Pakistani province, Iran to sign MoUs to enhance cooperation

A high level delegation from Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province will visit Iran early next month to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) to enhance cooperation in different sectors, a provincial minister has said. Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti will lead the delegation. The minister held a meeting with Iranian Council General for Peshawar at his office to finalize the visit. Mian Ifitkhar said the government has completed its homework and list of priorities for the upcoming Iran visit. He said Pakistan has long-standing relations with Iran as it is a reliable neighbour and an Islamic state. The agreements and MoUs with Iran would open new vistas of cooperation among the two countries and help further strengthening the relations, the minister said adding the visit would also help enhance the volume of trade and business between the two people. He said as Iran had vast natural resources of oil and gas and other minerals, the government of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa would use their expertise in those fields in Pakistan especially in recently explored resources of oil and gas. The province, he said also had great potential in hydropower sector and Iranian brethren would be asked for joint ventures in that sector too. Mian Iftikhar said that Pakistan was keen to have more agreement with Iran, especially in fields of oil and gas as well as culture and tourism to put the militancy-hit province on the path of development. The visit to Iran was of great importance for the province and hopefully it would usher into era of development and prosperity for the region.