LAHORE: Consul General of Iran Muhammad Reza Naziri has said that the Iranian market has a great potential for Pakistan’s food, dairy, construction and various other sectors. Private sector of Pakistan should come forward and avail this opportunity through joint ventures with their Iranian counterparts.
The CG, who was heading a delegation of Federation of Iranian Food Association, was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir presented the address of welcome while Senior Vice-President Mian Rehman Aziz Chan, Vice-President Haris Ateeq also spoke on the occasion.
Reza Naziri said that there are strong religious, political and cultural relations between Iran and Pakistan. He said that a special discussion was held for promotion of trade and economic relations between the two countries in the recent meeting of Pak-Iran Joint Commission. He said that a two-day exhibition of Irani Cultural and products is being held in Islamabad soon.
The Consul General said that the recent past visit of LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir to Iran was fruitful and played an important role to strengthen trade and economic ties between the two countries.
LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir said that besides being good neighbours, Pakistan and Iran share deep religious, historic and cultural bond. We proudly recognize our bilateral relations with Iran as time-tested and based on good faith.
He informed the delegation members that he led a trade delegation to Iran in February 2022. The delegates had great interactions with the key representatives of public and private sectors in Tehran, Mashhad and Esfahan.
Mian Nauman Kabir said that the Iranian delegates belong to Iran Food Association and represent sectors like FMCG, packaging, dairy, agriculture, meat, poultry, vegetable oil, vanaspati, bakery and confectionery items etc. They are interested to collaborate with their Pakistani counterparts for the purpose of creating strong business networking.
He said that both the countries have large domestic markets and unique geo-strategic competitive advantage.
“We believe that joint efforts are needed in order to utilise the potential opportunities available in each other’s economy”, he added.
The LCCI president said that there are some bottlenecks in the way of increasing trade between two countries which are required to be addressed on priority basis. He recommended the Government of Iran to open specialised financial institutions in Pakistan which can facilitate trade between the two countries.
While presenting the vote of thanks, LCCI Vice-President Haris Ateeq said that Iran and Pakistan have been enjoying smooth development of friendly and neighborly relations as well as mutually beneficial cooperation.
He said that LCCI has excellent working relations with various eminent Iranian chambers of commerce including Iran Chamber of Commerce, Mashhad Chamber of Commerce, Esfahan Chamber of Commerce, Shiraz Chamber of Commerce and Tehran Chamber of Commerce etc.
“We keenly look forward to expand the scope of activities through closer interaction with Iran Food Association in particular and other Iranian business support organizations in general”, he added.
The members of the delegation were belonged to dairy, raw polymer material, food flavoring, dry fruits, petrochemical and oil, pharmaceuticals, laboratory equipment, electronic, solar energy, agriculture, industrial and laboratory furnaces and ovens, textile, electric car and other fields. Secretary General of Federation of Iranian Food Association Rashid Azizpour and SG Adviser Morad Nemati also spoke on the occasion.
Meanwhile, as Pakistan and Iran have agreed to enhance cooperation in different economic spheres in 21st session of Pak-Iran Joint Economic Commission (JEC) the Businessmen Panel (BMP) Chairman Mian Anjum Nisar has called for early implementation of Barter Trade Mechanism signed between Pakistan and Iran to jack up bilateral trade to $ 4 billion annually.
The FPCCI former president said that Pakistan and Iran have already inked an agreement on Barter Trade Mechanism during the 9th Joint Trade Committee meeting held in Nov 2021 in Tehran where two countries had decided to initiate barter trade within a month but no implementation was seen so far in this regard.
It is good that the 21st Session of the Joint Economic Cooperation Commission between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was held in Islamabad with the aim of strengthening mutual cooperation but what about the implementation of previous agreements signed between the two countries, he asked.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022