PESHAWAR: Afghan Trade Commissioner in Peshawar Mirwaiz Yousafzai has said that linking transit trade with the politics is not in the interest of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and urged Pakistani government to reopen Torkham and Chaman border to ease the miseries of traders on both sides.
The official said trade has been halting for the last several days amid ongoing tensions between the two neighbouring countries. He hoped that Islamabad should review its decision and reopen the border to avoid further losses to traders’ community.
Mirwaiz, speaking at a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club, said political tension always did affect the trade relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan therefore trade should not be sacrificed for the sake of politics.
Flanked by All Traders’ Alliance President Haji Rasul Khan and Afghan Transport Owners’ Association President Mohammad Noor Ahmadzai, the Afghan official said the SAARC and WTO rules didn’t permit to halt the trade relations between the two countries. Mirwaiz said the closure of border also impacted Pakistan economy.
“We are ready to pay all legal taxes under new policy in the country,” Rasul said. He informed the press that Afghan traders are presently paying 17 percent sales tax, 4.5 percent income tax and three percent VTA tax to Pakistanis authorities.
Transporters President Rasul said trade volume between Pakistan and Afghanistan is at the low level. He claimed that owing to ongoing tension, the trade volume between Pakistan and Afghanistan decreased from $2.5million to $1million as both countries are far away to achieve the trade target of $5billion.
