Head of Customs Administration of Pakistan Syed Muhammad Tariq Huda said on Monday he will examine the problem of trucks waiting at Iran-Pakistan joint border, pledging to solve the problem by Friday.
He made the remarks during a meeting in Tehran with President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholam Hossein Shafei.
Speaking during the meeting, the Iran Chamber chief said that Pakistan has a special place among Iran’s fifteen neighbors, while regretting that the level of bilateral trade lags behind economic relations between the two countries.
There are huge capacities for expansion of relations with Pakistan but the two countries have failed to finalize a free trade agreement yet, Shafei said.
He called for removing both road and railway transportation between Iran and Pakistan to help boost trade between the two countries.
Underlining that some Iranian goods can be bartered for some other Pakistani commodities, Shafei however noted that imposition of tariffs can affect barter trade between the two neighbors.
He said that Iran can barter LPG for Pakistani rice or apple for Pakistani tangerine or mongo.
The Pakistani official, for his part, referred to the underway negotiations between Iran and Pakistan for signing a free trade agreement and said that Iran has sent a list of its commodities and Pakistan is also preparing its list.
Tariq Huda expressed hope that the negotiations will yield fruit as soon as possible and the agreement will be finalized.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ninth meeting of Iran-Pakistan Joint Economic Committee in Tehran on Sunday, Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade Reza Fatemi Amin announced that the two countries are going to implement a free trade agreement within the next three months.
The head of Customs Administration of Pakistan expressed hope that the two countries will cut negotiations and enter the phase of implementation.
He also said that Iran and Pakistan have reached agreements to launch direct flights between several cities of the two counties soon.
He added that a special committee will pursue railway connections between the two neighboring countries.