Iran Chamber urges Chabahar and Karachi ports as the axis for a leap in trade with Pakistan

Following a visit to Islamabad by a trade delegation led by the vice president of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, an Iran-Pakistan business conference was held. Hossein Pirmoazen, vice president of the Iran Chamber, told the conference that expanding cooperation between ports, railways and road transport, and above all using the capacity of Chabahar and Karachi, could bring about a major shift in trade between the two countries.

He listed the current obstacles: containers held up at Pakistani customs, customs offices that do not operate around the clock, problems with banking transfers, Iranian guarantees not being accepted in Pakistan, and letters of credit not being opened. As long as a trader cannot receive or make payments with confidence, he said, expanding trade will be difficult, and practical mechanisms must be defined for settling transactions in national currencies, through barter and by other methods agreed between the two countries.

The proposals raised included shortening customs clearance times, reducing delays in border areas, building a database of private sector operators on both sides, strengthening arbitration and dispute resolution between the two chambers of commerce, and removing tariff and non tariff barriers. Pirmoazen also urged a move beyond simple goods trade towards joint investment and joint production in areas such as food industries, agriculture, energy, petrochemicals, textiles, pharmaceuticals, mining and technology.