ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Raisi will jointly inaugurate a border market as well as an electricity transmission line tomorrow, Thursday, at a border crossing between the two neighboring countries, the PM’s office in Islamabad said on Wednesday.
Pakistan and Iran share a 959-km frontier that begins at the Koh-i-Malik Salih mountain and ends at Gwadar Bay in the Gulf of Oman. The trade volume between Pakistan and Iran currently stands at approximately $2 billion, and Iran exports around 100 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the areas of Pakistan that border it.
“Sharif will undertake joint inauguration of Mand-Pishin Border Sustenance Marketplace and Polan-Gabd Electricity Transmission Line with the President of Iran … at Mand-Pishin border crossing point on Thursday, 18 May 2023,” Sharif’s office said on Wednesday.
“One of the six border markets to be constructed along the Pak-Iran common border, the Mand-Pishin Border Sustenance Marketplace will provide a thriving platform for increasing cross-border trade, fostering economic growth and opening up new avenues of opportunity for local businesses.”
The PM Office said the Polan-Gabd Electricity Transmission Line would bring in an addition 100MW from Iran and help meet the energy needs of households and businesses in the border region.
Earlier this month, Vahid Jalalzadeh, chairman of the Commission of National Security and Foreign Policy of Iran, met Pakistani Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar and discussed the opening of border markets.
Jalalzadeh had said the current trade volume of $2 billion with Pakistan was “insufficient” and called for solid steps to increase it to a multi-billion-dollar level.
“Federal Minister for Commerce echoed this sentiment and emphasized the importance of opening new border markets and implementing a barter trade system to facilitate greater commercial exchange,” the commerce ministry said in a statement after the meeting. “These measures, he believed, would contribute to a significant surge in trade volume between Iran and Pakistan.”
The upcoming inauguration of the Pasheen Border on May 18 was also discussed during the meeting.
“This border crossing, to be inaugurated by the prime minister of Pakistan and the president of Iran, holds immense significance in promoting trade and connectivity between the two countries,” the commerce ministry statement said. “The opening of this border is expected to facilitate smoother movement of goods and people, further enhancing economic cooperation.”
Qamar also stressed the importance of expediting the long-delayed Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline, an under-construction 2,775-kilometer pipeline to deliver natural gas from Iran to Pakistan. Discussions to build the pipeline began in 1995 but it has not been completed yet mainly due to lack of funds in Pakistan and complications posed by US sanctions over Iran’s nuclear activities.
“The Minister stressed the importance of expediting the project, as it holds immense potential for energy cooperation between the two countries,” the statement said. “He pledged his commitment to resolve any obstacles and move forward with the pipeline, which would bring substantial benefits to both nations.”
