TEHRAN – The Islamic Republic of Iran is aiming to expand its economic and trade relations with Pakistan through establishing joint free zones and trade centers with the country, IRIB reported.

According to Ahmad Jamali, the deputy secretary of Iran’s Free Zones High council, Tehran has reached an agreement with Islamabad to establish a joint free zone on the border between the two countries.

“We have identified 200 investment opportunities in potential joint free zones with Pakistan which can be used to boost export to the country,” Jamali said in a meeting held on Monday by the Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) for exploring Iran-Pakistan business opportunities.

Noting that Chabahar free zone in Sistan-Baluchestan Province is a good platform to develop exports from Iran to Pakistan, the official added: “Identifying investment opportunities in free zones can lead to the prosperity of businesses and trade of the two countries’ economic operators.”

Jamali further noted that Iran has considered significant incentives for the exporters to Pakistan and the government fully supports business operators active in the mentioned country.

Mentioning an upcoming exhibition of Iran-Pakistan trade opportunities, which is scheduled to be held in mid-January 2024, Jamali said holding such exhibitions would also be another great way to expand economic relations between the two countries.

Also speaking in the same meeting, Director of TPO’s South Asia Department Hadi Talebian-Moghadam announced a plan for establishing trade centers in Pakistan in the coming months, saying: “We are planning to increase the volume of trade between Iran and Pakistan, because the two countries need each other's goods and products.”

Stating that currently the highest level of trade between Iran and Pakistan is nearly $2.5 billion, he added: “In the two countries’ strategic cooperation roadmap, we seek to increase the level of exports and exchanges between the two countries to five billion dollars bartering and free trade.”

The value of Iran’s non-oil export to Pakistan increased by 62 percent during the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-October 22), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, the spokesman of the International Relations and Trade Development Committee of Iran's House of Industry, Mining and Trade announced.

Ruhollah Latifi said that Iran exported non-oil commodities worth $1.14 billion to its neighbor Pakistan in the seven-month period of this year.

He also announced that Iran imported commodities valued at $352.64 million from Pakistan during the first seven months of this year, with 39 percent drop year on year.

The official has previously announced that Iran’s non-oil export to Pakistan increased by 18 percent in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20).

Pakistan was Iran’s fifth largest export market in the previous calendar year, importing non-oil products worth $1.488 billion from Iran, Latifi said in May.

He added that Iran imported non-oil goods worth $842 million from Pakistan last year, up 170 percent from the previous year.

The intertwining of economic, security, and transit relations between Iran and Pakistan has made the relations of the two countries beyond the neighborhood and turned them into strategic partners with common interests at the regional level.

Having more than 900 kilometers of joint border can lead to closer and more cooperation between the two countries in areas such as transit corridors and bilateral trade.

Iran and Pakistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in mid-January to facilitate bilateral trade between the two countries.

The MOU was signed by the former Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Alireza Peyman-Pak and Head of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) Muhammad Zubair Motiwala.

Based on the MOU, which was signed on the sidelines of Iran’s Exclusive Exhibition in Karachi, the parties pledged to exchange business information, support each other’s private sectors, and provide the conditions and context for the presence of their trade delegations in the other country.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Peyman-Pak said that signing this MOU was indicative of the two sides’ determination for removing the obstacles in the way of bilateral trade and prepare the ground for the businesspersons of both sides to bolster cooperation.

He considered the holding of exclusive exhibitions, exchanging trade delegations, and investment in joint production units as positive steps for knowing the capacities and needs of the two countries and expressed hope that such events would continue.

MA