ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided in principle to revive talks with Iran on negotiating a free trade agreement and enhancing the volume of barter trade between the two countries.

A business delegation headed by Commerce Adviser Razak Dawood on Friday left for Tehran to engage the Iranian side to explore various options for increasing bilateral trade.

An official announcement of the commerce ministry said that the two-day 9th Joint Trade Committee meeting is scheduled to start from Saturday in Tehran.

Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Fatemi Amin and Mr Razak will co-chair the meeting to discuss all trade issues and progress made after the 8th meeting held in 2019 in Islamabad.

An MoU on exhibition cooperation will also be signed. Both sides will discuss barter trade, cooperation in transportation, free trade agreement, construction of border markets and other issues affecting the bilateral trade.

Presidents of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry are accompanying the adviser.

A meeting of the heads of Iran and Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and is also scheduled during the visit at the Iranian Chamber of Commerce and trade unions.

Bilateral trade between Pakistan and Iran stood at around $360 million.

Import of capital goods

Meanwhile, an official statement said that the ministry of commerce and State Bank of Pakistan are working to analyse the imports so that timely interventions can be made.

The ministry comes up with an analysis that around 40pc of the increase in imports in the first four months of this fiscal year was noted in raw material and intermediate goods, which is a good thing as it indicates that the industrial activity in the country was picking up.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2021