MULTAN: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Member Customs Muhammad Zahid Khokar formally inaugurated the newly-established Sadiqabad Export Terminal along with Customs Collector Ambreen Ahmad and others in a ceremony.
Addressing on the occasion, Member Customs Muhammad Zahid Khokhar congratulated the management of the Multan Dry Port Trustees for developing the Sadiqabad Export Terminal project on self-help basis and expressed his good wishes for the success of the export terminal.
He said that development of new dry port in the Multan Customs Collectorate will create new job opportunities in South Punjab and it will also flourish business activities in the region.
Zahid Khokhar said that dry port has been established on the strategic location which will facilitate business community for the clearance of export shipments and take lesser time in the clearance of shipments. The Member Customs in his address reiterated the commitment of Pakistan Customs to trade facilitation. He also encouraged the business community to evolve a system of self-vigilance to weed out unscrupulous elements who might risk the reputation of the new terminal through malpractice.
He said that Sadiqabad is the last district of Punjab and exporters of this region will be given business friendly environment through timely clearance of their export shipments and he requested business community to take benefit from export clearance facility of Sadiqabad to save their time. He hoped that his confidence in the new export terminal would be justified by growth in exports from the area.
Collector Ambreen Ahmad Tarar informed participants about the features of a new export dry port established in Sadiqabad Region which will cover the whole South Punjab including Rahim Yar Khan, Sadiqabad, Bahawalpur and its adjoining regions. He explained that the notified site is situated on Sadiqabad bypass and it is designed for only one way traffic to en-route export shipments. This is the main road from Lahore/Multan to Karachi for shipment.
A large number of industries particularly textile industry is located on Khanewal-Kabirwala-Multan road and some units of textile are located on Multan-Bahawalpur road. These units will benefit by this new Export Terminal Sadiqabad. It is also expected that the exporters of wheat straw, fodder and other agricultural products will also use this facility of export terminal for their trade movement.
Besides reducing cost of doing business, the project will entail significant employment opportunities in an otherwise remote area. Furthermore, MCC Multan comprises over 51% of Punjab by area. This export terminal not only promises economic linkages for local population and trade, but will house offices and storage for future Customs preventive operations.
Collector informed that Multan Customs will ensure safety of the export bound cargo and ensure repackaging of the examined goods and provide all required facilities for swift clearance in newly established export terminal to boost business activities in South Punjab.
Additional Collector Asdaq Afzal Sensera, Deputy Collector Saqib-ur-Rehman, Assistant Collector Muhammad Ikram, Assistant Collector Omer bin Zafar Chatha, Chairman Multan Dry Port Trust Khawaja Muhammad Faazil and large number of businessmen were also present on the occasion.
