A call is made between the Iranian Investment Minister and the Minister of BOI 

The Gulf Observer, Islamabad: Mr. Ali Fakhri, Deputy Minister and Head of the Organization for Investment Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran (OIETAI) visited Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Federal Minister for Board of Investment (BOI). 

In the delegation were Seyyed Asia Abtahi, Adviser to the Head of OIETAI, Pauria Parto, Adviser to the Head of OIETAI, Nabi Ollah Shirazi, Deputy Head of Mission Embassy of Iran, and Ms. Zahra Ghadyanli, Second Secretary, Embassy of Iran. From the Pakistani side, Mr. Khashi Ur Rehman, Additional Secretary BOI, Nadeem Bashir, Director General, and Atif Umar Khalil, Director attended the meeting. 

The sides discussed matters pertaining to joint investment cooperation between Pakistan and Iran in detail. The 3rd meeting of the Pakistan Iran Joint Investment Committee (JIC) has been scheduled to be held in BOI on Thursday, June 15, 2023. 

They also discussed the agenda items proposed by the Iranian side by taking on board all stakeholders from Pakistan’s side. 

Two meetings of the Pakistan-Iran JIC had already been held virtually on July 14, 2021, and February 14, 2022, respectively. 

Both sides agreed to take the necessary steps for the signing of the Pak-Iran Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and negotiations on the draft BIT are ongoing. 

A statement from the Federal Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain stated that Pakistan is developing nine Special Economic Zones (SEZs) under the framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Among the nine Special Economic Zones, four of them are being expedited to provide an accelerated development process in order to provide a conducive environment for local and foreign firms. 

The Minister mentioned that the investment opportunities and incentives available in these Special Economic Zones are open to all investors from around the world without prejudice. Therefore, Iranian investors are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the CPEC Special Economic Zones by participating as zone developers and enterprises.

Source: The Gulf Observer