KARACHI: “Pakistan as always remains the shortest, the most economical and the most secure Transit Trade corridor for land-locked Afghanistan,” Director General of Directorate Transit Trade, Khawar Farid said.
Talking exclusively to Customs Today, Khawar Farid Maneka said that Pakistan is so strategically placed; it is in-fact in the middle of huge industrial and consumer market with India on one side and Central Asian Republics, Afghanistan and China on the other. The development of Gawadar Port, the fully automated Port Muhammad Bin Qasim, suitably developed road network including Motorway from Lahore to Islamabad, the upgraded Karakoram Highway and an exclusive Directorate General to facilitate Transit Trade have cumulatively made Pakistan a most modern state suitable for Transit Trade, he added.
“There are unconfirmed reports that a lot of trade diversion is talking place at the cost of Pakistan and to the benefit of Iran,” Mr. Maneka said. These reports, he added, need to be analyzed in depth because the trend shows that there is an upsurge in transit cargo through Pakistan due to several initiatives taken by the Directorate as well as the Federal Board of Revenue.
The apparent reasons for the increase in Transit Trade could be attributed to a number of initiatives taken by the Directorate. These include transparent and efficient administrative procedures adopted; better clearance facilities after the launch of WeBOC and the reduction in dwell time, the DG TT said.
Ever since its inception, the Directorate has been maintaining active profile of major commodities passing through the territory of Pakistan as cargo-in-transit heading to/from Afghanistan. The idea is to have in place efficient and administrative procedures to provide safe passageway to transit cargo besides protecting domestic markets from unlawful fall-out of transit goods through en-route pilferage/theft, Mr. Maneka elaborated.
With this mind, he continued, the Directorate is effectively utilizing Tracking & Monitoring function and carrying out regular reconciliation exercises as well as remaining constantly in touch with Afghan Customs authorities for updating requisite cross-border documentation.
Asked about the status of establishing Border Complexes at Torkham and Chaman, Mr. Maneka informed CT that a Committee has already being formed by the Prime Minister. Chairman FBR, Secretary Defence and Secretary Commerce are Members of this high level Committee and it has already visted the site at Torkham and Chaman and an elaborate presentation on the project was given by the officials of the Asian Development Bank, has agreed to extend the necessary funds, as well as the Frontier Corps Balochitan.
The plan of the project is in concluding phase, Mr. Maneka added, while the FBR has also designated focal persons as contact persons to liaison with the consultants of the ADB. The focal persons include Deputy Collector MCC Quetta Ahsanullah Shah; Additional Collector MCC Peshawar Malik Kamran Azim Khan; Additional Director Directorate of Transit Trade Karachi Chaudhary Muhammad Javed and Deputy Collector MCC Preventive Peshawar and they would liaise with the ADB authorities.
Asked about the status of export of Afghan Transit cargo in open truck after the expiry of concessionary three-year period ended on June 13, 2014 although the concession given to Afghan exporters, Mr. Maneka said that the renewal of the concession will be considered in the upcoming APTTCA (Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Coordinating Authority) shortly.
Replying to yet another question, Mr. Maneka said that EDI (Electronic Data Interface) messaging with Afghan Customs pilot project which was launched in November 2013 shell be operational at Torkham as soon as the third party audit is conducted. In the next phase this facility would also launched at Chaman border station once the third audit is completed.
