TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Hamid Zadboum met with Pakistan’s deputy economic affairs minister to discuss holding the two countries' 9th Joint Economic Committee meeting.

In the meeting, the officials reviewed important axes of trade, investment, and transportation between the two countries, and decided that the next meeting of the Joint Economic Committee of the two countries will be held in Tehran next month.

Hosted by the Industry, Mining and Trade Ministry, the fifth meeting of the two countries Free Trade Committee was also decided to be held on the sidelines of the joint economic committee meeting.

Further in the meeting, representatives of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Ministry of Transport and Urban Development, and the Energy Ministry held talks with their Pakistani counterparts to discuss a variety of issues including electricity exports, and maritime, road, and rail transportation cooperation.

Zadboum visited Pakistan along with a high-ranking delegation headed by the Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

The delegation visited Islamabad on Tuesday to discuss regional issues, the Muslim world, international affairs, and the promotion of bilateral relations.

On the Iranian side, the Ministry of Transport and Urban Development is in charge of the Iran-Pakistan Joint Economic Committee, while on the Pakistani side the Ministry of Economic Affairs is chairing this committee.

The 8th meeting of the Iran-Pakistan Joint Economic Committee was held in Islamabad back in July 2019.

In that meeting, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for strengthening bilateral trade and economic ties and vowed to remove potential barriers in the way of mutual trade.

The MOU was signed by Iran’s former Minister of Industry, Mining and Trade Reza Rahmani and Pakistan Prime Minister’s Adviser on Commerce, Textile, Industries, Production, and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood.

EF/MA