Financial Tribune- Iran�s Ministry of Agriculture has lifted a ban on the import of Pakistani kinnow.

Pakistan�s Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan also announced that fast progress will be made in trade between Pakistan and Iran, Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

He said the relaxation in export of kinnows has been granted by Iran before the expected visit of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to the Economic Cooperation Organization summit in Islamabad.

The 13th ECO Summit will be held in Islamabad on Wednesday.

�There was great demand for Pakistan kinnow in Iran and it was a good step to lift the restriction three weeks before the Iranian national festival of Norouz,� he said.

He urged Pakistani exporters to take advantage of this opportunity.

�The border closure had an adverse impact on the export of kinnow to Afghanistan, but the traders would hopefully make up for the loss by selling kinnows to Iran,� he said.

The Pakistani minister added that the central banks of Iran and Pakistan would soon sign an agreement to establish banking relations, which will increase bilateral trade threefold.

Khan said a joint economic conference of the two countries may be held in Tehran at the end of March.