Pakistan, Iran Agree to Expand Bilateral Trade to $10 Billion

Pakistan and Iran sign an MoU to boost bilateral trade to $10 billion, strengthening economic ties amid past tensions. [Image via The Express Tribune/File]

Pakistan and Iran have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at increasing their bilateral trade volume to $10 billion.

The agreement comes as Pakistan seeks to enhance bilateral trade and investment while navigating economic recovery under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, secured in September of last year.

Also See: Pakistan, Iran Agree on Bilateral Cooperation in All Spheres

In the last fiscal year, bilateral trade between the two countries reached $2.8 billion, according to Radio Pakistan. The MoU was signed during a high-level meeting between the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Iran’s Mashhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Pakistan and Iran aim to achieve the $10 billion bilateral trade target by diversifying their economic cooperation across multiple sectors, including energy, agriculture, and technology.

During the meeting, Iran assured Pakistan that it would reduce business visa fees and facilitate trade activities to promote deeper economic cooperation.

This move is part of both countries’ efforts to strengthen ties, especially after years of tensions, including a military exchange of airstrikes in January 2024 over border instability and militancy concerns.

The agreement builds on a series of diplomatic efforts to improve relations. Iran’s late president Ebrahim Raisi visited Pakistan in April 2024, where both countries signed multiple MoUs across sectors like trade, agriculture, health, and science.

Raisi had also stressed the importance of increasing trade between the two nations, describing their current trade volume as “not acceptable.”

This news is sourced from The Express Tribune and is intended for informational purposes only.

News Desk

Your trusted source for insightful journalism. Stay informed with our compelling coverage of global affairs, business, technology, and more.

Recent

Is Social Media Neutral?

Is Social Media Neutral?

Social media platforms are not neutral arenas of free expression. Powered by opaque algorithms and AI-driven amplification, they increasingly shape political narratives and public perception, prompting non-Western states to frame platform regulation not as censorship, but as a question of digital and cognitive sovereignty.

Read More »
The Mainstreaming of Islamophobia

The Mainstreaming of Islamophobia

The attack on a Victorian Imam and his wife in Melbourne is not an isolated crime but the logical outcome of a political climate that has normalized Islamophobia. As anti-Muslim rhetoric moves from the fringes into mainstream Western discourse, religious identity is recast as a security threat, creating the conditions for violence and unequal protection under the law.

Read More »
Pakistan’s shift from arms importer to defense exporter reveals how indigenous military industry has become central to sovereignty in a fragmented global order.

Pakistan’s Defense Industrial Breakout

As the liberal international order fragments, Pakistan has executed a decisive shift from defense dependency to indigenous production. Through exports, combat validation, and joint industrialization, Islamabad is redefining sovereignty as an industrial and diplomatic asset.

Read More »
A critical reassessment of Afghan repatriation from Pakistan, weighing human rights advocacy against state sovereignty, security, and legal realities.

Rethinking Afghan Repatriation from Pakistan

Amnesty International’s call to halt Afghan repatriation overlooks the limits of long-term hospitality. For Pakistan, the issue is less about abandoning rights than reasserting sovereign immigration control amid shifting realities in Afghanistan.

Read More »