Iranian and Pakistani officials have opened a new crossing at the border between the two countries to increase trade exchanges.
The new border crossing point between Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province and Pakistan's Gabd was opened on Saturday in a ceremony attended by Iranian Road Minister Mohammad Eslami.
During a visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to Pakistan last month, Tehran and Islamabad agreed to open the Rimdan-Gabd cross-border gateway, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Friday.
“The construction of this border gateway between the two friendly and neighboring states and the recent inauguration of Khaf-Herat railway project show that the Islamic Republic of Iran attaches special priority to interaction and cooperation with its neighbors,” the Iranian spokesperson said.
Iran believes that development and progress in West Asia region depend on close cooperation among neighboring countries, he added.
A joint railway project linking eastern Iran to western Afghanistan was inaugurated on December 10 with presidents of the two neighboring countries delivering remarks through video-conference and expressing hope it will enhance trade links across the region.
Iran-Pakistan trade
According to Pakistan Business Council (PBC), bilateral trade between the two neighboring countries stood at $369 million as of 2018.
Pakistan exports paper and paperboard, rice and stationary products to Iran while it imports liquefied petroleum gas, other mineral fuels and electrical energy from Iran.
The potential for trade between the two countries, however, is estimated at $10 billion.
Iran sells 1,000 megawatts of electricity to Pakistan and plans to increase this up to 3,000 megawatts to cover some 4,000 megawatts of shortfall in the country.
Mirjaveh-Taftan and Pishin-Mand are the main border crossings for trade between Iran and Pakistan
Pakistan has yet to complete its part of a gas project to pipe Iranian gas to the country. The $7 billion project, dubbed the “peace pipeline”, was conceived in the 1990s to connect Iran’s giant South Pars gas field to India and Pakistan, but New Delhi under pressure for the US quit it in 2009.
Iran and Pakistan have agreed to develop a mechanism for electronic exchange of bilateral trade data in a bid to curb misreporting.
Under the agreement, the two neighbors would trade documents on real time basis for exports of goods and advance information on goods and passengers at Mirjaveh- Taftan and other border stations.