TEHRAN: The commercial banks are not clearing online Form E for rice exports to Iran and are not yet ready for transactions with Iran. No procedure has been outlined so far. Pakistan exports are on the declining side on the back of global economic slowdown which calls for tapping any export opportunity with the global trading partners however such irritants like missing banking facility may not help to increase the export volume of the country. President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver has pointed out that the exporters are facing hardships and are unable to finalize orders from Iran despite no sanctions exist against Iran.
It is pertinent to note that no sanctions can ever be imposed on food and medicine items as per United Nations charter but since Iran was boycotted by SWIFT, trade with Iran became impossible and goods were shipped to Dubai and from there to Iran. Now that the sanctions have been removed businessmen have become active for exports and imports to and from Iran but are unable to go forward due to lack of clarity about procedure.
