Pishin border market between Pakistan and Iran is expected to be opened next month, which will increase free trade between the two countries, remarked Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar.
In a meeting with an Iranian parliamentary delegation, led by Malek Fazeli, the minister said that work on the Pishin border market had been completed and its inauguration was on the cards, while work on three more markets which included Gabd, Rimdan and Kohak would kick off soon.
A total of 12 border markets have been proposed by both sides to increase the volume of trade between the two countries. Of these, nine have been mutually approved.
The minister said that the two countries would engage in trade through the border markets under the barter system. He stressed the need for increasing the oil and gas trade volume, which would help raise the overall trade.
“We are importing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Iran and its import needs to be increased. There is also the need to increase LPG production in Pakistan,” he said. “We import electricity from Iran for Gwadar and this also should be jacked up.”
Responding to the delegation’s proposal of increasing cooperation and trade in the pharmaceutical sector, the minister pointed out that Pakistan was already importing pharmaceutical goods and exports were also going on.
He suggested including people from the pharmaceutical sector in the next trade delegation.
Speaking on the occasion, Malek Fazeli, the head of Iranian parliamentary delegation, said that Pakistan and Iran “are neighbouring countries with a common border spread over 920 kilometres from which mutual trade is carried out and movement of people continues throughout the year”.
He desired that there should be increase in the volume of mutual trade, adding that Iran cooperated with Pakistan in overcoming the shortage of onion and tomatoes.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 16th, 2022.
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