Financial Tribune- A joint bank between Iran and Pakistan will be established and become operational before the current fiscal year is out, announced Iran’s ambassador to the South Asian country.

“Considering a round of preliminary negotiations between the two countries, the joint bank between Tehran and Islamabad will become operational before Norouz [the Iranian New Year],” Mehdi Honardoust also said in a talk with Fars News Agency in the Pakistani capital city.

Noting that Iran intends to increase trade deals between the two countries, he referred to President Hassan Rouhani’s trip to Islamabad, saying the two sides agreed on some points during that visit.

“We had plans to increase trade between the two countries to $5 billion but the current volume of trade is even lower that what it is between the two countries and Afghanistan,” he added.

President Rouhani travelled to Islamabad in March 2016 at the invitation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to hold high-level talks with special emphasis on regional issues and strengthening economic ties following the lifting of sanctions as a result of Iran’s nuclear accord with world powers.

Sharif said Iran and Pakistan aim to increase their annual bilateral trade to $5 billion by 2021.

“In the five-year strategic action plan signed yesterday, we have aimed at boosting our bilateral trade to the level of $5 billion by 2021,” he said.

According to Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Tehran and Islamabad currently have $80 million worth of bilateral deals “which is very meager”.

The official added that Iran wishes to expand and develop ties with Pakistan in many sectors, including agriculture, media and trade.

Honardoust said the two countries have historical and cultural ties, which is why a link between their peoples would also be very important.

“We are also trying to provide more loans for Pakistani pilgrims visiting Iran,” he concluded.