LAHORE: The Indian authorities have reduces trading time by three hours at Wagah border after the deadly bomb blast, worrying the business community that carry out trade between the two countries.
Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Pak-India Trade Promotion Committee Chairman Aftab Ahmed Vohra said that trading activities have been suspended from 2pm to 5pm daily during the flag-hoisting ceremony. He said that due to this curb, the number of trucks transporting between the two countries have decreased from around 350 to 150. Normal trading hours were from 9am to 6pm, which have been reduced to six hours only.
The current annual bilateral trade is hovering around $2.4 billion, however, illegal trade and exchanges via third country are around $10 billion as estimated by different research bodies, which say the removal of trade hurdles can almost triple the volume of commerce.
There is a need-based transportation of goods via land due to reduced costs. Currently, out of 6,000 items, Pakistan can only import 138 through land route. From these 138, priority has been given to vegetables and fruits.
According to the Pakistan Economic Survey, imports from India for the year 2013-14 stood at Rs137.1 billion, which is 22% lower than the corresponding period.
