TEHRAN - Iranian Energy Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian has announced the completion of a power transmission line to neighboring Pakistan with the aim of boosting electricity exchanges between the two countries, IRNA reported.

As reported, the two countries signed a contract on Monday to officially use the mentioned transmission line for exchanging up to 200 megawatts (MW) of electricity in the near future.

The contract was signed in a ceremony attended by Mehrabian and his Pakistani counterpart Khurram Dastgir-Khan.

"The electricity transmission line between Iran and Pakistan was designed and built in less than a year with a capacity of 200 megawatts," Mehrabian told the press on the sidelines of a meeting with Dastgir-Khan prior to the signing ceremony.

“The necessary experiments and tests have been carried out on this line and it is now electrified,” he said.

"In today's meeting with the minister of energy of Pakistan, there were good discussions about the exchange of electricity through this line," Mehrabian added.

The official put the current value of annual trade between the two countries at over two billion dollars, adding that with the construction of this line, the volume of electricity exchanges between the two countries will increase to 200 megawatts which will be a significant boost for the economic ties.

Dastgir-Khan for his part referred to his previous trip to Iran, saying: “In this trip, the progress of the previous agreements regarding electricity exchanges between the two countries through the electricity transmission line was pursued and efforts were made to reach a final agreement.”

Emphasizing the necessity of developing and deepening the relations between the two countries, he added: "It is hoped that we will witness the development of electricity exchanges between the two countries with the final agreement following the formation of technical and commercial teams."

This was the second meeting of the energy ministers of the two neighboring countries in less than a year. Dastgir-Khan met with Mehrabian during his trip to Tehran last June.

EF/MA

Photo: Iranian and Pakistani energy officials sign contract documents in Tehran on Monday at the presence of Iranian Energy Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian (L) and his Pakistani counterpart Khurram Dastgir-Khan.