ISLAMABAD: Iran’s Ambassador Alireza Haghighian has called for stepped up efforts to increase bilateral trade and economic cooperation and said his country is ready to fulfil Pakistan’s energy needs.

Talking to Dawn about the opportunities for expanding bilateral trade and economic ties created by Iran’s nuclear agreement with P5+1 countries, the ambassador emphasised bringing into operation the agreements already signed by the two countries.

Also read: Tehran nuclear deal revives hope for Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline

He said strategies were needed to expand trade both in the short and long terms.

The bilateral trade volume for FY2014-15 is a little over $200 million. The two countries plan to take it to $5 billion a year in the next five years, but there is hardly a visible strategy in place to achieve this ambitious target.

“Iran is ready to fulfil Pakistan’s requirements of electricity, natural gas, crude oil and petro-chemicals,” the ambassador said, adding that his country was ready to cooperate with Pakistan in infrastructure projects like highways and rail tracks; construction of dams; and setting up of oil refineries and power plants.

He said Iran had expected that Pakistan, in view of its energy crisis, would immediately move forward and complete laying the pipeline under the Iran-Pakistan gas project.

The two countries performed the groundbreaking of the pipeline in March 2013, but while its Iranian portion is said to have been laid, Pakistan is yet to begin work on its side. Officials say the work was held up because of economic sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear programme.

The Gwadar-Nawabshah pipeline being laid by the Chinese under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project has created hopes that the IP plan may also be realised because after this only a small portion would be left for connecting with the Iranian pipeline.

Ambassador Haghighian said the IP pipeline was the easiest, reliable, cost-effective and most feasible route for providing gas to Pakistan.

He said Iran was providing 74MW of electricity to Pakistan’s bordering towns and the two countries had agreed to increase the supply to 100MW. Work was in progress for laying another transmission line to provide 100MW to Gwadar, he said.

“A feasibility study for exporting 1,000MW to Pakistan’s national grid has been completed and is on the bilateral agenda,” the ambassador said.

He recalled that the two countries had signed agreements on increasing the number of flights between them and holding industrial and trade fairs. “These accords, among others, need to be operationalised,” he said.

There also have been twinning agreements between Karachi and Shaheed Rajai ports and Gwadar and Chabahar ports. Making these agreements operational, he said, would facilitate investment, exchange of information, sea environment protection, port infrastructure development and provision of shipping services. “Joint working groups need to be set up in this regard,” he said.

The envoy said opening of new border crossings and markets had also remained on the agenda.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2015

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