President of Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), Mian Zahid Hussain, has said that Pakistan's trade relations with neighbouring countries are weak which need to be strengthened. "Due to disturbed relations with India, the two leading economies of the SAARC countries have a weak trade relations," he noted, adding that active trade ties with Iran too could not be developed although Pakistan share friendly relations and has actively defended Iran's interests in the days of US sanction.
Mian Zahid said that Afghanistan is highly dependent on Pakistani ports with respect to international trade and is a major export destination for Pakistan but the cross boarder terrorism largely affects the regional trade between the countries.
"The portion of regional trade is 3.57 percent which is just $29 billion in the total global trade of $815 billion in 2016 that is thought provoking in view of four neighbouring countries including Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and India," he said.
PBIF president lamented that the total regional trade in 2016 stood merely at 6 percent despite preferential trade agreement with Iran and trade agreements with India and Afghanistan. He said that Pakistan exports limited items to India that include scrap iron, steel, dates and minerals but there lies huge trade and agriculture cooperation potential between the countries if the Kashmir dispute is resolved.
"Pak-Iran trade has been reduced after 2010, though Iran cannot provide much of Pakistan's industrial imports due to weak industrial sector but crude oil trade can be increased," he said, noting that Pakistan's exports to Iran include rice and textile made-up.
Mian Zahid further said that Afghanistan is the country with lowest economy in the world and the most adversely affected by war. He said there is a preferential trade agreement between the two countries but Pakistan's exports to Afghanistan have been gradually replaced by Iran and India.
The total trade between the countries in 2016 stood merely at $1.74 billion which was just 26.7 percent of Afghanistan's total imports within the period. The soon-to-be-formed government of Pakistan should form long-lasting revolutionary policies to strengthen regional trade with the neighbouring countries that would attain economic stability for the country.