In the efforts to boost bilateral and economic ties, the Punjab Government and Punjab Board of Investment & Trade (PBIT) signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for formalising collaborative efforts to identify areas of common interests with the Iranian province Fars and Trade Union of Shiraz Chamber of Commerce and Industries and Mines respectively.
The MoU signing is in connection with The Iran Fair, organised by PBIT which starts from May 31 to June 2. Speaking on this occasion Governor Fars Hossein Sadegh Abideen said Iranian businessmen held comprehensive and useful talks with business community of Punjab and there was a vast scope of investment for Iranian Businessmen in Punjab. He said Punjab could benefit from Iranian expertise in slaughter house, dairy and juice industry, while Iran could benefit from Pakistan's textile infrastructure.
Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa said that this day marked as one of the landmarks in the journey which started with the establishment of a Joint Working Group (JWG) to steer the economic and socio-cultural collaboration between the two provinces of Punjab and Khorasan in June, 2009.
PBIT Vice Chairman Dr Miftah Ismail, on this occasion, said the two economies could perfectly complement each other, in that, Iran possessed a rich energy base while Pakistan was an energy deficient country, and Pakistan was food exporter while Iran remained a net food importer. Meanwhile, the three-day Iran Fair 2012, organised by PBIT was inaugurated with zeal and zest at the Lahore Expo Centre on Thursday.
The chief guest, Deputy Governor Khorasan-e-Razavi, Abbas Nihawand thanked PBIT for organising the first ever single country exhibition in Lahore. He said Khorasan-e-Razavi wished to strengthen its social, cultural, bilateral and economic ties with Punjab and the same was being strongly endorsed by the President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in this connection the next single country exhibition was scheduled to be held in Mashhad, Iran.
Sardar Zulfiqar Khan Khosa, in his address said that Pakistan and Iran both being members of the Economic Co-operation Organisation (ECO) had a significant potential for a better economic partnership. He said economic sectors such as energy, health, education, tourism, agriculture, dairy and livestock present a much wider scope for expansion.