ISLAMABAD, July 18: Pakistan and Iran on Friday agreed in principal to start negotiation on free trade agreement (FTA) for enhancing trade and economic relation between the two countries.

The decision was taken in the 4th meeting of Pakistan-Iran Joint Trade Committee (JTC) here on Friday. The proposal was approved by Iranian Commerce Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari and Pakistani Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan in a bilateral meeting.

The Iranian delegation was led by director general foreign trade of the Iranian Ministry of Commerce Parviz Rezaee, while the Pakistani delegation was led by joint secretary Zafar Iqbal Qadir.

The JTC meeting agreed to form a working group of experts, which would meet every three months with the mandates to negotiate free trade arrangement. The working group would work out the possibility of effective border trade and zero point facility at the Pakistan-Iran boarder.

The experts would also initiate the technical negotiations on FTA, look into the expansion of border trade and to work out the feasibility for common border markets.

The expert group should meet at the earliest so as to finalize their recommendations before the next round of JTC, the meeting noted.

The working group would also reconcile the statistics of bilateral trade and report to the JTC.

According to a copy of agreed minutes of the JTC meeting made available to Dawn, the two sides agreed that Pakistani Ministry of Commerce would coordinate with the relevant agencies in Pakistan to arrange a seminar on construction, engineering services and procedures and tender documentation process for the Iranian government.

The Export Promoting Bureau would be pursued to expedite the signing of an MoU with Iranian exhibition company for which draft MoU would be provided by the Iranian side.

The EPB will also organize a single-country exhibition in Iran this year for which the Iranian side has shown keen interest and has offered every assistance.

It was agreed that the visa facilities being offered by the consulate of Iran at Quetta would be extended to their other consulates in Pakistan.

For effective cooperation, partnership between textile sectors of the two countries with a view to capacity building, transfer of technology and joint venture possibilities, two separate MoUs will be negotiated between the two countries. Pakistan will provide necessary export documents with respect to export of rice, wheat and fruits to Iran as a proof of their quality.

It was also agreed that Iran would organize a training and capacity building seminar for their relevant officials for which Pakistan would provide technical experts and resource persons.

The Iranian side agreed to examine the concern expressed by Pakistani businessmen for opening of bank accounts in Iran.

The next JTC meeting will be held in Tehran in 2004.