Islamabad, 15 September 2022 (TDI): Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar revealed that the opening of the Pakistan-Iran ‘Pishin Border Market’ is anticipated in the coming month, which will increase the trend of free trade between the two countries.
He shared that the Pishin border market had been completed and its inauguration was on the cards, while work on the other three markets including Gabd, Rimdan, and Kohak would start soon.
The Federal Minister made these remarks during a meeting with the Iranian Parliamentary delegation, led by Malek Fazeli, including members Majid Naseri Nejad and Mohsen Fathi in the Ministry office.
The minister said that a total of 12 border markets had been proposed by both sides to increase the volume of mutual trade between the two countries, out of which 9 have been mutually approved.
Moreover, he said that there will be trade through these border markets under the barter system. He highlighted that there was an alarming need to increase the trade volume in petroleum and gas, which would help increase mutual trade volume.
He added, “We are importing Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) from Iran and its import also needs to be increased. There is also a need to increase its production in Pakistan.”
He also noted, “We import electricity from Iran for Gwadar and this also needs to be increased.”
In addition, when the delegation proposed to increase mutual cooperation and trade in the pharmaceutical sector, the minister pointed out that Pakistan was also doing imports in the pharmaceutical industry and exports were also going on.
He also suggested that people from the pharmaceutical sector should be included in the following trade delegation.
Remarks of the Iranian official
On this occasion, Malek Fazeli, head of the Iranian parliamentary delegation, said that Pakistan and Iran are neighboring countries with a common border of 920 kilometers from which mutual trade is also carried out and the movement of people continues throughout the year.
He expressed that there should be an increase in the volume of mutual trade between the two countries adding that Iran cooperated with Pakistan for overcoming the shortage of onions and tomatoes.
Moreover, he said that as a member of the Iranian Parliament, he considers cooperation between Pakistan and Iran in the field of energy essential. Similarly, work on Iran Pakistan gas pipeline also needs to complete in near future.
He concluded that there is a difficult situation in Pakistan due to floods and natural disasters, especially in Sindh and Balochistan. In this regard, the government of Iran will fully cooperate with Pakistan for the rehabilitation of these people.
