ISLAMABAD (APP) – Pakistan and Iran on Thursday set a target of $5 billion for bilateral trade as the two countries chalked out a five-year trade cooperation plan to enhance cooperation.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, addressing a joint press stakeout with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian, said the five-year trade cooperation plan was aimed at removing impediments in bilateral trade, finalising the Free Trade Agreement and establishing institutional linkages between the private sectors of both countries.

“I am confident that the steps we are taking today will chart the course for a long-term durable economic partnership between our two countries in the months and years ahead,” the foreign minister told the media after the two leaders held a meeting and the delegation-level talks.

During their meeting, he said they had agreed to prioritise operationalising the five remaining border markets by the end of the current year.