SCCI, Iranian diplomat for bolstering trade

PESHAWAR: The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Sherbaz Bilour and Iranian Consul General in Peshawar Hamid Reza Ghomi have agreed to make joint efforts to boost the bilateral trade and economic relations between the two brotherly Islamic countries.

The agreement was reached during a meeting held between them here at the Chamber’s House on Wednesday, which attended by SCCI Senior Vice-President Engineer Manzoor Elahi, Iranian Second Consul (Economic Section) Seyed Ebrahim Dehnadi and other officials of the Iranian Consulate.

Both sides agreed on strengthening the Pak-Iranian trade and economic relations by signing in a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the introduction of an effective banking channel, the establishment of markets at border region, elimination of illegal trade, exchange of business delegation, organizing joint trade exhibition, B2B meetings.

It was also agreed that a webinar between SCCI and Mashhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be organised after Eid.

Sherbaz Bilour invited the Iranian investors to invest in KP potential sectors, including hydel power generation, marble, mining, match, furniture, honey, gems, especially the special economic zone, being constructed under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Laying emphasis on the promotion of regional trade, the SCCI chief said the efforts have been launched to remove hiccups and irritants in the way of trade with regional countries.

He said there was a huge potential to boost bilateral trade between Pakistan and Iran, which currently stood at $359million, including $36million export from Pakistani items to Iran, while Iranian imports to Pakistan stood at $323million. He called upon Islamabad and Tehran to take serious initiatives to remove hurdles in the way of bilateral trade.

The SCCI chief welcomed the trade deal between China and Iran worth $400billion, besides the launch of train service from Islamabad to Tehran and Turkey which he said could boost friendly relations among these countries.

Sherbaz Bilour called for declaring Chabahar Port, as sister a port, and asked Iran to take benefits from China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects.

The Iranian diplomat said Iran gave much importance to trade and economic relations with Pakistan and added that the efforts have been initiated to sign a Free Trade Agreement

He agreed to recommendations by the SCCI chief, saying despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Iranian consulate had facilitated the business community and issued visas to them in a short time.

Hamid Reza Ghomi said the Pakistani envoy to Iran had played a vital role in strengthening Pak-Iranian trade while the Iranian ambassador to Pakistan would soon visit Peshawar and hold a meeting with the business community to apprise himself of their problems.

The diplomat asked the SCCI to strengthen its relations with Mashhad Chamber to take mutual benefits from each other’s experience and to give a boost to bilateral trade between the countries.