Pak business community invited to participate in Tehran moot

Islamabad: Tehran is to review trade policies related to Pakistan later this month in a conference to hammer out all issues hampering trade and boost bilateral trade, a top official of Iran said.

Pakistani business community should participate in the moot to help formulate appropriate trade policy for ensuring sustainable trade between the two countries, said head of the visiting Iranian delegation Alaeddin Broujedri, Chairman National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.

Speaking to business community at FPCCI Capital Office, Broujedri said that all the issues being faced by Pakistani business community will be forwarded to Parliament for swift resolution.

Senator Mushahid Hussain, VP FPCCI Mirza Abdul Rehman, Iranian Ambassador Alireza Haghighian, Chairman Coordination Atif Ikram Sheikh, former president FPCCI Mian Habibullah, former VP FPCCI Zubair Ahmed Malik, Chairman Media and Diplomatic Affairs FPCCI Malik Sohail, VP RCCI Ch. Pervaz Ahmed Waraich, Adnan Iqbal President Gujrat Chamber and Presidents and Vice Presidents of ACCI, IWCCI and traders of Blue Area and other markets were also present on the occasion.

Borojourdi said that Iran was committed to the gas pipeline with Pakistan and also offered to help constructing the pipeline in Pakistan as well by providing a total of $500 million dollars.We are looking forward to the visit of President Asif Ali Zardari to Tehran on Dec 07 to finalised key agreement on the multi-billion dollar gas pipeline, he informed. He said that once Iran gas starts flowing in Pakistan; it will settle the problem of energy scarcity in Pakistan.
We are impressed by the warm welcome given to us and practical wisdom of the business community here, other members of the delegation said.

Speaking at the occasion, Chairman Senate Defence and Defence Production Committee Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said that the two brotherly countries share common perception on many issues and we will continue to support each other on regional and international issues.Iran has a unique distinction of being the first country to internationally recognize the status of Pakistan in 1947, he said.
He lauded the efforts of VP CACCI Chamber Tariq Sayeed, VP Saarc CCI Iftikhar Ali Malik and President FPCCI Haji Ghulam Qadir Sherani to boost regional trade.

Speaking on the occasion, VP FPCCI Mirza Abdul Rehman asked Iran to do best to resolve energy crisis, facilitate Pakistani exporters facing some problems, settle visa issues, improve quality certification standards and ensure smooth flow.

Chairman Coordination FPCCI Atif Ikram Sheikh while underlining the need for enhanced trade said the business leaders said that this visit and today’s meeting should begin of new phase of relations between two nations with bilateral trade doubled in one year.

Chairman Media Malik Sohail demanded provision of proper information, concessional import policy and establishment to common border market to reduce informal trade.Tehran should reduce import duty on rice and boost imports to reduce trade imbalance, he said.The two countries should explore more possibilities of augmented barter trade through closer cooperation between public and private sector as relationship between two countries could go a long way in the presence of good rail, road air and sea links.