Iran keen to invest in energy, infrastructure

KARACHI: Iran is keen to invest in various sectors of Pakistan’s economy to improve relationship between the two countries, an Iranian envoy said on Friday.

“Iranian investors are very interested to invest in energy, infrastructure development, education, health and other sectors to explore potential in Karachi,” Iranian Ambassador Mehdi Honardoost said in a meeting with Governor Sindh Muhammad Zubair. “Multinational companies couldn’t overlook the Pakistan’s market and we will continue to lend support for the province’s development.”

Zubair said Iran’s investment will strengthen the bilateral economic ties. “Iranian investors should also participate in CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor).”

Meanwhile, Honardoost, in a meeting with the officials of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), said Iran is keen to implement Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project, sign free trade agreement and commence bilateral banking transactions.

“IP gas pipeline project can completely change the face of Pakistan’s economy as the cheaper gas being supplied under this project can be used as raw material by industries, which would create a lot of job opportunities and it can also be used for cheaper power generation,” he said.

The ambassador advised Pakistani business community to adopt “proactive approach to grab more out of Iranian market.”

“Lack of information and know-how about the capabilities of Iran and Pakistan amongst the business communities of the two countries is hindering the trade,” he said. “Trade between Pakistan and Iran rose 31 percent during the last year.”

Iranian ambassador said both countries have so many commonalities and similarities which simply cannot be found between any other countries of the entire region. He said regional problems like terrorism, human trafficking and narcotics trafficking should be solved by the regional countries, “which have common perception, interests and concerns.”

Honardoost said CPEC project is a multi-functional project, which can bring peace and prosperity in the region as all countries of this region will become part of this project.

President Muffasar Atta Malik at KCCI said Karachi, which is the economic hub of Pakistan, offers lucrative and joint venture opportunities to investors from Iran.

Malik said relations between Pakistan and Iran have improved significantly, giving a way to further enhance bilateral trade.

“Iran’s decision to open commercial bank in Pakistan and the availability of letter of credit facility is important step to enhance economic relations,” he added. “Collective efforts are needed from both sides to improve the existing trade volume between the two countries.”

He said negotiations on free trade agreement between Pakistan and Iran are underway as both countries expressed willingness to upgrade preferential trade agreement.

KCCI president said both the countries decided to increase bilateral trade to five billion dollars from the existing $150 million.

“The major bottlenecks in the expansion of Pak-Iran trade are frequent changes in import regime of Iran, high import tariffs applied on exportable items from Pakistan, and indirect trade via Dubai which require attention,” he added.