ISLAMABAD: Member Customs of the Federal Board of Revenue Nasir Masroor Ahmad ruled out assumptions about any hurdle in transit trade for China through Pakistan.
While speaking in a question and answer session on the first day of a five-day Pakistan-China Business Friendship Conference, he said that there was no hurdle either from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) or any subsidiary department in the passage of the transit goods for China.
“Actually, there is no need to sign a transit trade agreement with China because of the fact that transit trade agreements are signed with those countries which don’t have access to sea or are without seaports (landlocked countries), however, China has huge and long shore as well a number of seaports along the South China Sea,” he clarified.
However, he said that quadrilateral transit trade agreement would be possible with other countries like Uzbekistan, Tajikistan lying ahead of China.
To a question, he said that Sust check point was started with lesser facilities; however, today it had been converted into a dry port with modern facilities for trucks carrying trade goods from Pakistan and China to each other country.
“With the completion of tunnel at the point of Atabad Lake, volume of traffic from both sides has increased by several times resultantly tune of trade has also significantly increased. Therefore, FBR increases and reduces the number of staff at Sust Dry Port in lieu with the flow of traffic keeping the requirements of importers and exporters in view” he added.
Nasir Masroor Ahmad further said that due to improved level of facilities at Sust Dry Port annual trade between China and Pakistan increased from less than $2 billion in 2002 to $6.9 billion, with a goal of $15 billion by 2014.
Sost dry port is the first formal port at the China-Pakistan border, facilitating customs clearance and other formalities for goods moving from the Chinese regions of Kasghar and Sinkyang to the commercial centers of Pakistan” he noted.
