KARACHI: Pakistan-Iran exhibition started at Expo Centre Karachi on Monday. Kamran Tessori, Governor Sindh and Suleman Chawla, SVP FPCCI, inaugurated the expo – along with top Iranian diplomats.
As many as 47 Iranian companies are showcasing their competencies in varied products and services; as diverse as, oil & gas, petrochemical industries, water & electricity industries, foods (dairy, milk, sweets and chocolates), barbed wires, polymer products, tiles & ceramics, galvanised wires, mining, steel & allied industries, construction materials, agricultural products, various machineries, packaging products, home appliances, carpets, etc.
Kamran Tessori, Governor Sindh, while talking at inaugural ceremony emphasised that his office will not leave any stone unturned to make Sindh a business, investment, industrialisation and trade-friendly province. The only way forward for Sindh is industrialisation and social uplift, he added.
The governor maintained the FPCCI is the right partner for such single-country exhibitions; and, FPCCI’s network in all parts and industries of the country can make bilateral trade with Iran grow to its true potential.
Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, President FPCCI apprised that being neighboring counties and having a shared border of 909 kilometers, Pakistan and Iran can take their bilateral trade to US 5 billion dollars within a short span of 2–3 years; through creating interdependencies and complementarities in their trade & economics.
Irfan Iqbal Sheikh apprised that regional trade accounts for up to 75 percent among regional and geographically-contiguous economic & trade blocs around the world; and, that is a time-tested key to the regional prosperity. It is cost-competitive in not only in product pricing; but, also saves shipping costs; time-saving and creates healthy economic cooperation.
Suleman Chawla, SVP FPCCI, stressed that Pakistan needs Iran more than Iran does; and, the reason is their vast fossil fuel resource. We can import fossil fuels through land; which is considered the cheapest route for imports, he added.
“As a matter of fact, Pakistan’s natural gas reserves are depleting; and, we have started importing RLNG. In 2011, we were 100 percent self-sufficient in gas and, in 2021 our self-sufficiency has been reduced to 82.3 percent,” he said.
Hassan Nourian, Consul General of Iran in Karachi, thanked the Sindh governor and the FPCCI for their full support in making the trade exhibition a reality; and, ensuring a forthcoming attitude of the Pakistani business, industry and trade community towards the Iranian products, companies, businessmen and Iranian embassy’s endeavors to forge trade and commercial alliances between the two countries.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023