ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s southern Sindh province offers vast opportunities for investment and Iranian entrepreneurs can benefit from them by investing in different projects.

This was stated by Irani Consul General Ahmed Mohammadi while talking to the Media. He further said that Iran was willing to provide Pakistan with technical and engineering services in all sectors.
He added that Iran and Pakistan have a strong geographical position and this area has a very old civilization. The diplomat added trade between Iran and Pakistan should be further enhanced which will also help to boost bilateral ties.
Mohammadi stressed the need for exchange of delegations between the business communities of Iran and Pakistan.
He was of the view that private sectors of Iran and Pakistan must benefit from the vast business opportunities available to them in the two countries.
He noted that after a gap of fifteen years, many Iranian companies participated in Pakistan’s industrial expo held recently in Karachi.
He said that many Iranian companies and entrepreneurs displayed their products at the expo. Iran consul general went on to say that participation of Iranian businessmen in the expo provided a conducive environment to enhance trade ties between Iran and Pakistan.
He said that because of such activities, Iran-Pakistan bilateral trade has witnessed the growth of 16 percent. Mohammadi added that various steps such as reduction of prices have been taken to export Iranian candies and chocolates to Pakistan. The envoy said that Iranian businessmen can invest their money in different sectors of Sindh Province like, ceramics, dairies, and tiles.
He said that Iranian businessmen can easily open their offices in Karachi to export their products. He said that Iran and Pakistan right now are considering launching ferry service between Karachi and Bandar Abbas ports. He strongly believed that such a service would also help to enhance trade activities between the two friendly neighboring states.
He said that Iranian investors can also help Sindh province in improving its health facilities, enhancing waste management system, providing drinking water and infrastructure projects. Earlier Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah while addressing the Iran-Pakistan Business Forum had said that Sindh Province boasts vast investment opportunities, particularly in energy, infrastructure development, education, health, agriculture and in various other sectors.
Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during his visit to Pakistan also traveled to Karachi leading a high-level delegation of Iranian businessmen to explore investment opportunities in Sindh and boost trade between the two countries.
The Sindh government has already introduced the Public Private Partnership concept that is producing good results.
Governor of Sindh Imran Ismail during a meeting with Consul General of Iran in Karachi Ahmed Mohammadi had said that Iranian companies must benefit from tremendous investment opportunities emerging fast in Sindh Province.
A 2016 study commissioned by Pakistan Ministry of Planning found that urban Sindh and northern Punjab province are the most prosperous regions in Pakistan. Its GDP per capita was $1,400 in 2010 which is 50 percent more than the rest of the nation or 35 percent more than the national average.
Historically, Sindh’s contribution to Pakistan’s GDP has been between 30% to 32.7%. Its share in the service sector has ranged from 21% to 27.8% and in the agriculture sector from 21.4% to 27.7%. Performance wise, its best sector is the manufacturing sector, where its share has ranged from 36.7% to 46.5%.
In April this year, a high-level Iranian delegation led by Minister for Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhundi had visited the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) to explore avenues of cooperation with Pakistan.
The delegation took a keen interest in the deepwater container port project of the KPT along with other future projects like multipurpose bulk terminal, Cargo Village, LNG Terminal and Port Elevated Expressway.
The delegation was briefed about the KPT infrastructure, the overall setup and the ensuing discussion specifically focused on the avenues of investments available to the private sector in Pakistan marine sector.
The delegation complimented the development works and offered to join hands for an interconnection linkage of the KPT and Bandar Abbas.
Sindh is the third largest province of Pakistan by area and second largest province by population after Punjab.  The provincial capital of Sindh in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and financial hub.
Sindh has Pakistan’s second-largest economy. Karachi hosts the headquarters of several multinational banks. Sindh is home to a large portion of Pakistan’s industrial sector and contains two of Pakistan’s commercial seaports, Port Bin Qasim and the Karachi Port.
Sindh also has an agriculture-based economy and produces fruit, food consumer items, and vegetables for the consumption of other parts of the country. Sindh is also the center of Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry.
Karachi is an attractive destination for national and international investors, due to its geographical location, provides ample investment opportunities to Iran too.
Huge potential exists for increasing cooperation between Government of Sindh and Iranian investors through joint venture Projects specifically in power and energy, shrimp farming and infrastructure development projects. Iran and Pakistan have already agreed to enhance the bilateral trade volume to $5 billion in the next five years.