Islamabad: Pakistan and Iran decided on Monday to boost bilateral agriculture to $ 3 billion in two years.
The two countries signed a joint statement at the end of the visit of a high -level ministerial delegation of Pakistan, directed by the Minister of National Food Security and Research, Frog Tanveer Hussain, to Tehran.
The Pakistani minister managed to ensure Iran’s agreement to import an important part of his Pakistan rice imports. According to the agreement, the Government and the private sector of Iran will now depend mainly on Pakistan for rice imports, opening a consistent and stable export market for Pakistani rice, said a press release from the Ministry of Security and National Food Research.
Mr. Hussain also obtained firm guarantees from Iran to solve obstacles in mango exports, particularly delays in import permits and currency assignments.
Iran’s Minister of Agriculture, Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh, said the current volume of agricultural goods between the two countries has about $ 1.4 billion, but the two countries have complementary strengths that can be used to ensure the needs of others in different seasons.
He said they will expand exports of their dairy products, nuts, fruits and vegetables to Pakistan, while Pakistan will fulfill a portion of the imports of corn and rice of Tehran and 60 percent of their meat imports under the new plan.
Mr. Nouri said that the two parties agreed to strengthen cooperation in research on climate change and food security, and establish a joint agriculture committee that will meet every six months to monitor progress and solve bottlenecks.
The Pakistani minister also assured the consensus on a wide range of facilitation measures aimed at relieving agricultural trade. These included faster customs authorization, the establishment of cold stores and chain systems, and improvements in border infrastructure to ensure that perishable products reach markets efficiently and high quality.
The two countries also reaffirmed their commitment to move towards a free trade agreement (FTA) that will provide a long -term framework to expand bilateral agricultural trade, he said.
The next session of the Joint Economic Commission of Iran and Pakistan will take place in Tehran next month.
Posted in Dawn, August 19, 2025
