PESHAWAR: With the aim to enhance regional trade with Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics (CARs), the federal government has started constructing a mega state-of-the-art Border Customs Complex at Torkham.
Peshawar Customs Collector Qurban Ali Khan, while talking to the state-owned news agency, said that the complex is a first of its kind in the country, which will make border crossing systematic, fully computerised and will augment trade volume on the historic route.
The customs complex would improve facilities related to clearance of loaded trucks crossing the border to Afghanistan and CARs, he added. The complex, covering 700 kanals of land, would house customs and immigration offices, two-way customs and immigration terminals, checking and scanning plazas for pedestrians, passenger and cargo vehicles with other infrastructure, Qurban said.
“Establishment of the complex is a step towards achieving the goals set under Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC), a partnership of 10 countries and six multilateral development partners working to promote development through cooperation, leading to accelerated economic growth and poverty reduction,” he added.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing $300 million loan for execution of the project on soft term basis to Pakistan, while the National Logistic Cell (NLC) is implementing the project. The project also includes construction of a similar border complex at Wagha post on Pak-India border and at Chaman in Balochistan.
“Work on Torkham border has now been started. NLC had acquired 700 kanals of land in Torkham and work on the construction of customs complex would start soon,” the Peshawar collector said.
At present, he said, checking and clearing processes at Torkham were cumbersome due to lack of facilities while the trucks laden with goods take around 24 hours to cross the border towards Afghanistan. After construction of the complex, the clearance time of goods would reduce from 24 hours to one hour only, he added.
Similarly, he said advance scanners would also help in plugging the menace of smuggling, as in the prevailing system of goods clearance, it was impossible for customs officials to fully check heavy vehicles. The collector said that due to improvement in system like computerisation of official record, the revenue collection as customs duty had shown a remarkable increase of Rs 1,102 million ($110 million) in the last six months of 2015. “This increase in revenue collection was a result of enhanced trade and after installation of modern system, the trade would flourish further.”
About 20 years ago, there was only one Customs collector for entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan, but now there are around 1,000 officials in the province, Qurban Ali said, adding that recently, the Customs Collectorate had also deputed Parachinar assistant collector at Kurram Agency from where around 600 trucks are crossing over to Afghanistan on daily basis and similarly, trucks are coming here loaded with goods including fresh fruit and other items, he continued.
“The project can prove to be a game changer for business community of Pakistan in general and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular, said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KPCCI) President Zulfiqar Ali.
He said Pakistan was the largest trading partner of Afghanistan and in recent years, the bilateral trade between the two neighbouring countries had improved significantly, though it was not up to the mark yet. The KPCCI president appreciated the development and said promotion of trade would bring prosperity for the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
