PESHAWAR - President, Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sherbaz Bilour and Iranian Consul General in Peshawar, Hamid Reza Ghomi have agreed to make joint efforts to give further boost to bilateral trade and economic relations between the two brotherly Islamic countries.
The agreement was reached during a meeting held between them here at the chamber house on Wednesday.  SCCI Senior Vice President Engineer Manzoor Elahi, Iranian Second Consul (Economic section) Seyed Ebrahim Dehnadi and other high-officials of the Iranian Consulate in Peshawar attended the meeting. Both sides agreed on further strengthening the  Pak-Iran bilateral trade and economic relations by signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), installation of an effective banking channel, establishment of markets at border region, elimination of illegal trade, exchange of business delegation, organising joint trade exhibition, and businessmen to businessmen meetings.
It was also agreed that a webinar between SCCI and Mashhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be organised after Eid.
Sherbaz Bilour invited the Iranian investors to make investment in KP’s  potential sectors, including hydel power generation,  marble, mining, match, furniture, honey, gems, especially the Special Economic Zone, which is being constructed under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Emphasising that the promotion of regional trade is a dire need of the hour, SCCI chief said that the efforts have been initiated to remove hiccups and irritants in the way of trade with regional countries. There is huge potential to further boost bilateral trade between Pakistan and Iran, which currently stood at $359 million, including $36million export of Pakistani items to Iran, Iranian import products of $323million, says Sherbaz Bilour.
However, he called upon Islamabad and Tehran to take serious initiatives to remove hurdles in the way of bilateral trade between the two brotherly Islamic countries.
The SCCI chief welcomed deal between China and Iran worth $400 billion, besides the launch of train service from Islamabad to Tehran and Turkey, could also boost friendly relations between these countries. Sherbaz Bilour called for declaring Chabahar port, as sister port, and asked Iran to take benefits from China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects. He went on to say that youth with huge populations in Pakistan and Iran can play a pivotal role in bolstering mutual relationships between the two brotherly Islamic countries. Iran gave much importance to boost bilateral trade and economic relations with Pakistan, says Ghomi while speaking on the occasion. He added the efforts have been initiated to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
The Iranian diplomat fully agreed with recommendations of SCCI chief, saying that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the Iranian consulate has facilitated business community and issued visas to them in a short span of time. He lauded that the Pakistani diplomat in Iran has played a vital role in strengthening Pak-Iran trade while he informed that Iranian ambassador in Pakistan will soon visit Peshawar and hold a meeting with business community. The diplomat asked SCCI to strengthen its relations with Mashhad Chamber to take mutual benefits from each other’s experience and to give a boost to bilateral trade between the countries.