ISLAMABAD: Trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan had been declining for the last two fiscal years, but increased by 14.08 percent during the first six months of the current fiscal year, sources said.
Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan has increased by 10.95 percent and imports by 23 percent, they said.
Afghanistan has imposed high tariffs on Pakistani products like juices, cement, pharmaceuticals and PVC pipes. However, the recent increase witnessed in trade volumes indicates an improvement.
The volume of bilateral trade between the two countries has come down from $1.846 billion in 2015-16 to $1.623 billion in 2016-17. Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan have also decreased from $1.437 billion to $1.286 billion while imports from Afghanistan witnessed a decrease from $0.409 billion to $0.337 billion during the same period.
Sources at Ministry of Commerce (MoC) told Customs Today that Ministry of Commerce had been trying to engage the Afghan Trade Ministry for a meaningful dialogue to overcome impediments towards growth in bilateral trade. The response from Afghan side is awaited.
The sources said that the reasons of declining trade during 2016-17 were decrease in aggregate demand as a result of the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan, increasing trust deficit of Afghanistan, worsening law and order situation in Afghanistan, frequent closure of the Pak-Afghan border and diversion of Afghan trade to Iran and others.
Moreover, the sources said that security threats to Pakistan due Afghanistan’s increasing engagement with India, restrictions on visa and travel, poor infrastructure at borders and international donor funding in Afghanistan dropped for development projects also contributed largely in reducing bilateral trade between both the countries.
