Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif along with a 30-member trade delegation, from the country’s economic and trade sectors, attended the joint business forum to explore areas of mutual economic cooperation.
According to IRNA, creating necessary conditions for the expansion of bilateral economic ties and facilitating trade, especially between the two sides’ private sectors, have been reported to be among the main goals of the Iranian delegation’s visit to Pakistan.
During the business forum, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif who co-chaired the forum with his Iranian counterpart, welcomed Zarif’s suggestion for bolstering mutual trade relations.
“The Pakistani government is already working on strengthening cooperation between the two countries’ chambers of commerce,” he said.
The Pakistani minister noted that the two countries’ trade has accelerated significantly in the past two years and now both sides are willing to take necessary measures to boost the worth of trade to the ideal of $5 billion.
Asif further underlined the importance of banking relations in facilitating trade and noted that the two countries’ central banks are holding serious talks on allocation of bilateral facilities.
“Significant progress has been made,” he said.
The official also suggested holding joint trade fairs and exhibitions in order to facilitate the interactions and acquaintance of the two countries businessmen.
Iran ready to supply energy to Pakistan
Iranian foreign minister for his part noted that Iran is ready to supply Pakistan’s energy needs including oil, gas and electricity.
“There are lots of areas for mutual cooperation among which energy can be mentioned,” Zarif said.
Zarif further expressed hope that the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project on which Iran has invested $2 billion will come to an ideal conclusion.
