Tehran, April 24, 2024 (MRUD NEWS)—During the visit of Iran Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Mehrdad Bazrpash, to Islamabad as the head of Iran, Pakistan Joint Economic Commission and different meetings with the officials of the new government of Pakistan, new cooperation documents were signed to boost bilateral trade to $10 billion in 2024.
The previous agreements reached during the 21st Iran, Pakistan Joint Economic Commission have led to an increase in trade between the two countries during the past year. Based on statistics, Iran-Pakistan trade increased from $1.5 billion in 2022 to more than $2 billion in 2023, which shows a growth of 38% in terms of value and 23% in terms of trade volume. The figure is to have a 5-fold increase as per the 21st Iran, Pakistan Joint Economic Commission.
Pakistan, with a share of 4.2% of Iran's total exports, was the sixth country among Iran's export destinations in 2023, while in 2022, Pakistan was the seventh-largest export destination fo Iran.
In this regard, increasing the volume of trade between the two countries was a top agenda in the visit of the President and the Minister of Roads and Urban Development to Pakistan.
During this trip, 8 documents of cooperation in different fields were signed between the authorities of the two countries, and $10 billion in trade was targeted.
The bilateral meetings of the heads of the Joint Economic Cooperation Commission of the two countries in this visit and the agreements reached show the determinations of two countries to provide grounds for achieving the $10 billion target.
In addition, the development of security cooperation was one of the main agendas of the talks, which will influence trade between the two countries.
The visit and signing of cooperation documents can be the beginning of close relations as Pakistan with more than 230 million population and growing industries, can be a suitable market for Iran's exports.
Raising the level of cooperation between the two countries, especially in the fields of transportation and infrastructure development, as one of the basic requirement of trade and economic transactions, was seriously discussed in the bilateral meetings between Bazarpash and his Pakistani counterpart.