KARACHI, Mar 13 (APP):Iran and Pakistan have deep religious and cultural ties which should be transformed into strong economic cooperation to the benefit of the two nations.
‘Pakistan has emotional attachment to every citizen of Iran,’ reaffirmed
Iranian Foreign Minister Dr Mohammad Jawad Zarif while addressing business community of Karachi here on Tuesday.
As a part of celebrations of seventy years of Iran and Pakistan
diplomatic ties, the event was hosted by the Iran-Pakistan Business Forum, which has been working to bring the two business communities closer to promote bilateral trade and investment.
Iranian Foreign Minister is on a three-day official visit to Pakistan
and heading a high profile business delegation. Ambassador of Iran to Pakistan Mehdi Honardoost and Consul General of Iran to Karachi Ahmed Mohammadi, accompanied the Iranian delegation.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Sindh Minister for
Information and Transport Syed Nasir Hussain Shah were also present.
The prominent businessmen were Federation of Pakistan Chamber of
Commerce and Industry’s Senior Vice President Syed Mazhar Ali Nasir, Vice Presidents Tariq Haleem and Waheed Ahmed, Senior Vice President of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Abdul Basit Haji Abdul Razzaq, Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, Gulzar Feroz, S.Khalid Tawab.
Iranian Foreign Minister recalled that Iran was the first country who
recognized Pakistan as an independent country.
He said that there existed huge potential of trade and investment on
both the sides, which needed to be efficiently exploited. For this, increased interaction at the governments’ and private sectors’ levels was required. Besides, he continued, both the governments would have to sit together for removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers, simplification of the Customs procedures and establishing banking channel, earliest execution of Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline, signing of Free Trade Agreement.
He said that Iran was ready to help Pakistan meet its electricity demand
to a great extent.
‘Iran can be a reliable source for Pakistan to get gas and electricity.
We are very much capable to produce as much electricity as Pakistan wants,’ he reaffirmed.
Dr Zarif said that both the countries could partner in many sectors
like energy, science and technology , infrastructure, chemicals and human resources development.
He said that today’s event, especially B2B meetings, would help promote
bilateral trade and find investment avenues on both the sides.
The Iranian Foreign Minister said that he had visited Karachi many times
and it was honour for him to be here among the business community and political figures.
A presentation was given by a member of Iranian business delegation to
highlight the economic potential of Iran and the opportunities for joint ventures with other countries.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah invited Iranian businessmen to
invest in Sindh; especially in Thar coal projects, wind and solar energy sector and infrastructure.
FPCCI Senior Vice President Syed Mazhar Ali Nasir maintained that both
the countries were not fully aware of each other’s economic potential, which called for enhanced exchange of information and trade delegations.
He said that there was need for holding Single Country exhibitions on
each other’s land.
He informed that Pakistan was going to hold its Single Country
exhibition in Tehran in May or June this year.
He regretted that Pakistan and Iran had strong air, land and sea
linkages but none was being efficiently utilized to promote bilateral trade and investment.

LAHORE, Mar 13 (APP):Smuggling is obstructing the legal trade
between Pakistan and Afghanistan, therefore, this issue should be
tackled through rationalizing and removing the tariff barriers.
This was stated by Secretary General of Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber
of Commerce & Industry (PAJCCI) Faiza Zubair while talking to LCCI
Acting President Khawaja Khawar Rashid, Vice President Zeshan Khalil
and Executive Committee Members here at Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Tuesday. Awais Saeed Piracha, Fahim-ur-Rehamn Saigol
and Lala Pervez were also present on the occasion.
Fauzia Zubair said that smuggling should be eliminated with iron
hands as it was equally destructive for the both countries. She said
that regulatory duty imposed by Afghanistan on Pakistani goods was
400 times more than RD imposed by Pakistan on Afghani products. She
said that mutual trade could not grow in the presence of such duty structure.
She added that there was a need of an Export House for check and balance of the quality specifications of export goods of both countries before full payments to overcome trust deficit. She said that Afghan Businessman loved to work in Lahore. They needed progressive support
of Lahore Chamber for work here. There were some hotel reservation
issues in Lahore, asserting that a comprehensive proposal from the
Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry was required about bilateral
trade problems and their solutions in Afghanistan and central Asia.
She viewed, “Economically and socially we can resolve the political
issues of the two countries. That is why we are going to arrange a
grand combine meeting of all Chambers of Pakistan very soon to discuss
the export issue of the countries.”
On this occasion, LCCI Acting President Khawaja Khawar Rashid said
that bilateral relation between Pakistan and Afghanistan were very important for the peace and development in the region. If the relations between the both were not good due to some internal or external reasons,
it directly affectef their bilateral and transit trade.
He said that Pakistan was the best option for exports and imports
for Afghanistan. He mentioned that in 2010-11, the total volume of Transit Trade was $3.8 billion which was exceeded to $3.5 billion in 2015-16.
In 2016-17 with a decline the trade volume remain $2.9 billion. But hopefully it would be $3 billion by the end of fiscal year 2017-18.
He said that Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan were wheat, sucrose, soap, tea, footwear, carpets, paper & paperboard, pharmaceutical goods
etc. Major imports from Afghanistan to Pakistan were carpets, textile
floor covering (knotted), seeds of anise, guts/bladders/stomachs of
animals etc.
He stressed the need to diversify trade patterns for the sake
of bringing some innovation.
LCCI Vice President Zeshan Khalil said that exchanges of businessmen delegations could produce better results in improving the trade links between two countries. He said there was a dire need to develop deeper
ties between the respective Chambers of Commerce & Industry so that
people to people contacts could be built up further. He said that there were issues that needed resolution and the two states were working
together to find solutions to these problems. This included possible defense cooperation and intelligence sharing as well as further enhancing the two-way trade and abolishment of visas for diplomats from the two nations.

ISLAMABAD, Mar 13 (APP):A delegation of Chinese companies from Lanzhou City of China visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry and showed keen interest to find partners for escalators, elevators, lifts and energy vehicles in Pakistan.
The delegation was representing manufacturers of heavy duty escalators, elevators, lifts, battery vehicles and others.
Speaking at the occasion, Xuexian Pei, Head of Chinese delegation said that CPEC had put Pakistan and China on long-term business partnership and they have come to Pakistan to find partners for achieving win-win results.
He said that Lazhou Yatai Eastern Elevators Company Limited was manufacturing heavy duty escalators, elevators and lifts and it was looking for local partners in Pakistan for these products.
He said another member of the delegation was manufacturer of energy vehicles that operated on battery. He said the vehicle took 6 to 8 hours in full charging and ran up to 150 kilometers. He said that recharging station would be set up to recharge battery-operated vehicles.
He said their main purpose of visiting Pakistan was to identify local partners for these products in Pakistan. At this occasion, they gave a detailed presentation on their products.
Addressing the delegation, Muhammad Naveed, Senior Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that CPEC has created plenty of new business and investment opportunities in Pakistan and it was the right time for Chinese investors to bring technology and set up joint ventures in Pakistan.
He said that many big projects were under construction in Pakistan that needed heavy duty escalators, elevators and lifts and Chinese companies should shift their plants to manufacture these products in Pakistan.
He said Pakistan was an attractive market for automobiles and Chinese company should set up energy vehicles manufacturing plant in Pakistan. This way they would not only meet the needs of local market and they would be able to export their products to regional countries as well.
He said that ICCI would set up a CPEC Facilitation Centres where its members would also be taught Chinese language so that they could easily communicate and materialize successful business deals with Chinese entrepreneurs.