The nuclear deal signed between Iran and P5+1 (The US, the UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) on Tuesday (July 14, 2015) promises to lift all the economic and financial sanctions against Tehran after the deal is duly reviewed by the US Congress in two months’ time. This welcome development is likely to open up attractive economic prospects for Pakistan along with new challenges. Meanwhile Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) on Wednesday welcomed nuclear deal between Iran and western power, terming it a good omen for world. It will have positive impact on region and also on bilateral trade between Pakistan and Iran which was sliding since years, President and former provincial minister, Mian Zahid Hussain said. The deal has renewed hoped for materializing the gas import deal which will reduce energy crunch and help Pakistan reap benefits of the trade relaxation offered by Europe, he said. An energy-starved Pakistan is happy that the lifting of sanctions against Iran would revive the construction of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline without any further delay. Beijing is currently financing the construction of a gas pipeline from Nawabshah to Gwadar, which would then be linked to nearby Iran through an 80-kilometre long pipeline that eventually would be extended through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to our northern border near Kashgar in China. Iran’s major imports have been wheat, semi-finished iron, corn and rice. Its major exports include crude oil, gas and refined oil.To start with, we could negotiate with Iran an export-import arrangement with wheat, rice, cement and gas making up the bulk of our two-way trade. Iran is expecting an investment of $100 billion after the lifting of sanctions, China is already growing at an accelerated rate, India is following it closely and Beijing has committed $46 billion worth of investment in Pakistan for the CPEC. Consequently, the entire region in the immediate vicinity of Pakistan would seem to be on the threshold of an economic take-off.
pk.shafaqna.com
Pakistan’s enthusiasm over US-Iran nuclear deal
