LAHORE: A ray of hope has prevailed among all the stakeholders at the Mughalpura dry port as the railways has assured continues arrival of the freight trains.
“We had meetings with the railways Authorities and briefed them about the importance of the full-fledged trade operation on the port. The railways authorities have agreed and are ready to accommodate all imports and exports at the port.
“We impressed upon the need of continuous arrivals of the locomotives at the port. The railways in the results of our persuasion has reduced freight charges to a significant level. It is really a win-win situation for all stakeholders,” collector of customs Lahore appraisement Muhammad Zahid Khokhar told Customs Today.
“Now railways has assured freight trains availability all the time clearance of goods at the Lahore dry port will become cost effective, we have also invited major industries including Bullay Shah and Nestle to get their imports cleared from the port,” he added.
Customs Clearance Agents Association former president Agha Iftikhar said that the arrival of locomotives has started. Railways general Manager Javaid Anwar Bobak has assured continuous arrival of freight trains and full cooperation to all stakeholders including Customs authorities’ importers, exporters and clearing agents.
“He has announced a special discount on freight charges and 15 days free storage time. In the presence of the status quo we can increase trade volume from 5 percent to 30 percent,” Agha said adding that 67 percent of the total trade which belongs to Punjab is being cleared in Karachi. The other ports in Punjab should also be made functional, he urged the government.
The freight train arrival issue is not a new one. Earlier during the last two years so many efforts have been made in this regard. Six month ago Minister for Railways Khwaja Saad Rafique had inaugurated freight trains arrival but it did not last long event for one month.
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