Iranian envoy proposes border markets with Pakistan to boost trade

KARACHI: Iran's ambassador to Pakistan has proposed to set up border markets with Pakistan to enhance trade between the two neighbouring countries, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) said on Friday.

Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam made the proposal during a visit to the FPCCI head office in Karachi, the trade body said in a statement. Moghadam said that Iran was one of the world's top producers of petrochemical and energy sources, and that Pakistan could benefit from reliable and inexpensive supplies from Iran to bridge its energy deficiencies.

"This phenomenon makes Iran a very important country for Pakistan to bridge its energy deficiencies through reliable and inexpensive supplies from Iran," the ambassador said. Moghadam also highlighted that Pakistani rice is popular in Iran due to its good taste and the country;s textiles are world-famous.

He expressed his desire to enhance people-to-people; business-to-business and chamber-to-chamber contacts with Pakistan. "We need to increase business tourism between the two countries and Iranian embassy is all-willing to facilitate the Pakistani business community in visas and participation into trade exhibitions and fairs in Iran."

The FPCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said increasing trade with Iran could help Pakistan reduce its chronic trade deficit, as exporting to Iran would be cost-effective due to the land-based route and negligible shipping and logistics costs.

"Enhancing trade with Iran can help resolve Pakistan’s chronic trade deficit issues as Iran is our next door neighbor and exporting to Iran will be price-competitive due to negligible shipping & logistics costs due to land-based route."

Sheikh also said the lack of banking channels between the two countries was the main obstacle in boosting Pakistani exports to Iran, and suggested that a currency swap mechanism could be a solution.

FPCCI Vice President Shaukat Omerson Pakistan had a number of products and services that could be exported to Iran in large quantities, such as rice, fruits, vegetables, value-added textiles, sports goods, surgical instruments, pharmaceuticals and IT services.

He also said that the bilateral trade of $2.4 billion, as per the latest statistics, was way below the potential for the combined population of over 300 million for the two countries. Omerson urged to capitalize on the land-based transportation opportunities offered by Pakistan's inclusion in the TIR convention, which would enable transit trade to Central Asian countries, Turkey and beyond. "We can also utilize land-based routes through transit trade from to Central Asian Countries, Turkiye and beyond."