Implementing PTA with Pakistan to boost Iran’s exports

Alireza Payman-Pak the Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade said on Monday evening and emphasized that the issue of tariffs within the framework of PTA and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is one of the tools for promoting trade with the target countries.

TPOI chief then pointed to the Preferential Trade Agreement with Pakistan and said that PTA had been inked between the two countries in the past for about 400 items, so that Iran and Pakistan can increase bilateral trade by providing customs discounts.

If PTA is implemented with Pakistan, Iran’s exports to this country will dramatically be increased, Payman-Pak added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the deputy industry minister said that the PTA and FTA with China are subject to revision, adding that launching Preferential Trade Agreement and Free Trade Agreement with Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)’s member states would cause Iran to have multi-billion-dollar worth of trade with those countries.

Iran and Pakistan signed a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) in August 2006 and the PTA, which came into effect in September that year, was expected to “create a new climate for economic and regional cooperation between the two countries” as stated in the agreement, however, nearly 17 years after the mentioned deal, the two countries annual trade is still under $2 billion dollars.

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