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