TPO to finalize barter talks with Pakistan
Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) will soon invite Pakistani officials to finalize talks about an agreement on the process of barter.
Talking to ILNA, Hadi Talebian, who leads the South Asia Department of TPO, added that Tehran and Islamabad will start direct talks for a free trade deal in September.
“If we can agree on free trade with this country this [Iranian] year, it will be a major accomplishment,” the official noted.
Talebian said that a free trade deal with Pakistan will have its own complications because the balance of trade between the two countries is largely in Iran’s favor.
Iran is currently in a preferential trade agreement with Pakistan, under which the two countries have reduced tariffs on exports and imports of certain commodities. The two countries have also defined a strategy to launch six major border markets to allow free trade between people living along their borders.