January 18, 2022 (MLN): The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) has urged the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) to facilitate barter trade with Iran in view of trade ties re-established with both the countries commerce ministries and the decision to do barter trade, said a press statement issued yesterday.
President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said, “Iran is ready to buy big quantities of different varieties of Pakistani rice in exchange for Deisel oil and in this connection the Pakistani exporters have approached the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to play its role.”
“Since the quantity is big, it would not be possible for any single firm to manage the transaction on its own, he added.
It would be best if the TCP could secure the order and allocate it to several SME exporters to ship the rice and TCP could import the Diesel and distribute it to the dealers, he noted.
UNISAME has sought guidance from Dr. Kausar Zaidi Director General Agro and Ms. Maria Kazi the Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce to give necessary permission to the Trading Corporation to play its role and facilitate the barter trade.
Secondly, the UNISAME has also advised the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to outline exchange facilities with the Central bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
