Daily Times

Pakistan’s Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz has suggested setting up Pakistan-Iran Joint Chamber of Commerce to boost trade and business ties.

He made the remarks in his meeting with Iranian Consul General Mohammad Bagherbeyghi on Thursday and called for establishing a joint chamber of commerce between Iran and Pakistan in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The two countries of Iran and Pakistan should adjust their policies and revise in tariff rates, he said, adding, “Tehran and Islamabad should strive to remove possible barriers ahead of bilateral trade and business jointly.”

He put the trade volume exchange between Iran and Pakistan at below $1 billion and added, “if non-tariff barriers are removed, the two countries would achieve high capacities to boost their trade and business exchanges.”

Then, he pointed to Pakistan’s Gwadar and Iran’s Chabahar ports that can play a vital role in boosting bilateral trade and called on Iranian traders and businesspersons to invest in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in various sectors.

He termed the gas pipeline project between Iran and Pakistan as a turning point in relations between the two countries which will create a new era of industrialization and economic prosperity in Pakistan.

For his part, Iran Consul General in Peshawar Mohammad Bagherbeyghi said that lack of banking channels between the two countries is a great obstacle in strengthening bilateral trade and business ties.

The two countries enjoy high capacity to boost their trade exchange volume by $5 billion, he emphasized.

He went on to say that Iran Joint Economic Commission is revising in trade tariffs with Pakistan.