TEHRAN – Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) held a webinar on the expansion of trade with Pakistan in collaboration with Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the TCCIMA portal announced on Wednesday.

In the webinar which was attended by the officials and representatives of the two countries’ private sectors, the two sides discussed ways for the expansion of trade ties.

TCCIMA Head Masoud Khansari, Head of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tariq Misbah, and TCCIMA Deputy Head for International Affairs Hesamedin Hallaj were among the attendees to this online event.

During the webinar, the two sides underlined the problems caused by the U.S. sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic in the economic relations between the two countries and stressed the need for using barter trade, removal of non-tariff barriers, the expansion of cross-border and preferential trade as ways of increasing trade exchanges.

The two sides criticized the incompatibility of the volume of trade between Iran and Pakistan with the capacities and potentials of the two countries and called for boosting trade relations to over $5 billion.

Addressing the event, Hallaj pointed to the existing capacities for the expansion of Iran-Pakistan trade and said the two countries could overcome banking problems by using barter trade.

He further voiced TCCIMA readiness for cooperation with Lahore Chamber of Commerce in order to remove trade barriers between the two countries and increasing economic cooperation.

Khansari for his part stated that Pakistan has become one of Iran's most important and most reliable trading partners in the region, adding: "However, the volume of trade is not satisfactory considering the huge potential of both sides.”

“There is a possibility that the value of trade between the two countries will reach the goal of $3 billion in the coming years, and holding such events can help the two countries achieve this goal,” he added.

EF/MA