LAHORE: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has approved, in principle, the design for constructing a state-of-the-art border complex at Wahga to reduce the time for cross-border movement of goods and services.
The deadline for the completion of the project is December 2021. The objective of the proposed border complex-which is part of the Integrated Transit Trade Management System—is to facilitate the legitimate trade without compromising on the security of the global supply chain. With the construction of this complex, the time spent on movement of goods at border points will reduce by more than five times.
The complex would be constructed with a loan to be borrowed from the ADB while other amount would be provided by the government of Pakistan.
High authorities also directed that the project should eliminate bottlenecks and improve the procedures without compromising on regulatory controls and security. The FBR is expected to complete the project within the stipulated timeframe.
An official source told CT that the National Logistics Cell (NLC) will submit its bid for physical work on the border crossing point.
The contract for construction of the border station will be awarded to the NLC.
The official said the physical work on border station at Wagah will begin in September 2018. “International bids for the Wagah border station” will be invited.
Pakistan has already ratified the international conventions to facilitate the cross border movement of containers and persons.
