Islamabad, August 5: Pakistan and Iran have agreed to raise their annual bilateral trade volume to $8 billion, with an eye on reaching $10 billion, as the two neighbours look to deepen economic and political ties by capitalising on their geographic proximity and removing trade barriers.
The agreement was reached on Sunday during talks between Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan and Iran’s Minister for Industry, Mines and Trade Mohammad Atabak, held on the sidelines of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s two-day state visit to Pakistan.
According to Pakistan’s Commerce Ministry, the discussions marked a renewed push to accelerate trade, resolve border bottlenecks, and build trust-based economic partnerships.
“Geography is an advantage. Pakistan and Iran must utilise this discount of distance. If we don’t, we lose both time and cost benefits,” Khan said, urging both sides to prioritise neighbourhood trade and follow models that have succeeded in ASEAN.
Khan proposed sending targeted trade delegations from federal and provincial chambers of commerce to explore market access and regulatory facilitation — a model previously used in Belarus. Atabak welcomed the initiative and supported holding a dedicated B2B day during all high-level visits, pledging to bring Iranian business groups to Pakistan for detailed discussions.
Atabak also called for fast-tracking recently signed trade agreements and said the private sectors in both countries were prepared to engage, pending clearer facilitation mechanisms.
The ministers agreed to focus future collaboration on key sectors, including agriculture, livestock, services, energy, and cross-border logistics. Khan added that enhanced bilateral connectivity could eventually extend to Turkey, Central Asia, Russia, and parts of West Asia, potentially forming a powerful regional economic bloc.
The ministry statement concluded that with strong political alignment and mutual trust, Pakistan and Iran are “poised to enter a new phase of strategic economic partnership that could reshape regional trade dynamics.”
