KABUL: The current volume of trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan is very low due to irrational tariff regime, illegal trade, and absence of duty-free access to manufacturing products of both the neighboring countries in their respective markets.
It is need of the hour that all forms of impediments hampering the bilateral trade should be checked, a committee of the Board of Investment and Trade (BOIT) said in its review.
The country’s trade with the landlocked Afghanistan can be improved if the impediments on both sides are removed. This was the crux of a meeting of post-Afghanistan visit review committee held here on Friday.
A BOIT statement said that the meeting was presided over by chairman of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment and Trade (KP-BOIT) Senator Mohsin Aziz and attended by members, including its CEO Rashid Ali Bangash, Faud Ishaq, leading businessman Ghulam Sarwar, Iskandar Khan from Prime Group Ltd, Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry director Ziaul Haq Sarhadi and Dr Tariq Khan from Northwest General Hospital, Peshawar.
The participants discussed the impediments confronted by Pak-Afghan trade and suggested ways to resolve problems being faced by the importers and exporters on both the sides.
They counted the excessive security checks, untimely clearance of consignments, cumbersome process for registration of goods documents, lack of required facilities for clearing cargo consignments, limited bank network at border region, etc as major obstacles affecting the bilateral trade.
Senator Aziz said that concerted efforts were needed to enhance bilateral trade. He said that peaceful, stable and prosperous neighbourhood was essential for bringing economic prosperity and development in the region.
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