KARACHI: Delegation members of Pakistan-Afghan Joint Committee have underscored the need to effectively deal with numerous bottleneck hindering enhanced trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan which declined to less than US$1.5 billion in 2015 and continued to go down in 2016.
Exchanging views during their visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the delegation members said that trade must thrive and move on a fast-track which can be done when business communities work together and play the role of a strong bridge by bringing people of the two countries close to each other.
Chairman Businessmen Group & former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli, President KCCI Shamim Ahmed Firpo, Senior Vice President KCCI Asif Nisar, Vice President KCCI Muhammad Younus Soomro, MNA Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, Former Deputy Minister for Trade & Commerce Afghanistan Mozammil Shinwari, Former Pakistan’s Ambassador Mian Sanaullah, Advisor to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence Ms. Wazhma Frogh, Senior Journalist Muhammad Tahir and others were present at the meeting.
The delegation members opined that the bottlenecks hindering Pakistan-Afghanistan trade can easily be removed if the two sides act diligently and honestly.
They also expressed deep concerns over delays in clearance of Afghanistan bound goods and further informed that many Pakistani suppliers were exporting sub-standard and poor-quality goods to Afghanistan, particularly pharma products, which was another major reason behind descending trade between the two countries.
“Due to low quality of goods being supplied by Pakistani companies, the Afghan people prefer not to buy Pakistan goods which requires serious attention”, said Advisor to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense Ms. Wazhma Frogh. She stressed that this issue has to be addressed in order to save the existing trade volume from further depreciation.
