TEHRAN – At the end of the 21st Session of the Pak-Iran Joint Economic Commission which was held in Islamabad on Thursday, the two sides inked agreements to expand relations, especially in trade and maritime areas.

Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Rostam Qasemi and Pakistani Minister for Commerce Naveed Qamar inked four memorandums of understanding in the fields of trade, tourism, maritime, and media, IRNA reported.

On the sidelines of the signing ceremony, the Pakistani official said the two neighboring countries are expected to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) within the next six months amid efforts to boost their bilateral trade to up to $4 billion per year.

Iran and Pakistan are currently on a preferential trade arrangement under which the two countries have sought to reduce some trade barriers and tariffs.

Qamar was quoted as saying by the Associated Press of Pakistan that Islamabad and Tehran will, in the meantime, exchange trade lists for various sectors of their economies while trying to further reduce tariffs on exports and imports to reach a reasonable framework for signing an FTA.

The two countries agreed on holding the 22nd edition of the event in Tehran next year.

 13% rise in trade

The value of Iran’s non-oil export to Pakistan rose 13 percent in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 21), from that of the same quarter in the previous year, Ruhollah Latifi, the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) said in July.

Iran exported commodities worth $279 million to Pakistan in the three-month period of this year, he noted.

The country also imported goods valued at $196 million from its neighbor in the first quarter of this year, which was 208 percent higher than the imports in the first quarter of the previous year, the official added.

Pakistan was Iran’s sixth major export destination and fourth main source of import in the first quarter of the current year.

Increasing non-oil exports to neighboring countries is one of the major plans that the Iranian government has been pursuing in recent years.

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Photo: Iran and Pakistan are currently on a preferential trade arrangement under which the two countries have sought to reduce some trade barriers and tariffs.