TEHRAN: In the face of challenging economic conditions marked by a weakening local currency and diminishing foreign exchange reserves, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Iran, Mudassir Tipu, announced that Islamabad and Tehran are poised to enhance bilateral trade to $5 billion.
Ambassador Tipu highlighted the existing five-year agreement on strategic and economic cooperation between Pakistan and Iran, signed in August 2023. The agreement outlines measures aimed at removing trade barriers, fostering institutional interactions within the private sector, and finalizing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The envoy’s remarks came during a visit to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, coinciding with the docking of Pakistan Navy ships at the First Naval Region of the Iranian army.
Ambassador of Pakistan in his address welcoming port calls of two naval ships underlined that Pakistan and Iran🇵🇰🇮🇷 would continue to deepen and widen their ties to promote peace & stability in region . pic.twitter.com/Nh0MCpFmNV
— Pakistan Embassy Iran (@PakinIran) January 14, 2024
This symbolic move signifies a gesture of peace, friendship, and the strengthening of amicable relations between the two nations. It also aims to enhance educational activities and interactions between Pakistan and Iran.
Bilateral Relations Between Pakistan and Iran
The Pakistani envoy emphasized that the bilateral relations between the neighboring countries convey a message of solidarity, peace, and happiness to the region. Both nations are committed to preserving peace and stability in the region.
It is worth mentioning here that the two neighboring countries have a history of economic ties and rich cultural exchanges with a large number of Pakistani pilgrims — estimated to be around 0.7 million — travelling to Iran each year.
Improved bilateral trade has the potential to be of great importance for Pakistan as it might ease Pakistan’s worsening economic woes.
Last year, Pakistan’s former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi inaugurated the “Mand-Pishin Border Sustenance Marketplace” and “220 kV Polan-Gabd Electricity Transmission Line” projects as tangible manifestations of cooperation between the two neighboring countries.
