Pakistani President proposes using local currency to boost trade with Iran: Daily

Daily Business Recorder it its report said that President Arif Alvi has directed State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to make all necessary arrangements in this regard.

The paper said the President gave these instructions to both SBP and FBR at a high-level meeting held in Gwadar last month and attended by Chairman Senate, Deputy Speaker National Assembly, Finance Minister, Shaukat Tarin, Minister for Maritime Affairs, Ali Zaidi, Commerce Advisor, Abdul Razak Dawood, Corps Commander, Quetta and officials of provincial government.

The president, who wants clear timelines for implementation on the decision taken in the meeting, directed all stakeholders particularly Government of Balochistan, chairman FBR, Advisor on Commerce and Investment to expedite the process of establishing border markets as well as facilitation of people on all crossing points at Afghan and Iran border.

It was also decided that all relevant departments will harness the trade potential of each border according to the demands of local people.

With regard to provision of electricity to Gwadar from Iran, it was decided that demand of 120 MW already made to Iran will materialize on an urgent basis with continuous supply for the entire year.

Alvi also directed that all issues including outstanding dues and uninterrupted supply from Iran in future should be resolved in the next meeting with Iranian counterparts.

The meeting also discussed progress on measures to be taken to insure presence of relevant departments e.g. FBR/Customs and FIA on border crossing points and timelines to be shared with Government of Balochistan.

The president directed that all relevant departments including FBR, Customs, FIA, industries etc. should have adequate presence at borders as relevant departments are not providing their services on all border crossing points.

With regard to trade in local currency, President Arif Alvi directed Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Reza Baqar and Federal Board of Revenue to make all necessary arrangements for trade in local currency with Iran and Afghanistan.

The president also directed that all private banks should open branches on all crossing points. The governor, SBP, who was taken on call assured his complete assistance and support.

The meeting discussed Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) import and relevant issues in detail. President Alvi directed that federal and provincial governments should undertake all efforts for maximum facilitation of LPG imports and maximum capitalization at the Iran border.

On high Iranian tariffs, the president directed PM Advisor on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood as well as FBR that it may be taken up with Iran on urgent basis to enhance and bolster trade for the benefit of the people on both sides. He maintained that maximum comparative advantage should be harnessed.

In November last year, the President of Pakistan, during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Ayatollah Seyed Ebrahim Raisi on the sidelines of the ECO Summit in Turkmen capital, emphasized utilization of barter trade mechanism with Tehran.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan during a meeting with the Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Islamabad on Monday expressed satisfaction with the progress and positive measures in developing brotherly relations between the two countries and stressed the importance of close cooperation to strengthen joint trade.

In this regard, Ms. Zobeida Jalal, Minister of Defense Industries of Pakistan and Member of Parliament from Balochistan, who is the overseer of the border markets project by the Pakistan government in a tweet shared images of the progress of border market construction in “Gabd” and “Chadgi” points near Iran adding that these two border markets will be operational soon.

Trade of Iran and Pakistan complement each other and many problems can be eliminated by expanding cooperation in freight transport, tariff reduction, and the creation of border markets.

It is worth mentioning that the emphasis and priority of the 13th government is in developing exports with neighboring countries, and this issue was raised during the visit of Pakistani Foreign Minister and Advisor to the Prime Minister to Iran in recent months and also the visit of Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi to Pakistan two days ago.