TEHRAN- Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) will dispatch a trade delegation headed by ICCIMA Head Gholam-Hossein Shafeie to Pakistan during October 25-29, in a bid to expand trade cooperation between the two countries.

The Iranian delegates, including the chairman of Iran-Pakistan Joint Chamber of Commerce, will visit Karachi and Lahore during their five-day stay in the neighboring country.

The focus of this delegation will be on the fields of agricultural products and food, oil and gas and chemicals, construction and mineral materials, medicine and medical equipment, technology and knowledge-based products and transportation.

The planned programs for this trip are as follows:

- Holding a business forum and B2B meetings with the presence of traders and businessmen of the two countries in the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and Karachi and Lahore Chambers of Commerce

- Official meetings with heads of chambers and government organizations and signing a memorandum of understanding regarding the development and diversification of trade cooperation, follow up on the implementation of the barter mechanism, the establishment of the Iran-Pakistan Trade Council, the establishment of the Trade Dispute Resolution Council, the development of transportation and transit cooperation

- Visiting industries and factories in Karachi and Lahore and city tour

Iran and Pakistan inked agreements to expand relations, especially in trade and maritime areas, at the end of the 21st Session of the Pak-Iran Joint Economic Commission which was held in Islamabad in mid-August.

Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Rostam Qasemi and Pakistani Minister for Commerce Naveed Qamar inked four memorandums of understanding in the fields of trade, tourism, maritime, and media.

On the sidelines of the signing ceremony, the Pakistani official said the two neighboring countries are expected to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) within the next six months amid efforts to boost their bilateral trade to up to $4 billion per year.

Iran and Pakistan are currently on a preferential trade arrangement under which the two countries have sought to reduce some trade barriers and tariffs.

Qamar was quoted as saying by the Associated Press of Pakistan that Islamabad and Tehran will, in the meantime, exchange trade lists for various sectors of their economies while trying to further reduce tariffs on exports and imports to reach a reasonable framework for signing an FTA.

The two countries agreed on holding the 22nd edition of the event in Tehran next year.

The value of Iran’s non-oil export to Pakistan rose 13 percent in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 21), from that of the same quarter in the previous year, Ruhollah Latifi, the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) said in July.

Iran exported commodities worth $279 million to Pakistan in the three-month period of this year, he noted.

The country also imported goods valued at $196 million from its neighbor in the first quarter of this year, which was 208 percent higher than the imports in the first quarter of the previous year, the official added.

Pakistan was Iran’s sixth major export destination and fourth main source of import in the first quarter of the current year.

Increasing non-oil exports to neighboring countries is one of the major plans that the Iranian government has been pursuing in recent years.

MA/MA