News - Middle East: Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have exchanged views on ways to strengthen cooperation between the two neighboring countries, especially in commercial, economic and border fields.

During a meeting in the Mand-Pishin border crossing on Thursday, the two sides stressed the need to keep up the exchange of high-level delegations between Tehran and Islamabad as well as mutual efforts to increase the volume of bilateral trade.

The meeting came after Raeisi and Sharif jointly inaugurated a major border sustenance marketplace and an electricity transmission line.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs hailed the joint inauguration as “a manifestation of the strong commitment of Pakistan and Iran to uplift welfare of residents of the neighboring provinces of Balochistan and Sistan and Baluchestan, respectively.”

In a statement released on Wednesday, it said that the Mand-Pishin marketplace would be one of the six border markets to be constructed along its border with Iran, and will provide a thriving platform for cross-border trade and new avenues of opportunity for local businesses. 

The ministry also noted that the Polan-Gabd Electricity Transmission Line will play a pivotal role in meeting the energy needs of the region by bringing in additional 100 MW electricity from Iran.

Tehran and Islamabad have been working to enhance economic ties in recent years. Iran’s non-oil export to Pakistan increased by 18 percent in the previous Iranian calendar year (which ended on March 20), according to the spokesperson of the Iranian House of Industry, Mining, and Trade’s Trade Development Committee.

Pakistan was Iran’s fifth largest export market in the previous calendar year, importing non-oil products worth $1.488 billion from Iran, Rouhollah Latifi said in early May.

He also said that Iran imported non-oil goods worth $842 million from Pakistan last year, up 170 percent from the previous year.

Source: Press TV