
The current situation is that Pakistan has no banking links with Iranian banks to facilitate the traders and ensure easy transaction of the money from one country to another. The State Bank of Pakistan has already allowed banks to contact with their counterparts in Iran and establish a transparent link of money transfer. Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Mehdi Honardoost has also highlighted this issue during his talks with the officials of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry. According to him, Iran is in an era of turning around and Pakistan businessmen should garb economic opportunities in his country. Honardoost also said that Iran was a tested friend and they would never interfere in the internal affairs of Pakistan. What Pakistani businessmen have to do is to share business related information with the Iranian Embassy to boost bilateral trade.The Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline project will fulfil the energy needs of Pakistan. Currently, Iran’s trade with Afghanistan is over $2.5 billion while Pak-Iran trade is not more than half a billion dollars.
There are lot of hurdles in legal trade between the two countries and in this situation, illegal trade is thriving. Iran-made goods worth billions of rupees are smuggled into Pakistan every day and most of which are caught due to active surveillance of the Customs Department. The Pakistani businessmen should take initiatives to pave the way for legal imports from Iran. Pakistan can also offer tremendous business opportunities to Iran and both the countries can turn into good trade partners.
